eBook - 2006 News in a New America

A Report for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Lehrman, the nationaldiversity chair for the Societyof Professional Journalists,is an award-winning inde-

pendent journalist who covers medicine andscience policy.

She has written for a wide range ofpublications including Scientific American,Health, Salon.com, Nature, AlternativeMedicine, The Washington Post and the LosAngeles Times. For 13 years she coveredAIDS, biotechnology, health policy andbusiness as a columnist and reporter at TheSan Francisco Examiner.

Lehrman was part of a team that receiveda 2002 Peabody Award for a series of publicradio documentaries on human genetics.The group also received a Peabody/RobertWood Johnson Award for excellence in healthand medical programming and the 1999Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Silver Baton. In1995-96, she was a John S. Knight Fellow atStanford University.

She is a USC Annenberg Institute forJustice and Journalism Expert Fellow and isactive in several organizations that promotediversity in the media. SPJ lauded her workin this area with its highest honor, theWells Memorial Key.

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NEWS IN A NEW AMERICA

This book examines news coverage of a changing America. Itwas commissioned in early 2004 by the John S. and James L.Knight Foundation as a fresh perspective on the issue of newsand newsroom diversity. The book also includes a guide to avariety of diversity programs and resources and the results ofthree surveys showing trends among American journalists andin newspaper and broadcast newsrooms.

Significant research support for the appendices was providedby Knight Chair in Journalism Stephen K. Doig of the WalterCronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication atArizona State University, as well as Bill Dedman of TheTelegraph in Nashua, N.H., Bob Papper of Ball State University,Amanda Elliott of the Robert C. Maynard Institute forJournalism Education and Kira Wisniewski of the University ofMiami. Feedback on the narrative was provided by TeresaMoore of the University of San Francisco, Venise Wagner of SanFrancisco State University, Karen Reyes of AARP: The Magazine,and author Helen Zia.

Denise Tom and Eric Newton edited the book.

For the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:

W. Gerald Austen, M.D., chairman, board of trusteesAlberto Ibargüen, president Michael Maidenberg, vice president and chief program officerEric Newton, director of journalism initiativesDenise Tom, journalism program specialistLarry Meyer, vice president of communications and secretaryRobertson Adams, communications associate/webmasterCaroline Wingate, editorial consultant

Design: Jacques Auger Design Associates, Miami Beach, Fla.Printing: Rex Three, Sunrise, Fla.

More information about Knight Foundation is available atwww.knightfdn.org.

Knight Foundation’s Journalism Advisory Committee membersare: Rich Oppel (chair), editor, Austin American-Statesman;Farai Chideya, host/correspondent, NPR West; John L. DotsonJr., publisher emeritus, Akron Beacon Journal; GenevaOverholser, Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting,University of Missouri School of Journalism; James V. Risser,retired director, John S. Knight Fellowships for ProfessionalJournalists, Stanford University; Martin Baron, editor, TheBoston Globe; Hilary Schneider, senior vice president/operations,Knight Ridder; Eduardo Hauser, founder/CEO, Mydya, a next-generation electronic publishing company.

Copyright 2005 by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

All rights reserved under International and Pan-AmericanCopyright Conventions. Published in the United States by theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami, Fla.

To request copies of this book or others in our journalismseries, contact [email protected]. You can downloadan Acrobat PDF file of this book atwww.knightfdn.org/publications.

ISBN 0-9749702-1-2

From the Foundation 4

Foreword by Dori J. Maynard 6

Author’s Note 10

Chapter One: News in a New America 12

Chapter Two: The Human Factor 26

Chapter Three: Pressures in the Newsroom 44

Chapter Four: Reframing Diversity 60

Afterword by John L. Dotson Jr. 82

Diversity Resource Guide 86

Appendix I: Dedman-Doig Study of Newspaper Employment 107

Appendix II: 2005 Survey of Broadcast Journalists 121

Appendix III: The American Journalist in the 21st Century 127

Appendix IV: Study and Discussion Questions 130

Appendix V: Further Reading 133

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CONTENTS

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FROM THE

FOUNDATION

BY ALBERTO IBARGÜEN


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FROM THE FOUNDATION

he questions most asked around KnightFoundation’s journalism program are:Who, in the future, will give us the

information we need to succeed as a demo-cratic society? Who will connect the dotsof information so that the towns and citieswe live in feel like communities … or, atleast, are comprehensible, not as a seriesof discrete and independent neighborhoodsor interest groups, but as a whole?

