In the past year, the United States has gone through some things. We are still in the grips of a global pandemic, have seen levels of social unrest skyrocket, and watched a failed insurrection at our Capital.
When events like these happen, we look to the news to relay what the experts are saying, and to bring us live coverage or tell us unbiased stories. Yet, when the people who bring us the news are not representing the diverse audience of the general public, are we actually hearing the whole story?
As we try to navigate through these uncertain times, heal the divisiveness in our nation, and ensure we are hearing accurately represented stories, one of the biggest steps we can take is to add more diversity to our newsrooms.
As cited by the Columbia Journalism Review, “According to the Census Bureau, racial and ethnic minorities comprise almost 40 percent of the US population, yet they make up less than 17 percent of newsroom staff at print and online publications, and only 13 percent of newspaper leadership.”
That’s a large disparity, especially when the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) convened back in 1979 to promise that the amount of racial and ethnic minorities in newsrooms would accurately reflect that of the population by 2020.
There are a number of issues when it comes to the reasons for a lack of diversity in journalism. The root of the problem stems from the ways that people tend to enter the profession – traditionally through a degree from a college or university, or an unpaid internship at a publication. For most people who are not financially stable, one or both of these avenues can be exceedingly difficult to achieve. Another issue lies in the fact that most job openings are never posted to the public, but instead made available through the networks developed by higher education or internships. And since people have a tendency to affiliate with others who share similar demographics, the routine hiring based on word of mouth tends to lead to managers hiring more of the same, rather than choosing from a diverse pool of applicants.
Minorities who are hired tend to receive the least amount of mentoring, advancements into management, and when newsrooms (or just about any other company for that matter) are forced to cut staff, they are often the first to go. With many news agencies just trying to survive the evolution from print to digital and the lost revenue that’s accompanied it, the achievement of diversity seems to have gotten stuck on the sidelines, but there are many reasons why diversity should be a top priority.
When your background, characteristics, and experiences are similar to that of everyone around you, it limits the perspective you can have.
One reason is that the lack of diversity can also lead to other woes, because when your background, characteristics, and experiences are similar to that of everyone around you, it limits the perspective you can have. And no matter how unintentional, these limits create bias and leave plenty of room open for confusion. Biases and confusion can cause mistakes during broadcasts or lead to poorly written headlines, prompting severe backlash, especially on social media. Some instances include BBC showing an image of LeBron James during a news broadcast about the Kobe Bryant helicopter accident, or The Hollywood Reporter blatantly forgetting to add any women of color to its list of top female actresses in cinema, nor can we forget the infamous 2014 KTLA interview when Samuel L. Jackson was mistaken for Laurence Fishburne live on air.
With the blowback that social media resentment can have on an already struggling company, it is imperative that newsrooms diversify for their own good, and identifying the patterns that allow for these disparities are key to changing the culture that has allowed them to occur in the first place.
Among the many agencies who have started implementing diversity and inclusion in staff and management, one company who has seen a profound impact from their initiatives is Vox Media. By conducting formal training in diversity and inclusion for management, tracking diversity among staff, finding out why people leave the company, and executing quarterly surveys to measure feelings of inclusion, Vox has seen the percentage of minority employees double in the last five years.
Unfortunately, for many other companies, progress seems to be at a snails pace and more action is greatly needed, especially from leadership. Those at the top need to not only recognize, but value the importance of having a diverse staff rich in backgrounds and experiences.
When the news is shared from a broad range of people, it ultimately leads to a more fulfilling experience for a mosaic audience who identify not just with the stories, but with the storytellers. And when events of the century seem to occur everyday, having a varied perspective in the news can lead to greater audience engagement, retention, and trust in knowing that we are getting the full picture.
The following sources were cited in this post:
- Arana, G. (2018). Decades of Failure. In Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved from https://www.cjr.org/special_report/race-ethnicity-newsrooms-data.php
- Frost, S. (2020, January 27). The Importance Of Diversity In The Newsroom. In Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/sfrost/2020/01/27/the-importance-of-diversity-in-the-newsroom/?sh=280d15893132
- Kovac-Ashley, A. (2021). Diversity and inclusivity in journalism. In American Press Institute. Retrieved from https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/diversity-programs/
Lisa G Alford 