Diversity in the Media

Liam Cunningham

lc218118@ohio.edu

 

Journalists and media professionals should acknowledge the strength in which advertising and news coverage affects the public. The issue of diversity in this profession has been inspected for many years.

Diversity issues include race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or cultural practices. To this day, the number of white journalists outnumber other racial journalists. Many organizations in the industry lack a diverse staff.

The lack of representation of diversity results in several problems. According to Dale Willman, of Columbia University, the groups not reflected on a news organization's employee list does not have a seat, when news decisions are being made. This will lead to stories that are not recognized or reported. Also, when disadvantaged populations do not see people who look like them reporting, they are most likely to dismiss those news outlets. Knowing who your audience is, and representing diversity of the audience is critical. 

Picture source: mediatel.co.uk

How can newsrooms address a lack of diversity? The Columbia Journalism Review addresses the problem by acknowledging there is a problem, consciously working to overcome barriers, telling stories minorities want to read, and to focus on retention. 

First, before companies start hiring for diversity, they have to realize there is a problem. Encouraging different perspectives in the newsroom leads to an environment of different ideas and broader stories. 

Second, working to overcome barriers to entry plays a key role in this issue. The Columbia Journalism Review says,"It is easier to hire young journalists with better access to higher education, the means to take on an unpaid internship, and far-reaching social networks. And those journalists are typically white." It is hard to find reporters that vary their perspective, this is a challenge for a lot of companies. 

Third to addressing this issue, stories need to be told that the minorities want to hear. It is important that news outlets touch on every story no matter the diversity. Wilbert Cooper, a senior editor at Vice says "Our purpose is to protect people who cannot protect themselves, and to tell their stories, and to make situations better for them by fighting the powers that be illuminating the injustices that exist." 

Lastly, news organizations need to focus on retention. This means they need to be aware of the actions they need to take to get their customers to continue using their service. 

In conclusion, journalism is a field that is constantly growing and changing. Diversity within newsrooms is necessary due to the fact it leads to benefiting the community. It is important that we help create diversity within this profession.