In many important ways, this is what Knightnewspapers used to do. They gave readersa sense of shared experience by makingwhat happened in one part of town some-thing that happened in my part of townbecause I read about it in my newspaper.They gave us shared vocabulary and sharedexpectations. They defined community.

Who will help us know each other wellenough to function as small and largedemocracies, whether municipal, metropol-itan or national? And, as author SallyLehrman asks in this new publication, willthose sources of information provide usthe tools we need to understand each other?

In Knight Foundation’s home town of Miami,the issues of diversity, of communicatingacross cultural, ethnic and financial differ-ences influence how we think about therole and value of news and communication.Three-fourths of us who live here wereborn someplace else. Fifty percent of uswere born in another country. Miami is aplace worth knowing for what it representsabout our globalized future. It offers dailyexamples about how disparate communitiescan come together and figure out how tolive and work and progress together.

So, in a world where my neighbors are notonly possibly, but likely to be from anotherplace or culture, it is essential that wefind common ground. We need commonground that allows the community tofunction by letting its residents and visitorssee themselves as part of a shared universe.

But to find common ground, we need amedium that paves the way. We need amedium that is the functional successor ofnewspapers or broadcast television, some-thing that ties us together as newspapersand television used to. Whether it’s througha medium or multiple media, we need amethod and platform; a way of getting there.

As this book illustrates, U.S. newsroomsstill have quite a distance to go beforethey and the communities they cover arefully served and capably observed. Wedon’t lament here the change in the medialandscape. We need to celebrate theevolution of our media and encourage it.Darwin was roughly right: it is not thestrongest of the species that survive, northe most intelligent, but the ones mostresponsive to change.

News in a New America adds multiple voicesand perspectives to this rich and ongoingsearch for a new understanding. •

– Alberto Ibargüen, presidentJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation

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FOREWORD

BY DORI J. MAYNARD

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ood journalists should be able totackle any assignment, whether it iscovering their own community or

covering a community with which theyhave had little or no personal contact.

In short, they should be able to give usnews that is as American as America.

That’s the ideal.

The truth is, we all have blind spots.

So it helps to make good journalism a groupeffort, to have colleagues – copy editors,city editors, producers and general managerswith diverse backgrounds and differentpoints of view working as a team to help thenewsroom as a whole understand thecommunity as a whole.

Some newsrooms operate with a diversitymodel of “us and them”: White men mayfeel pressured to accept African Americans,Latinos, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders,Asians, gays and women as equal colleagues,while those journalists may feel as if theymust work overtime helping white co-workers understand the world outside themostly white newsroom. Journalists hiredfor their diverse views, as well as for theirskills, become worn down by countlessattempts to explain a story to an editorwho doesn’t appreciate the basic idea thatdifferent people can be interested indifferent things.

This is not the best scenario, nor is it thebest approach. A newsroom divided cannothelp America understand itself. If we areto fulfill our obligation to accurately, fairlyand completely cover all segments of ourcommunities, we as professionals mustlearn to talk across the fault lines of race,class, gender, generation and geography,

sometimes putting aside our need to agreeand striving simply to understand.

My late father, Robert C. Maynard, theformer editor and publisher of The OaklandTribune, used to say that a newspapershould be a tool for community under-standing, a place where you see not onlyyour life, but also the life of your neighbor,accurately and fairly represented. I’m surethat if he were alive today, he wouldinclude broadcast, radio and the Internetin that description.

These days that idea may seem a pipedream, with blue state and red stateresidents seeming to turn to very differentsources of news – talk radio, cable tele-vision, the Internet, the growing ethnicmedia that increasingly fills the needs ofpeople who don’t otherwise see their livesaccurately reflected.

