The Media and The Mob — Ron Quartararo

The Media & the Mob: Exploring the Mafia Mystique is a fascinating look at the world of media stereotyping. Its a complex issue, shaped in large part my misperceptions, the need, at times, to hype stories for promotional purposes, and by some insensitivities incurred by writers in their haste to get stories completed. This book examines one of the most pervasive ethnic stereotypes that of Italians and Italian Americans and organized crime. While ethnic stereotyping is certainly not the sole province of Italians, it has certainly been one of the most prevalent in both entertainment and news media alike. In this book Quartararo has given the reader an inside look into the mindset of a large news media organization and the process it used for vetting news stories, along with insights into the perceptions and misperceptions that can be created in how news stories are packaged and presented. While this meeting between Italian American representatives from academia, politics and the community at large and high level television broadcast news executives at took place 30 years ago, the discussion is as relevant today as it was then! Both sides came away with a better understanding and appreciation of the other. We hope the reader will do the same.