The portrayal of minorities in the media has been, and still is, a topic of some degree of concern to both audience and producer of media. C.Clark, in his working the Television Quarterly outlines a process by which ethnic minorities are integrated into the media. His outline consists of four main chronological stages: Non-recognition; Ridicule; Regulation; Respect. Non- recognition is the initial stage in which the minority simply does not exist in the media world, it is not recognized or acknowledged in the media. Ridicule, perhaps the most tedious stage of the four, describes the phase during which a minority is made- fun of, stereo- typed, or ridiculed, primarily by the majority who seeks to gain some esteem by means of degrading the minority. Next is regulation, regulation is an awkward stage in which the minority is portrayed as "protectors of the existing order" (Harris). The final, most pleasurable stage in the minority's integration process is that of Respect. This is the point at which the minority is treated with similar degree of reverence as is the majority; media equality has been achieved. .
Clark's model, although useful, seems to be somewhat lacking in applicability. Although Clark's model of "non- recognition, ridicule, regulation, and respect" does apply strongly to the integration of African Americans, does it still hold strong for the integration of ethnic minorities which have been later integrated into the media? It seems, that although minorities, which have been later integrated, do experience non- recognition, ridicule, regulation, and eventual respect, the stage of ridicule is not quite as severe as that experienced by African Americans. It seems as though the breakthrough of African Americans into the media has mitigated the difficulty to be faced by minorities to come. .
The extent to which a minority is ridiculed in the media as significant effects on the life of that minority in the real world.