Yet it is that media fragmentation thatmakes it even more urgent to work towardunderstanding. As changing demographicscollide with the ever-growing number ofnews sources, there is the danger that“mainstream” media may become a nichemedia in the not-so-distant future if we donot more accurately portray the daily livesof all citizens in all of our coverage.

To understand some of the forces hasteningthe dismantling of the mass media, oneneed only look at the slow pace with whichwe are desegregating the nation’s newsrooms.

Back in 1978, the American Society ofNewspaper Editors (ASNE) began its annualcensus. At the time, the goal was for thenation’s newsrooms to mirror the nation’ssociety by the year 2000. At the start ofthe census, journalists of color made up 4percent of the work force and were growing.

FOREWORD

G

8


Much of that growth was fueled by the factthat as the civil rights movement morphedinto the black consciousness movement,leaders at most news organizations discov-ered they did not have a staff capable ofgetting the story.

Then the fires died, both literally andfiguratively.

Today, for many newspapers, their mostdiverse years are in the past, according toa Knight Foundation-funded study (seeAppendix I). Among the 200 largest news-papers, 73 percent employ fewer nonwhites,as a share of the newsroom jobs, than theydid in some earlier year from 1990 to2004, Bill Dedman and Steve Doig wrote inthe report released in spring 2005.

In 2005 the ASNE annual census found thatthe share of journalists of color in thenation’s newspapers hovered at 13 percent.A similar study done for the Radio andTelevision News Directors Associationfound that people of color account for alittle more than 21 percent of local newsstaffs and women about 39 percent.Slightly better, but still far from reflectinga country that is 30 percent people ofcolor and 50 percent women.

Numbers alone, though, are not the entirestory. As the report demonstrated, organiza-tions that are truly committed to diversityare the ones making strides, even in paperslocated far from urban centers. This iscounterintuitive to a belief that there isnothing a small town editor or producercan do to increase staff diversity.

More discouraging is the story behind thenumbers. As the industry struggles with

retaining its nonwhite work force, journalistsof color report that they often leave thebusiness because they find their views ofstories and news events often rejected bytheir colleagues and editors. In otherwords, one of the skills that led to theirhiring – their diverse take on stories – isthe very thing that causes them to berejected once they are hired.

That is why learning how to talk across thefault lines is so essential.

It is not always easy. Though we live in anincreasingly diverse world, we also livelargely segregated lives.

Researchers at the State University of NewYork at Albany examined the 2000 U.S.Census and discovered that the averagewhite urban or suburban resident lives in aneighborhood that is 80 percent white.The 2001 study also found that people ofcolor tend to have slightly more integratedlives, as might be expected of a so-called“minority’’ community living in a majorityworld.

As a result, many of us do not walk intothe workplace with the tools to talk cross-culturally.

There are those who argue that this failureshows in coverage that skews and distortsthe daily lives of people of color. In fact,content audits of local news coverageconsistently show that people of color areoverrepresented in stories about crime,entertainment and sports and are under-represented in stories about everyday life,business, politics and lifestyle.

To start the cross-cultural conversation

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FOREWORD

that can lead to a more accurate portrayalof all of our communities, news organizationscan encourage conversations across thefault lines with the goal of understandingeach other’s viewpoints. At the same time,we must recognize that our fault linesshape the way we think about ourselves,each other and events around us.

Consequently, two people with differentfault-line perspectives can look at the sameevent and see two very different stories.In today’s newsrooms, oftentimes oneperson’s perception wins out, leaving scoresof readers and viewers out of the picture.

It is only through honest dialogue through-out the process of reporting and editingthat we will learn how to include all pers-pectives and, by extension, many moreviewers and readers.

By adopting this approach and havingthese conversations, we are making it clearthat diversity means everyone.

White men no longer have the luxury ofsitting it out with the excuse that diversitydoes not apply to them. Journalists ofcolor no longer have the luxury of walkingaway because “they (white men) just don’tget it.” It’s time for all of us to do thehard work and to work together.

