In everything from the policies that regulate media industries to the
practices of the organizations that produce the messages to the usage
patterns of the consumers that choose them, mass media are implicated in
real-world interracial/ethnic dynamics. Yet, despite the obvious
associations between media and issues of race and ethnicity, a
comprehensive effort aimed at documenting and addressing these links has
not been undertaken. The current issue, Media Representations of Race
and Ethnicity: Implications for Identity, Intergroup Relations, and
Public Policy, does just that. Media portrayals, media usage patterns,
favorable and unfavorable effects of exposure (on diverse audiences),
and policy implications, all are examined.