Diversity

Introduction by
Willie Chriesman

Diversity is a good thing.

It is something we’ve heard for decades now and are occasionally reminded of as we cover the news in our communities. But as the years wear on, the mantra begins to ring hollow. It falls into the category of directives like “drive safely” or “eat right.” Sure they are things that are good for us, but there is little guidance offered on how to execute them.

The purpose of this toolkit is to equip you with information on why diversity is important and with practical ways to apply it to your daily work. But before you start using this toolkit, we should think about exactly what we mean when we talk about diversity in the newsroom and in your coverage.

Historical Background

Sparked by the turbulence of the 1960s, newsroom diversity began as an initiative about race. With the civil unrest that exploded in some communities, it became startlingly evident that most of those assigned by mainstream media to report on it did not look like the people they were covering, nor did they understand some of the deep-rooted causes for their actions. That led to debates both internal and external about how well minorities were represented in the nation’s newsrooms and eventually to the first significant numbers of people of color entering the workforce.

In the time since that initial push, the audience composed of people of color has grown substantially, and there has been evidence of some progress made in the hiring of minority staffers over the decades. At the same time, the notion of who should be included under the umbrella of diversity has expanded.

Diversity in Electronic Journalism

Over the years the RTNDA, with help from Ball State University, has been tracking the number of minorities in broadcast newsrooms. In television, the percentage of minorities working in local television news last year rose to the second-highest level ever and the percentage of minorities working in local radio news was down.  The percentage of minority TV news directors was 13.2 percent, up from 12 percent the year before. In radio, the percentage of minority news directors was 4.4 percent. 

The diversity of the newsroom does matter.  But as important as a diverse newsroom is, what’s important to viewers and listeners is whether they are being represented in the coverage of their world, their community and their issues. Do stories about crime, the economy, politics and health, stories that can affect everyone, reflect the diversity of the community being served?

When you do general stories such as weather, gas prices or holiday shopping, do you make it a point to reflect diversity when you interview people on the street? Do you engage in a dialogue with your audience through focus groups, town hall meetings or community advisory boards to determine what’s really important to them or do residents believe they only see your cameras when something bad happens in their neighborhoods?

Making sure your news appeals to a wide audience is no longer simply the right thing to do. It is rapidly becoming a matter of survival. As new technologies threaten to erode the audience for broadcast news, every listener and every viewer counts. Using this toolkit, and being aggressive about addressing this challenge, may be what keeps your newsroom ahead of the rest.

However, as we consider diversity and how news organizations embrace it, we have to take the issue beyond the boundaries of race and ethnicity. As journalists addressing a general audience, we need to be aware of and sensitive to issues involving religious minorities, the gay community, the disabled, the poor, seniors and other groups.

Look around your newsroom. Is it filled with people of similar educational and economic backgrounds? Do you tend to think alike politically? Do you share similar values and see issues in similar ways? Are most people close in age? If that’s the case, you have a diversity concern within your organization that goes beyond the issue of race.

How to Address the Broader Diversity Issue

There are ways to address this broader diversity issue that cost nothing. They include:

• Using this toolkit.
• Using the Internet to solicit feedback from your audience and develop interactive ways to engage them in the editorial process.
• Using resources available at your station to know who your audience is and what its needs and interests are. Chances are both the news department and the sales department have conducted audience research and have information on your viewers. Ask management to share it with you so you can do a better job of reaching that audience.

Those who think talking about diversity is just another form of political correctness miss the point. Real diversity is not designed to be overly fair to one group by being unfair to another. It is not meant to stifle debate but to encourage dialogue and the lively exchange of ideas critical to a vibrant democracy like ours.

Let’s be practical. You are not going to squeeze every minority or interest group into every story. The goal of this toolkit is to force you to think about who your audiences are and consider whether you are doing the best job possible to make sure their interests and concerns are being addressed in your coverage of issues that affect them.

As a journalist and as an employee of your news organization, you have many responsibilities. One of your primary obligations is to serve the needs of your audience, an audience that is rapidly changing and becoming more diverse in race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, income and a number of other demographic factors. Serving this audience effectively makes good business sense and makes for good journalism. The case studies and videos that make up this Diversity Toolkit will help you address this very important issue.