Intended and Unintended Visitors: Evidencing the Audience for Digital Black Press Outlets

Abstract

Historically, the Black press has primarily targeted the African American audience, yet the increased accessibility of these outlets via digital media raises the question of who comprises the Black press audience online. Via an analysis of web metrics, I find that the non-Black audience for the digital Black press is larger than the Black audience. Also, interviews with Black press journalists and focus groups with Black press consumers, evidence that white readership of the Black press can be problematic when it reinforces stereotypes and invites trolling and beneficial when it increases advertising revenue and helps facilitate interracial understanding.