Racism in the Newsroom

Carlee Swartz

cs331016@ohio.edu

If you take a close observation at most major news broadcast stations, you will find that the majority of the employee staff of these organizations are white and mostly males. The question that still lingers is why diversity is still lacking in today's society. The problem with this has translated into stories that are being covered. 

The problem with gang-related violence has become a big problem in the poor neighborhoods of urban areas. Murder, robberies, and other crimes have been covered in the news by these local city news stations. When these stories are covered, the suspects are mostly Black individuals. Although these crimes are relevant crime stories, the question that arises is if these stories are being put into the media too often in which it is creating a stereotype. 

The majority of white journalists working at these city news stations could have something to do with the neglect of other stories being covered that don't involve Black people. Without diversity in our news stories, we create a stereotype platform that leads to racism from the public. Instead of sharing successful and positive news stories involving Blacks, we are shown the negatives. It's hard to say if more Blacks are working in the news department, that this would be the case. 

In an article about race in the newsroom, a quote says “But this will require journalists to look squarely at how professional journalism fails to explain historical forms of racial exclusion and, in its inability to confront its own enduring whiteness, helps to reproduce, even in its liberal critique of white nationalism, unremitting forms of white privilege.” (Merrefield) White privilege hasn't just existed in the newsroom, it has existed in the workplace as a whole. Executives that are high up in companies have been statistically mostly white men. This has been a commonality for decades as the white male has been labeled as more dominant and intelligent compared to women or those of color.

                    

Picture source: https://www.newsleaders.org/nla-updates/2019-asne-newsroom-diversity-survey-visualizations-now-available

                      

                

"We media types tend to cast blacks as the poster children for far too many of society’s ills. Not because it’s the truth, but because it fits the familiar trope and it’s convenient to think inside the box. " (Turner). The quote from this article hits spot on about how it's easier to assume the suspects' identity to be something we are used to seeing in the media rather than diving deeper into the facts.

The future of creating a more diverse atmosphere in the newsroom is vital to changing the way we broadcast news. Without the perspective of people from all ethnicity, we are blind to the wrong doings of covering stories involving stereotypes. The importance of broadcasting crime to your local community is still there and must continue to inform the public, but in a way that doesn't lead back to the manner of racial stereotyping.