Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Myths And Realities Of Puerto Rican Poverty, Edwin Melendez

Trotter Review

The following remarks were made as the closing keynote address at the conference, "Mainland Puerto Ricans: Myths and Realities on Poverty," held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on October 22 and 23, 1993.

There are two "stories" frequently cited to explain the causes of the poverty among Puerto Ricans: the first suggests that Puerto Ricans are poor because they are going through a transition as they move toward full assimilation; the second proposes that Puerto Ricans are becoming part of an urban "underclass." Neither of these explanations stands the test of reality.

Media Discourse And The Feminization Of Poverty, Carmen L. Manning-Miller

Explorations in Ethnic Studies

Source diversity models suggest that by using non-conventional, non-official sources for news content, the prevailing perceptions about poor people and their needs would be undermined in news coverage. This study found that major newspapers are making efforts to diversify the sources quoted in their coverage of poverty issues. However, the portrayals of poor people have not changed, particularly for women and people of color. Results of this study suggest that source diversity research must go further to explore how sources are used to address the problems of the poor and how media influence public perceptions of public policy related to …