Archetypes, Stereotypes and Media Representation in a Multi-cultural Society

One of the challenges for a multi-cultural society is how to foster effective intercultural, or inter-group, relations. Since some members of a large country may have little to no interaction with some of the other groups in their society, mediated images may be the only way they can learn about each other. Thus, the media have a powerful role to play, and need to ensure that they neither continually reinforce negative stereotypes nor omit representation of all co-cultures in the mediated world. This paper discusses the problem and proposes one possible solution.