Newsrooms Today: Intellectually Diverse or Not?

Wytosick, Amber      aw238809@ohio.edu

The short answer? I genuinely think not. I have noticed a pattern when it comes to news stations over the last 10 years. Most have a relatively diverse looking reporters, but it is rare to find a group of reporters from an intellectually diverse news station. I don’t think it’s a secret that the very few news stations are still bipartisan. We currently have a conservative vs. liberal mentality in this country. One right, one left. However, they seem to have one thing in common—they do not allow the use of reporters that do not support their narrative. I’ve seen several situations that have proven this to be factual.  

 For example, let’s talk about Tomi Lahren. She’s a very conservative millennial, with a sharp tongue. She was working for The Blaze when she began making her highly opinionated videos. At some point, she was interviewed on The View, a mostly liberal program. Truthfully, I give Lahren credit for the interviews that she does. She has never had a problem being interviewed by those who oppose her views. During this particular interview, Lahren admitted to being pro-choice, stating that she believes in limited government, so believing the government should have a say in what women do with their bodies would be hypocritical. The Blaze’s anti-abortion owner, Glenn Beck, immediately suspended Lahren without pay, and ultimately terminated her. You can read her reaction here: https://www.courthousenews.com/tomi-lahren-speaks-theblaze-firing/

Lahren was eventually hired to do a segment for Fox Nation—only after she began working for a Super PAC that strongly support Donald Trump for president in 2016.  

Back in 2010, CNN anchor, Rick Sanchez, attempted to shine some light on the lack of actual diversity in the news… in the worst way possible. Instead of simply speaking about the very limited number of male Hispanic news anchors on the air, he accused Jon Stewart of being a bigot and said, “Everyone who runs CNN is a lot like [Jon] Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah.”  He was fired immediately. You can learn more about Sanchez’s firing here: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/business/media/02cnn.html

Modern journalism is starting to be a little frightening. Especially as I have been taking classes, such as my current class, that teach a code of ethics that seems to be thrown out the door on some major news programs. I can only hope for reform in the future.