Diversity is a Necessity: Why We Should Care about the Lack of Diversity in the Newsrooms

Kaelyn Walther

kw222519@ohio.edu

One of the most important parts of being in the newsroom is keeping up with the times. As the times have changed throughout the years, newsrooms have had to adapt to changes in society and what has been and is socially acceptable. One of those changes is incorporating and adding more people of color into the newsroom so that there is no appropriating of stories. 

In these instances where a newsroom is predominantly made up of white journalists, there tends to be a lack of information or disregard for information in general. In an article from The Guardian, Jelani Cobb says, "Conversations around diversity in media have tended to focus on cozy necessities." They then go on to say that diversity and inclusion are often in the same racial vocabulary. I agree with these two points as they have become increasingly obvious in this generation specifically. Recently, however, racial vocabulary and racial discussions have become more personal and more outwardly descriptive. Within the past few years specifically there has been less "fluff" about important topics for people of color such as systemic racism. 

Another large topic that has come into mainstream media in recent years has been that of stereotyping in the media. Personally, I have seen many stereotypes in the mainstream media from the more radical sides of media such as popular television programs. These programs such as CNN and Fox News show more stereotypes and also use radical journalism to further portray these stereotypes to the masses. I have also seen, however, a push for journalists to understand how stereotypes further divide populations and why it is important to look past these stereotypes. 

Source: Columbia Journal Review

In this diagram, it touches on the low percentage rates of people of color coming into places of authority within the newsroom. This was interesting to me because of the vast difference it creates in a work environment especially when there is an overabundance of power on one side when there needs to be equal opportunities. 

This lack of diversity has led to overuse of stereotyped scenarios such as high crime rates in predominantly African-American neighborhoods and gang violence within mostly Hispanic neighborhoods. An article from Nieman Reports says, "We media types tend to cast blacks as the poster child for far too many of society's ills." This basically says that journalists will use these stereotypical problems within these communities as a way of showing how badly the situations have become without looking past the stereotypes. Once journalists can understand that there is more than just stereotypes within these horrendous scenarios such as, poor schooling, poor funding, or poor protection, there will be a surge in news stories about problems and how to solve them, and not just stating the problem without offering solution. 

In regards to diversity as a necessity, when there is a stark power dynamic there are no boundaries to what is appropriate and inappropriate in regards to comments and who holds respect. When I think of how many topics deal with racial issues that are covered by someone who does not understand or could not properly relate to the situation, it furthers the notions of stereotyping because there is no accountability held against the writers who incorrectly report on a subject. 

I think diversity is a necessity in the newsroom because of how many topics there are to cover that a predominantly white newsroom would not cover or would not cover correctly. I also believe in this because of need for other perspectives and other voices in a few of the more prevalent subjects in today's age.