A successful future for the news industrymeans true diversity in newsrooms – not“us and them,” but journalists from all walksof life disagreeing and agreeing together.It means newsrooms where everyone isrespected, appreciated and acknowledged– where everyone is needed and whereeveryone can cover every story. It meansnewsrooms that produce American news. •

Dori J. Maynard is presidentand CEO of the Robert C.Maynard Institute forJournalism Education, thenation’s leading trainer ofjournalists of color. She is

the co-author of Letters to My Children, a compilation of nationally syndicatedcolumns by her late father, Bob Maynard,the first African American to own a majormetropolitan newspaper. Dori Maynard wasa reporter at The Bakersfield Californian,The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., and theDetroit Free Press. In 1993, she and herfather became the first father-daughter duoto be appointed Nieman Fellows at HarvardUniversity.

AUTHOR’SNOTE

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n my research for this book, one theme kept returning: change in news and in newsrooms requires more than

good intentions.

A transformation is sweeping the country.The United States is fast becoming anation of many cultures, with increasingdifferences between young and old, richand poor, city and rural. If we are to serveour ideals as journalists, we must workharder to give Americans the tools theyneed to understand each other.

Diverse sourcing or clever recruitment andretention strategies are not enough. Wemust go deeper. We need to begin to addressthe powerful human processes that createmisunderstanding, the things that shapeinteractions both inside and outside thenewsroom.

Fortunately, each of us has the power tomake the news better. A wealth of researchfrom social scientists, combined withexperience from real-world newsgathering,can now speed our effort. Soon, I hope,America’s news providers will find a way toinclude all of America in our words, soundsand imagery.

A word about language: In this book, weaim to respect the terms people use todescribe themselves. Since this can vary byregion and community, we use both blackand African American, Hispanic and Latino,and Native American and American Indian,usually according to usage by the originalsource. We also recognize that all theseterms, as well as Asian Americans, lump avery diverse population together as one. It is not our intention to portray all peoplewithin these groups as the same. •

– Sally LehrmanMontara, Calif.December 2005

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AUTHOR’S NOTE

I

NEWS IN A NEW

AMERICA

CHAPTER ONE

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s volunteers in Fremont,Calif., prepared for their2004 Fourth of July parade,

Vice Mayor Steve Cho had an idea.If the local Boy Scout troop carriedflags from around the world, hethought, everyone who lived therewould feel included and excitedabout America’s birthday. But whatat first sounded simple, quicklybecame complicated. Some residents gotangry that Old Glory wouldn’t be the onlycenterpiece. Others questioned the selectionof nations to be included. The argument,wrote Jim Herron Zamora, a San FranciscoChronicle reporter, “caused hurt feelings allaround and raised the timeliest of questions:What does it mean to be an American?”

In the end, 50 volunteers carried flagsfrom 25 countries – a sampling of the 120or so nations representing the heritage ofthe city’s 210,000 residents.

In various ways, Fremont’s Fourth of Julyis happening all over the United States.Today’s journalists are covering a keymoment in U.S. history, a story of socialupheaval as dramatic as the industrializationand immigration that shaped the nation a century ago. In those days, the bestjournalists uncovered exploitive child labor,dangerous factories and corrupt politicians.Their work helped define the news media’semerging mission of exposing injustice andgiving the powerless a chance to be heard.Today, once again, the country is strugglingamid technological and demographicchange. And again, journalists are calledupon to provide – fairly, honestly and fully– the news citizens need to shape theirgovernment and their lives.

Despite their inbred skepticism, manyreporters and editors believe passionately

in these ideals. The Society ofProfessional Journalists, foundedin 1909 to improve and protectjournalism, lays out the duties ofgood journalists in its ethics policy.Reporters, producers, photographersand editors should further justiceand democracy by providing a fairand comprehensive account ofevents and issues. In short: “Seek

truth and report it.”

THE NEW MATH: OUR NATION IN 2050

But whose “truth” do general-circulationjournalists report, ask more and morepeople in America today. Already, one inthree residents in the United States is notof white European descent, according tothe U.S. Census Bureau. Following the year2050, people of color will begin to out-number whites. Then, exactly what will theword minority mean in this country? Theterm, when used as a way to describe thosewho aren’t white, already makes little sensein places such as Hartford, Conn., where anearly equal mix of African Americans, AsianAmericans and whites live; Gary, Ind., andAtlanta, which are majority black; and DalyCity and Monterey Park, Calif., both majorityAsian American.

