The United States has engaged in military conflicts both honorable and questionable. Journalists have traveled to the front lines to produce stories and pictures both supportive and critical. A content analysis of images published in three U.S. newspapers during the start of the 1991 and 2003 wars with Iraq reveals that the military probably received the type of coverage it hoped for when it initiated the embedding program.

This content analysis of the pictures in three major magazines for an entire year for each of 11 sampled years in the 1937 through 1988 period shows that African Americans increased visibility from a low of 1.1% to a high of 8.8% of all photographs. This included the presence of African Americans on covers, in advertisements, sports, everyday life, and in other areas. The authors found the African-American photos could be grouped into periods of stereotyping (1937–1952), civil rights (1957–1972), and working within the system (1978–1988).

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In a study that analyzed more than 250,000 photographs, among the findings was that coverage of African-Americans had increased, but that the price for added visibility was an increase in stereotypical (crime, sports, and entertainment) content categories. This finding supported a previous study of magazines for a similar time period. It is concluded that journalists need to be sensitive to the needs of all members of a community and not merely those who subscribe.