ml662610@ohio.edu
Diversity is a hot topic of conversation in various sectors, and at times a point of tension.
I agree with Director of Communications and several editors at The New Republic, Annie Augustine, when she said in an interview with Buzzfeed, "A diverse newsroom is inclusive not just of racial and ethnic minorities, but also of women, gays and lesbians, and people form various socioeconomic backgrounds."
When we cement the word diversity to one aspect of the definition, we begin to lose the true meaning of the word.
In 2013, President Obama addressed the many meanings of diversity in his inaugural address. Diversity makes the world beautiful and rich in knowledge and power, so why is finding or putting diversity in the newsroom so difficult?
There are "little" women in the newsroom
Even though women have more representation in the newsroom than ever before, there's still a lack of women holding leadership roles in the news industry. According to a study conducted by Huffington Post, 50 years ago there was barely one woman in newsroom. Today's numbers have hit a 14 year stagnate of women only making up 38% of the newsroom. Former President of ABC News, David Westin, told Huffington Post, people tend to hire people like themselves. Newsroom managers have to strive to overcome natural tendencies of hiring similar people, and must push to look outside who they are personally when hiring others.
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| mediabistro.com |
A news hailstorm started when The New York Times fired its first female executive Jill Abramson in 2014. Many news outlets reported the oust of Abramson was after she tried to hire another female editor in the newsroom, and for various other reasons. Abramson was quickly replaced by Dean Baquet, the first African American to serve as executive editor. A 2013 study by Poynter shows, NYT quotes 3.4 times as many men as women in stories. A lack of diversity can create persuasion and represent less voices in stories, causing the media to lose value and the truth to be skewed. Doesn't that challenge journalism ethics?
A lack of minorities in the newsroom
A 2013 study from the Pew Research Center showed two years ago, minority journalists accounted for 12% of the total newspaper workforce in the newsroom. The study also revealed small newspapers are less likely to employ minority journalists. At small circulation newspapers, minorities represent 6% of the newsroom. However, large circulation newsrooms employ less than 20% of minorities, which is considerably higher than the overall industry. According to an American Society of News Editors survey, 38,000 journalist work at 1,400 newspapers and 4,700 are minorities. On average three non-white journalist work at each newsroom.
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| pewsocialtrends.org |
Recently, about 5,000 new digital jobs hit the employment landscape, which is a great opportunity to increase journalistic diversity. The Multicultural Economic report shows Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and Native Americans control more than $1 trillion of consumer spending. This is a large portion of people who will want to consume news. This is an opportunity to hire minority journalists into leadership roles, and reconnect with Americans through ethical news, as well as, spread new and old media.
Why it matters
1. You need diversity to get different viewpoints in the editorial process. Americans feel they are not seeing themselves, their lives, and their cultures represented properly.
2. Diversity improves the quality and credibility of American journalism.
3. Diversity spreads access to underrepresented communities.
4. Excellence and fairness can co-exist in the media.
5. Diverse journalism contributes to broader topics, such as finance, global affairs and national security.
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