“You have a quiet demographic revolutionin the making,” says Peter Morrison, ademographer for RAND Corp. in SantaMonica, Calif. At the moment, the U.S.Census Bureau describes the population ofthe nation as 75 percent white, 12 percentAfrican American, 13 percent Hispanic (of any race), 4 percent Asian American, 1 percent American Indian and 3 percentmixed race. Morrison does not doubt thatAmerica’s racial diversity is accelerating. A few decades from now, will we wonderwhy we made so much of the skin-color


A

Steve Cho

gradations we use to define race? Or will weput even more emphasis on them, creatingnew forms of segregation and disparities ineducation, medical care and access totechnology?

Age will define the new majority populationas Baby Boomers live on, swelling theover-50 crowd. Older people will drive manytrends in work, family life and politics, saysMorrison. Too energetic and healthy toretire in the conventional sense, they maypopularize second or third careers.

At the same time, immigrants will continueto arrive from other nations – primarilyLatin America. The Hispanic and AfricanAmerican middle classes will grow stronger.Though racial diversity will continue tospread through the middle of the country,most of the immigrant population will liveon the coasts.

Should trends in the news media continue,however, general-circulation newspapersand magazines and broadcast networks willstill reflect the culture, economy andpolitics of a white America. Coverage ofthe rest of the country will largely be leftto ethnic media and the latest incarnationsof vehicles such as blogs and videoblogs.Today, even though media executives havepledged their commitment to diversity formore than two decades, at least 86percent of newspaper editorial employees,about 79 percent of broadcasters and 92percent of network news sources are white.

News organizations have struggled to movebeyond a history where white men dominatedmedia, business and government. Despitetheir intentions, however, they are diversi-fying at a snail’s pace. The only independentstudy that covers all media over many years,“The American Journalist in the 21st

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Century,” by Professor David Weaver andhis colleagues at Indiana University,strongly suggests this. In 1992, Weaversays, 8.2 percent of America’s journalistswere journalists of color; in 2002, only 9.5 percent. (See Appendix III.)

The implication is, to say the least, interest-ing. If these rates were to hold, by 2050only 16 percent of America’s journalistswould be people of color in a nation morethan half nonwhite. Weaver predicts thatchange will accelerate as white men retireand a more diverse work force takes theirplace. But none of the data collected overthe past two-plus decades by Weaver, theAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors orthe Radio and Television News DirectorsAssociation offer reason for optimism.“Virtually every year, TV falls farther behindthe population. Newspapers are even worse,”says Bob Papper, a telecommunicationsprofessor at Ball State University whostudies work-force trends in broadcasting.

If a white minority ends up controllingnews flow in a richly pluralistic society, howwill a fair and open democracy survive?

“I’m saddened that we are now stagnatedin the industry,” says Ernest Sotomayor,director of career services at the ColumbiaUniversity Graduate School of Journalismand former president of UNITY: Journalistsof Color. “Our people are getting leftbehind more and more, and at the sametime we are seeing a backlash unlike anyin years against immigrant populations.”

“I don’t see that mainstream media gets it,”agrees Patty Talahongva (Hopi), formerpresident of the Native American JournalistsAssociation and managing editor for twosyndicated public radio programs aboutNative American issues.


15

Part of not getting it is seeing diversityonly as a question of staff counts on raceor gender. The skew in news today reflectsnot just who sits in the newsroom, butwhom we consult and whom we cover.Though women make up half of thepopulation under 40 and an even biggerproportion of older age groups, for instance,the U.S. network news shows cited womenas sources only 15 percent of the time in2000. Women didn’t fare any better as newssubjects on television and radio, with broad-cast stories featuring just 14 percent ofthem in 2002 and 2003. Comparable dataon the sexual orientation, socioeconomiclevel or age of news sources and subjectsdoesn’t even exist.

“Journalists default to male and white asauthority figures, as experts,” says InaHoward, former U.S. research director forMedia Tenor International, a media analysisfirm based in Germany. “I think they tendto be thought of as more valuable sourcesas well. They’re thought of as more neutral.”

