The issue is stereotype threat, the media has created a condition of “fact” and once you’re aware of a negative fact you may experience it. I use the example of a study done on girls who had heard the statement “girls are not good at math,” vs Girls who had never heard this statement. Those ignorant of the statement did much better on their math exams than girls who had heard this stereotype. Part of the experiment then told girls who had not heard the stereotype, and retested.
Interesting insight.