Report: Sunday Talk Shows Rarely Mention Asian-Americans

By Jamilah King Sep 30, 2014

When Fox News panelist Jonathan Hoenig used Japanese-American internment during WWII to make the case for racially profiling American Muslims last weekend, he caused an uproar. And rightfully so. Hoenig’s comments were clearly meant to drum up even more racist hysteria aimed at Arab- and Muslim-Americans. But in another way, Hoenig’s comments also represented another sad reality of political weekend talk shows: They rarely talk about Asian-Americans, and when they do, the coverage is generally really bad.

According to a new report from ChangeLab, America’s Big Five Sunday shows — "Face the Nation," "Fox News Sunday," "Meet the Press," "State of the Union" and "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" — are rarely talking about Asian-Americans, the country’s fastest growing racial group. Researchers examined over 130 episode transcripts from the Big Five shows between January and June of 2013 and found that Asian-Americans were mentioned just 13 times. 

"It’s about time that [Asian-American] stories get told, and not just to benefit [Asian-Americans]," researchers write in the report. "Until our stories are told, our understanding of the experiences and political behavior of every other racial group in America is incomplete."

Read the full report here