Is this the truth of U.S. society today?After much discussion, the SPJ ethics com-mittee carefully eliminated the article thewhen describing truth in order to acknowl-edge that people with different backgroundscan witness the same events and seedifferent truths. Journalists can only reportas thoroughly as possible, test the accuracyof information and seek a variety ofinterpretations and views as they invitesociety to understand itself.

REFLECTING THE WORLD AROUND US

Hold on, some will argue. The narrow demo-graphic band of news choices and sourcingsimply reflects today’s power structure.Journalists are just telling it the way it is.

Yes and no. Granted, most corporate exec-utive officers and high government officialsare white men. But their ranks are changingfaster than our source lists. And sure,reporters cannot chronicle every nuance of the breadth and depth of the U.S.population in every news story. At thesame time, however, journalism involvestelling stories that the audience findsrelevant. We ignore great numbers of newsconsumers at our own peril. If we want tostay in business, we must seek news thatis important or interesting to our readers,listeners and viewers.

In their own fashion, large corporationssuch as IBM, Ford, Aetna and Merck getthis. They have made work-force diversityand multicultural marketing a priority. Atpostage-equipment company Pitney Bowes,for example, people of color made up alittle over half the entire work force andone-fifth of managers in 2003. The leader-ship at multinational banker Citigroup is47 percent female. PepsiCo ties executivecompensation to diversity performance.

Diversity isn’t a “program” or “goal” atFord, according to Ray Jensen, formerdirector of supplier diversity development.“It’s the way we do business,” he says, anda proven means to expand market share.Ford and its corporate brethren are preparingfor the $2 trillion in buying power thattoday’s consumers of color will enjoy bythe middle of the century.

This commitment to diversity might comeas a surprise in many newsrooms. Evenbusiness reporters write relatively littleabout industry’s race to catch up with U.S.population demographics. Though companiesrun by people of color (including theethnic media) are growing at four timesthe national average, they remain unusual


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“I don’t see that main-stream media gets it.They’re not embracingdiversity now, andcertainly, native peoplehave been around forever.Everybody talks aboutdiversity, but if you lookat the states with thelargest populations ofIndians – Arizona, NewMexico, Oklahoma,California – none have a Native American anchoron their prime-time broadcasts. Native newsdoesn’t affect just our people; it affects thecommunities around us. It affects the states andthe nation. The biggest business story out there,the class-action lawsuit against the federalgovernment for mismanagement of the more than500,000 Individual Indian Money accounts (moneyfrom lands held “in trust” by the Bureau of IndianAffairs), is bigger than Martha Stewart, it’s biggerthan Enron. Where is the coverage? On the otherhand, the reporting on issues such as mascots andgaming is just a farce. It’s never in context, andthere is another part of the story that’s not beingtold at all.

“Canada has a good idea, the Aboriginal People’sTelevision Network. I would like to see anAmerican version of that. It’s up to us to train ourown people and get them out there. As morenative people become affluent or even middleclass, they’re going to want some options. I wouldhope that our people would stay true to the nativemedia, and along with that, embrace the freepress, and encourage their tribal press to flourishunrestricted. If that happens, native people willturn to our own networks.’’

Herbert Lowe, courts reporter, Newsday; formerpresident, National Association of Black Journalists:

“Will the news media reflect the diversity of thepopulation by 2050? The answer will be set today,tomorrow and through the next decade by thepeople who are doing the hiring. People withaspirations have to be trained into people withability; people with ability have to be givenresponsible positions. For the industry to bediverse, you have to have some diversity in groupssuch as ASNE, RTNDA and NAA. Otherwise, over 50years, you have a white publisher replaced by awhite publisher replaced by a white publisher. He

REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE

Not so long from now, the meaning of the termsethnic minority and racial minority will change inthe United States of America.

By the year 2050, European Americans will be aso-called “minority” group in this nation.

This has already happened in many Americancities, where people of color make up a majority ofthe population. Even so, America’s news systemhas not caught up to those population changes.This raises the question: Will it ever?

