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The following are tested techniques designed to achieve and manage diversity in business departments of daily newspapers. They are drawn from the experiences of many newspapers—large and small, group-owned and independent—from every region of the United States. Establish Internship Programs 1. METPRO.biz, sponsored by Tribune, Los Angeles, assists minorities with getting internships and permanent positions on the business side of the industry. The program, which deputed in 1998, is modeled after the successful METPRO (Minority Editorial Training Program). The three associates who participated in the pilot program have been placed in managerial positions at The Sun in Baltimore. 2. The Houston Chronicle recruits a diverse pool of interns for its summer internship program. The program includes advertising, marketing, information systems, production and circulation components. At the end of the summer, the interns' boss, photographs as well as their school, major and intended date of graduation, are published in an intern directory. The paper circulates the directory among The Hearst Newspaper Corp., New York. 3. The Seattle Times sponsored the Blethen Family Newspaper Intern Program for minorities. The program offers qualified journalism graduates the opportunity to intern with several Blethen family newspapers for one year. 4. The Des Moines Register holds "sensitivity" meetings with the local minority community to discuss the newspaper's coverage of minority issues. In addition, the paper offers a college scholarship to a student in the minority community. 5. The Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat has also formed a diversity committee to address issues in the workplace and continue the momentum for diversity at the newspaper. The committee drafted a diversity statement and is currently in the process of negotiating with executives to get it displayed in the lobby and published in the newspaper. 6. The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser has an employee-organized diversity committee that does periodic reviews of each department's attainment of diversity employment. The paper also offers at-risk pay for executives to meet their diversity goals. 7. Tucson Newspapers Inc. diversity committee meets monthly to coordinate and organize activities for employees. Activities they have planned include a Cinco de Mayo celebration that featured a mariachi band along with food and an educational flyer explaining the history of the event. The newspapers also had a Juneteenth celebration. The paper is planning to sponsor a diversity week in 1999. 8. The Miami Herald/ El Nuevo Herald Committee on Fairness and Diversity is a cross-functional, cross-cultural group whose mission is to serve the organization as a resource for information, a catalyst for change, and an advocate of dialogue and openness on issues of diversity and fairness. 9. The News & Observer, Raleigh, has a Diversity Steering team that works to educate employees about cultural differences and to create an inclusive environment. The paper also sponsors Diversity Awareness workshops, which are critiqued by the Diversity Steering team. Reach out to community/ local colleges 10. The New Haven Register keeps the leaders in the minority community apprised of job openings at their paper through regular mailings. 11. The Detroit Newspapers established relations with college placement officials in their region. When job opportunities come up, they fax job posting announcements to a source list of more than 130 colleges and universities, professional, minority and community organizations, and alumni groups. 12. The San Francisco Newspaper Agency lists its employment openings with a number of agencies that cater to a variety of populations. The agency is also a co-sponsor and a participant in the Bay Area Urban League annual career fair. 13. The Charlotte Observer recruits a diverse applicant pool by distributing a weekly job list to various groups and organizations in the city. The paper also makes sure to participate in a number of local job fairs. 14. The Charlotte Observer offers two $500 minority scholarships each year to graduating seniors (a journalism student and a business-side candidate). In addition the newspaper provides summer internships for graduating high school seniors and college students in its business operations through its own recruiting efforts and by working in partnership with a local chapter of the national organization INROADS. 15. The Kansas City Star works with the government-sponsored Full Employment Council. The Full Employment Council works with individuals to teach them a skills set and then sets them up for interviews with different companies. According to John Shaw, the employment representative at the Star, approximately 90 percent of the individuals the Full Employment Council works with are minority. The Kansas City Star has been able to hire roughly 40 business-side people using their services. 16. Because the minority population is so low in central Pennsylvania (7 percent in Centre County), the Centre Daily Times in State College partners with other institutions and organizations to recruit people of minority cultures. For example, the newspaper works with Penn State University to advertise job openings in the Multicultural Affairs office and to select interns for the Knight Ridder summer minority internship program. 17. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution has a scholarship program that pays the full tuition for up to four years for a minority student. Initially the program was set up to encourage students to pursue the editorial side of the industry. Now the program has been expanded to include business students as well. Participate in job fairs 18. The Detroit Newspapers created a recruitment brochure that they use to attract talent at job fairs. The brochure gives readers a glance into the Detroit Joint Operational Agreement and information on both the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News. It also contains a description of each department in the news operation including advertising, finance, human resources, information systems and more. 19. The Spirit of Diversity Job Conference is co-hosted every year by the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News. Sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America and American Society of Newspaper Editors, the event is geared toward college students and recent graduates; recruiters from both the business and editorial sides participate. 