How are the perceptions of the majority culture, the `preferred readings', reflected in television news? How do they reinforce stereotyped attitudes on race? This interpretive analysis presents evidence of racism, including under-representation, within news texts. The author examines the values, traditions and practices of news production that, often unconsciously, serve to maintain the alienation of racial groups in society. While the focus is on local television news in the United States, Race, Myth and the News has a broad relevance to studies of culture and race.