to manifest is as “white normative objectivity.” White normative objectivity is described as centering the white lens when reporting about marginalized communities, reinforcing stereotypes and downplaying the effects of structural racism. Scholars have observed that it can emphasize the otherness of communities of color through stories chosen for shock value or sensation while ignoring the humanity of these communities. White normative objectivity has also been criticized for embracing a form of neutrality or “both-sides-ism” that obscures harm from dominant society by individualizing institutional inequalities and lacking any critique of power dynamics that historically favor white people. The Missouri School of Journalism outlined several criticisms of news coverage of minorities, saying that most news channels do not show people of color within the context of their communities, portray them as either enablers, criminals or victims, and do not show how the entire community is impacted by the crime. Furthermore, there is an overemphasis on atypical behavior that portrays communities of color in a constant state of crisis and not enough coverage on the average day-to-day lifestyles in their communities. Covert racism has also been said to manifest in the lack of diversity within the newsroom, with a 2022 survey saying that 52% of US journalists think their newsroom lacks racial diversity. I Though minorities are not legally barred from the newsroom, many diversity surveys of newsrooms show that white men are still disproportionately represented both as journalists and as higher management, seeing as in 2017, it was found that minorities only made up about 16.55% of the workforce in news media organizations, and 85.1% of TV news directors were white. Retention of minority reporters is also still an issue. Many reporters of color cite the lack of diversity as negatively affecting their time in the newsroom, with many speaking about their experience with microaggressions, lack of promotions, and pay gaps. The manner in which racism is discussed in news coverage can also contribute to the “debatability” or “plausible deniability” of racism. Currently, overt forms of racism are looked down upon in greater society, so criticizing minority groups usually happens within coded language and actions that can be denied to be truly racist. In covering stories about race, some methods in which the debatability of racism is perpetuated include avoidance of any pointed language about race or racism, denying or debating what actions can be counted as racism, as well as confining