Productive media analysis is like an iceberg, argues Robert Ferguson. The vast bulk beneath the water is the intellectual, historical, and analytical base without which media may become superficial mechanical or glib. This text argues that the study of "race" and the media cannot be seriously undertaken engaging with theories of ideology and without awareness of contemporary theoretical work, such as approaches to Orientalism and critical discourse analysis. Drawing on examples from newspapers, film, radio, and television, Ferguson demonstrates the dose relationships between representations of "normality" and racism. Providing an overview and assessment of existing research in the area, the book is a challenge to intellectual complacency and a warning against the temptation to normalize the very term "race."