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A few years ago an editor speaking at an industry convention decried the state of diversity in the nation’s newsrooms. Racial diversity, he complained, did not necessarily equal intellectual diversity. "We’ve hired people of color, but they’ve gone to the same schools and come from the same class and end up sounding the same as the other journalists in the room so we don’t really end up with true diversity," he said. Ethnic journalist conventions, on the other hand, are replete with discussions decrying the inability of the nation’s newsrooms to integrate the voices and visions of journalists of color. Differing Views According to two recent studies, this disconnect is reflective of the very different ways journalists of color and white newsroom managers view the industry. Both the 2001 McCormick Fellows Survey: Do We Check it at the Door and the American Society of Newspaper Editor’s survey of the 13 studies of journalists of color done during the last 12 years, help illuminate the gap between the perceptions of white editors and the frustrations of journalists of color. The surveys are particularly significant because they come at a time when the number of journalists of color in the nation’s newsrooms is dwindling for the first time since ASNE began its annual newsroom census 23 years ago. According to its 2001 census the number of journalists of color working at daily newspapers dropped from 11.85 percent to 11.64 percent. Concurrently, U.S. census figures showed the nation was becoming more diverse than ever before. Given the economic downturn that has hit the industry and resulted in numerous buyouts and layoffs, many are expecting to see a further decline in journalists of color when the next survey is released at ASNE’s meeting in April 2002. Careful What You Say The McCormick Fellows Survey, which polled the 29 minority media executive participants of the fellows program during the last three years, helps editors understand why the diversity of their newsrooms is not always reflected in the diversity of their coverage. In it, more than 50 percent of the respondents said that their corporate culture had taught them to couch what they said to their white colleagues. "You must choose your topics and select your opinions because if you speak your mind, you will be viewed as an angry black man," said one fellow. All of the comments were anonymous. According to another fellow, "I can’t talk about racial issues with most of my colleagues. They don’t get it, they’re uncomfortable." At the same time, the ASNE analysis shows that there is little agreement between the way black journalists and white managers view their organizations commitment to retaining and promoting black journalists. NABJ Study Results Referring to a 1993 NABJ study, the authors of the ASNE analysis note: ‘Even more importantly, the NABJ study revealed an amazingly wide gap between the perceptions of African American journalists and newsroom managers with respect to issues of advancement." According to the study, 94 percent of newsroom managers surveyed thought managers in their newsrooms showed a commitment to retaining and promoting black journalists, while only 29 percent of NABJ members agreed. Some might argue that it is hard to feel safe voicing diverse points of view if you think your organization shows little commitment to that viewpoint. The studies, are only the beginning. Now it is time for journalists of color and white journalists to begin talking across the racial fault lines with the goal of at least learning to be comfortable discussing alternate points of view. (That might have made a real difference for the editor, whose name has long been forgotten, though his remarks remain memorable for how far they differed the experiences of those I know.) In a less guarded environment someone might have quickly explained how two people going to Harvard College at the same time could have vastly different experiences depending on their race or ethnicity. When those conversations are as routine as are the studies of why journalists of color leave the business, then news managers may see the diversity of their newsrooms reflected in their news organization’s coverage.
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