Jianfa Tsai’s Input
Why don’t the news in China report Chinese man killed another Chinese man, but just as “Man A killed Man B”?Why don’t the news in the West report Caucasian man killed another Caucasian man, but just as “Man C killed Man D”?
Understanding Why the News Leaves Out Majority Race Labels
Imagine you are at a school where every single student wears a blue uniform. If one student drops their lunch tray, the teacher will say, “A student dropped their lunch,” instead of saying, “A student wearing a blue uniform dropped their lunch.” The teacher leaves out the uniform color because everyone is already wearing it, so adding that detail does not tell you anything new or helpful. News channels do the exact same thing with race. In China, most people are Chinese, and in many Western countries, most people are Caucasian. Because these groups are the dominant majority in those places, news reporters treat their race as the obvious, default background. They only mention a person’s race or background if it is rare, unusual, or explicitly necessary to help the police find someone.
The Journalism Concept of the “Unmarked” Default Majority
The absence of racial descriptors when both perpetrators and victims belong to the dominant demographic of a region is a standard practice driven by linguistic, sociological, and ethical journalistic frameworks. In sociolinguistics and media studies, this phenomenon is known as “marking” versus “unmarking” (Race Forward, 2011). The dominant demographic in any given society serves as the culturally “unmarked” norm—the assumed baseline context that requires no explicit specification because it represents the vast majority of the population (Race Forward, 2011).
In China, where ethnic Han Chinese comprise over 91% of the population, media outlets operate under the structural assumption that individuals involved in domestic local crimes are Chinese unless stated otherwise. Similarly, in historically Western nations where Caucasian individuals form the demographic majority, journalistic style guides dictate that race is omitted unless it holds direct relevance to the narrative or public safety (Radio Television Digital News Association [RTDNA], 2021).
Journalistic Standards, Relevancy, and the Avoidance of Stereotypes
Professional journalism associations worldwide enforce strict guidelines regarding the use of racial, ethnic, or national identifiers in crime reporting.
- The Relevancy Standard: Style guides such as those from the Associated Press (AP) and the Radio Television Digital News Association explicitly state that race should only be included if it is truly relevant to the story, such as in instances of hate crimes, civil rights violations, or when law enforcement provides a physical description of a suspect at large (RTDNA, 2021).
- Mitigating Harm and Bias: Citing race unnecessarily, especially in violent crime reporting, has been shown to reinforce systemic biases and foster negative racial stereotypes against specific communities (Australian Press Council, 2022; Police Accountability Project, 2017).
- The Fallacy of Causal Links: Decades of criminological research demonstrate that there is no causal link between a person’s race or ethnicity and criminal behavior (Police Accountability Project, 2017). Including racial markers when a crime occurs within the same majority demographic provides no explanatory value to the public and violates the foundational journalistic principle of objective accuracy (Reuters, 2015).
Action Steps for Critical Media Consumption
- Analyze the Presence of Identifiers: When reading crime news, consciously check whether the race, nationality, or ethnicity of the individuals is mentioned, and evaluate if that information is genuinely necessary to understand the story or if it serves as sensationalism.
- Consult Formal Style Guides: Review public professional journalism frameworks, such as the Associated Press Stylebook or the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Guidelines for Racial Identification, to understand how professional editors determine what details are ethical to print.
- Diversify Information Sources: Consume balanced news reporting from public, state, or national broadcasting frameworks (such as the ABC, BBC, or Reuters) which adhere strictly to institutional codes of conduct regarding fair portrayal and non-discriminatory language.
Date
Monday, June 1, 2026, 8:07 PM AEST
Authors
Jianfa Tsai (https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1809-1686) in collaboration with Gemini AI Pro.
References
Australian Press Council. (2022). Guideline: Reporting of ‘race’. https://presscouncil.org.au/document/guideline-reporting-of-race
Police Accountability Project. (2017). Reporting crime and race: A short guide for journalists. https://policeaccountability.org.au/commentary/reporting-crime-and-race-a-short-guide-for-journalists/
Race Forward. (2011). Race reporting guide. https://www.raceforward.org/sites/default/files/Race%20Reporting%20Guide%20by%20Race%20Forward_V1.1.pdf
Radio Television Digital News Association. (2021). Guidelines for racial identification. https://www.rtdna.org/racial-identification
Reuters. (2015). Reuters handbook of journalism standards and values. Media Reform Coalition. https://www.mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Reuters_Handbook_of_Journalism.pdf