Images That Injure Pictorial Stereotypes in the Media

Images That Injure is a collection of essays that discuss visual messages that harm and perpetuate misleading myths about members of various cultural groups. The volume begins with a general overview and includes ethnic, gender, age, physical disabilities, sexual orientation, and miscellaneous (from politicians to police officers) stereotypes with contributions written by some of the leading experts in the field of mass communications. The strength and scope of the work comes from its generalistic approach. This is the first published work that looks at media stereotypes of people in such a broad range of categories. In concluding sections, educators offer their insights on the impact, societal costs, and solutions to visual stereotypical coverage. In addition, a photographic section presents positive examples of visual coverage of various groups.

PAUL MARTIN LESTER is Associate Professor of Communications at California State University, Fullerton. He has been a writer, photojournalist, and educator for over 25 years. He was a staff photographer for the New Orleans Times Picayune and editor of The Ethics of Photojournalism (a National Press Photographers Association Special Report). He is the author of Photojournalism: An Ethical Approach (1991) and Visual Communication: Images with Messages (1995).