Vick Coverage Has Country Split along Racial Lines

According to a Pew Research survey, white respondents believe the media have treated Michael Vick fairly by a factor of nearly two-to-one when compared to black respondents.

Vick, one of the game’s flashiest players, has been involved in an illegal dog fighting operation that has drawn almost universal condemnation but has split the nation along racial lines.

According to the Pew Research Center’s News Interest for the week ending Aug. 24, 69% of whites say Vick has gotten a fair shake in the media while only 38% of blacks think that is the case.

Both groups agree that the story has been over-covered, however, with 49% of whites saying so and 56% of blacks. That may have been the perception, but according to the study, the Vick story took up only 4% of the news hole of 48 media outlets surveyed behind coverage of Iraq, midwest floods, Iraq, Hurricane Dean, and the 2008 campaign. The Vick story is just one of several scandals beleaguering professional sports. So far, there’s no indication the news has been bad for the business of televised sporting events.

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Vick Coverage Has Country Split along Racial Lines
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