20. The American Society of Newspaper Editors, along with NAA, sponsor at least eight regional minority job fairs each year. Talented young minority journalists and business students attend the industry-wide job fairs to find out about entry-level positions and internships. Each job fair is hosted by a local newspaper or journalism education organization. Workshops are held for the students and recruiters. 21. The Virginia Press Association and the Pennsylvania Press Association co-sponsor an ASNE/NAA regional job fair every year. The associations alternate planning and host responsibilities each year. This way both groups have the benefit of an annual regional job fair. Establish training 22. In addition to The Hattiesburg (Miss.) American's diversity committee, the paper has also established a management/ leadership program for which individuals at the newspaper are nominated to participate. Through this program they identify employees for potential promotion. The program places emphasis on women and minorities. 23. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a new co-op program that enables them to look at their own backyard for talented individuals to pursue information technology. The program teaches non-IT professionals IT skills. The Journal Sentinel initially found it difficult to fill positions in the IT department because many who were applying didn't have the skills needed. The human resources department partnered with a local technical college to teach the courses. The program is aimed heavily at women and minorities. 24. Gannett's Newspaper Division has several fast track, two-year or three-year "specialist" programs for college grads in which diversity is a key component. The first —Circulation Specialists —was launched in 1990. Of the 42 specialists hired that year, 36 percent were minorities. Each specialist spends a year at three different Gannett newspapers learning specific skills and management approaches. The program has been so successful at integrating diversity that the company has launched similar programs in finance and information systems. 25. The New York Times has designed a formal process to plot the career path for their employees. They believe the formal process will be a critical tool in their efforts to position more minorities for advancement to senior executive positions. 26. The NAA New Media Minority Fellowships are designed to give women and minority newspaper professionals a strong working knowledge of new media and its relevant applicants in the newspaper industry. Commit to a plan 27. The St. Petersburg Times has a diversity plan in which every department commits to implementing one to three strategies that will move the newspaper forward in its efforts. The strategies should fall into one of three categories: * Recruiting and retaining high-performing staffers; * Creating an inclusive work environment; * Ensuring an inclusive relationship with the community, especially the readers and advertisers. The paper has a total of 24 strategies that it monitors and reviews on a quarterly basis. 28. Vice presidents at The Miami Herald present the "state of diversity" in their respective operating divisions at the annual diversity review coordinated by the Committee on Fairness and Diversity (CFD). The reports are presented to directors, vice presidents and the 30-member CFD, and feature division demographics as well as information about activities and programs that foster an inclusive work environment. Accomplishments, disappointments and goals are shared. Use technology 29. The Detroit Newspapers also use telecommunications as well as the Internet to reach potential job candidates. They have established their own Web site to post job announcements. They also established a 24-hour job hotline that provides up-to-date information on job opportunities. 30. The National Diversity Newspaper Job Bank, sponsored by NAA, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, and its parent company, Morris Communications, includes the nation's most comprehensive list of journalism openings on the Internet (www.newsjobs.com). Anyone can use it, though extra efforts are made to publicize the job bank to women and minorities. The job bank features business as well as editorial listings at newspapers. Take ideas from the journalism side 31. The Hearst Newspaper Corporation sponsored the Hearst Newspaper Fellowships. The program's objective is to recruit, train and retain journalists of diverse backgrounds. The participants are college graduates with experience or background in journalism or a related field. They are paid to work at Hearst Newspapers during the two-year program. 32. Four times a year the American Society of Newspaper Editors publishes a section on innovative diversity efforts and "best practices" in the Editors Exchange newsletter. Offer diversity training for employees 33. Company-wide and specially focused diversity training is presented at The Miami Herald/ El Nuevo Herald. Education for senior executives has included a series of sessions about cultural archetypes designed to help these leaders manage their work relationships with women and people of color more effectively. 34. For the past three years, The Charlotte Observer has been offering training classes to educate employees about diversity. In 1996 the paper started with a mandatory, six-hour class focusing on race and gender. The class illustrated various situations that people are faced with every day and how their experiences differ based on his/ her race and/ or gender. They followed up with a class focusing on sexual orientation and being mindful of words that may be hurtful to others. They have also sponsored the course, "He Says, She Says," gender communications. 35. NAA has a diversity training program titled "Train the Trainer" that gives newspaper companies the capability to conduct diversity awareness training. This program ensured that a greater number of individuals are trained, giving newspapers the flexibility to schedule training to meet their own needs. Most importantly, it affords newspapers the ability to train newcomers whenever they experience staff turnover. 