Race, Crime, and Media in the Digital Age

Offering a sweeping examination of how racial meaning, criminality, and social mobility are produced and contested across contemporary media systems, this book traces the criminalization of Blackness through print journalism, television broadcasting, digital and social media platforms, and AI-driven infrastructures.

Race, Crime, and Media in the Digital Age: Belonging and Exclusion shows how race, crime, and media have long been intertwined in shaping how societies imagine danger, belonging, and the limits of citizenship. In the United States, this entanglement is especially stark: media institutions have repeatedly amplified racialized narratives that link Blackness to criminality while reinforcing White innocence and social mobility. This book demonstrates how media storytelling influences public opinion, policy, and everyday experiences of belonging and exclusion. Drawing on cultural studies, sociology, Black studies, and global comparative research, Brian Chama exposes the feedback loops connecting media, structural inequality, and racialized fear, while foregrounding counter-narratives, community media, and emerging movements for ethical, inclusive media futures.

Moving from historical news framing to algorithmic amplification, this work will resonate with scholars, students, and practitioners across media studies, criminology, sociology, and race and ethnic studies. It will also appeal to government and non-government institutions, and policymakers seeking to understand and dismantle systemic bias in media culture.