36. The San Jose Mercury News sponsors diversity classes for their employees. Topics that have been covered include Diversity Is Good Business, Communication Through a Diversity Lens, Dealing with Conflict in a Diverse Environment, Interviewing Through a Diverse Lens and Managing the Work Performance of Diverse Groups. 37. The Seattle Times has implemented training programs for their employees including two-day Explorations in Diversity Training and Mandatory Bias Free Training. In addition to training, the paper has departmental committees that focus on diversity. Set up mentoring programs for new employees 38. The New York Times has redesigned its new-employee orientation program to add several critical components. One component, which is most directly related to diversity retention, is the new peer advisor program. The Times selects individuals in the same department and at the same level, but not in the same working group as the new hire. These individuals are selected based on their people skills and knowledge about the organization. The advisor is trained and paired with the new hire during their first week of employment. They are expected to have lunch with the new hire during the first week, stay in touch with the new employee for the first six months and be available for coaching and counseling. 39. The New York Times has also created a new position to focus on the company's retention efforts. The career manager reports directly to the vice president of Human Resources. When new employees are hired, the career manager contacts them and guides them through the initial period of adjustment. He is also responsible for helping the new employees to navigate through spots with supervisors and managers. The career manager also works with veterans who feel their careers have stalled, while determining what other opportunities are available in the company. Exit interviews 40. The New York Times learned a lot about employee retention through their exit interviews. Although the lessons were learned after the loss of an employee, the Times has been able to use the serious and constructive debriefings to learn a number of specifics about areas in need of improvement. The process has enabled them to better focus on the issues that discourage minorities from staying at the Times. Grow your own talent 41. The Advanced Journalism program is the result of an agreement between NAA and Junior Achievement. It is designed to help high school students understand how newspapers operate and increase their awareness of career opportunities in the industry. The program partners the local newspaper, a high school and the JA affiliate. The program has allowed the newspapers that have participated to develop lasting relationships with the students at the local high schools. 42. The Seattle Times Urban Newspaper Workshop is a two-week residential program for high school juniors and seniors who are minorities. During the program they learn about key issues in the Seattle area, develop skills for publishing a newspaper which is distributed to all local high schools and gain insights into their own capabilities. In addition to a journalism track, there is an advertising marketing track, and personnel from circulation and advertising provide insights into the students' work environments. 43. The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News sponsors a summer minority intern program that focuses on youth ages 14 to 16. They started the program after realizing that their talented intern recruits from across the nation were not returning to the Daily News to work, but rather leaving for careers in bigger markets. By focusing on high school students in their own backyard, the Daily News is able to attract new faces to the industry and develop talent that has a keen interest in returning to work at their hometown paper. Many of the students in the program have returned to take full-time positions. Welcome minority applicants 44. The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, along with the local National Association of Black Journalists chapter, has put together a newcomers' guide which they distribute to African American applicants. The package includes statements from minority employees regarding their experiences at the Times-Union and the Jacksonville area. Included in the package is information about local businesses, churches, hair salons, etc. that are located in Jacksonville. African American employees also list their contact information in case the applicant has any questions after the interview. 45. One way in which The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., recruits minority applicants is by attending local community meetings, churches and ethnic restaurants to get the word out. It also has pulled together a guide that lists possible translators in many departments of the newspaper to assist a reporter with such a need. Award diversity efforts 46. The Seattle Times awards diversity within their organization by giving the annual Diversity Leadership award to individuals who take a leadership role in promoting an inclusive work environment. They have also developed a newsletter, Diversity Works, which is incorporated into the bimonthly employee newsletter. Learn from other industries 47. Bozell Worldwide, the eighth largest advertising communications holding company in the United States has an adopt-a-school program. They have adopted Delaware State University. The school is in close proximity of the company's New York office, which means many of the students are from the area. Since the school does not have an advertising curriculum, Bozell Worldwide has committed to helping them develop one. During the summer, interns from the university participate in the multicultural advertising internship program. 48. Pitney Bowes runs a scholarship program with three universities for women and minorities to study engineering. Students who participate in the program also serve as interns during the summer. 49. Many corporations recruit successfully by advertising in other mediums. In addition to posting your opening in your own classified section, purchase ad space in the local weekly and ethnic publications. This type of advertising is very specific and makes the candidate feel as though your paper is reaching out to find someone in the minority community. Work together 50. Establish ties with a larger/ small newspaper in your region and set up a feeder system. Share the success stories of employees who have worked at your paper and moved on to larger organizations and worked their way to the top. |