Here are the reflections of seven journalists, whoas leaders in UNITY, the four ethnic journalistgroups, the National Lesbian and Gay JournalistsAssociation and an organization for womenjournalists, have volunteered untold hours helpingnews organizations become more diverse.

Mae Cheng, president of UNITY: Journalists ofColor; assistant city editor, Newsday; formerpresident, Asian American Journalists Association:

“We’re not making much headway. A lot of news-papers and television stations are treading waterright now. We still think we’re covering thesecommunities by covering their festivals andholidays. At some point, our readers and viewersare going to call our bluff. Information is soaccessible now they don’t have to rely on theirlocal media.

“When the people in the suits start feeling it intheir pockets, this will be the impetus for change.But I hope we don’t have to wait that long.Hopefully, by 2050 we’ll be smarter. Between nowand then we’ll have to provide all our journalists,all the way up the ranks, training on how to coverour communities. We’ll have to bring in morepeople from different backgrounds even whenthey’re not covering those beats – they bring awealth of resources and knowledge. The number ofethnic media will grow. There will be morecollaboration in content, marketing, advertising,and community projects.’’

Patty Talahongva, managing editor of twosyndicated public radio programs, National NativeNews and Native America Calling; host of NativeAmerica Calling; former president, Native AmericanJournalists Association:

CLOSE-UP:

Mae Cheng

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hires a white editor who hires a white managingeditor who hires a white assistant managingeditor. It’s hard to aspire higher than where yousee others like you. Fundamentally, it’s about whogets to hire whom.

“On the optimistic side, we are continuing to seemore and more black journalists getting into levelsof authority – really, levels of influence. Peoplewill always want to know what’s going on in theirworld, what’s going on in their communities. Inorder to pull more black people into the pipeline,journalism has to be portrayed as an importantand honorable trade, as a defender of democracy.When pastors rail against journalism, those parentswith influence aren’t going to want their kids togo into it. Integration and diversity must continuein schools. All kids must learn that no matter whatcolor they are, there cannot be any other choicebut diversity. Managers must spot unhappy journal-ists and pull them back in. Retention is aboutbeing able to advance, being satisfied in your job,and being able to enjoy what you’re doing.’’

Juan Gonzalez, columnist, New York Daily News;co-host of the national daily radio and televisionnews show, Democracy Now!; former president,National Association of Hispanic Journalists:“There has to be some sort of incremental changebecause the companies are going to increasinglydepend on people of color as consumers. Butnewsrooms obviously aren’t going to be anywherenear parity unless new, nationwide strategies aredeveloped by some of these news companies. Inanother 10 to 15 years, you are going to have astrategic opening when the Baby Boomers begin toretire. There will be a lot of openings, particularlyin senior management jobs. Are companies goingto take advantage of that to downsize, or beginhiring more? What kind of efforts does the industrymake to get ready for the strategic opening? That’swhat we’re trying to do with the Parity Project, to

get enough people into the pipeline for when thattime comes.

“There’s another, even more pernicious trend thanthe slow diversification of staffing. We’ve beenputting so much attention to getting people in thedoor, we haven’t paid attention to ownership. Sowhile you may have a slow integration of lowerlevel staffing, the attitudes and perspectives ofthe owners and publishers – the people who setthe tone – are astoundingly white. Consider thePew study on press credibility. The news media arebecoming less respected, less credible across thepopulation. That should be a signal thatsomething is not resonating in the population.’’

Ernest Sotomayor, director of career services,Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism;former president, UNITY: Journalists of Color:

“By 2050, we will see a much more fragmentedmedia society. I use that term because that’s whatit will be – not an industry. More groups alreadyhave vehicles to distribute their informationthrough the Internet and even through low-powerradio stations. If general circulation publicationsare going to survive, they will have to change.

“Broadcast and print have always tried to begeneralists in their coverage, to be something forall. I think we have conditioned ourselves over the decades to not count on these companies toreflect the interests and needs of Latinos, AfricanAmericans, Asian Americans and Native Americans.They’ve long been ignoring issues that are primarilyof importance to people of color. And for companiesto think they can solve the problem by starting afeature here and there on Sunday is folly. It’s gotto be a long-term process. One way or another,they’ll have to cover these issues – and they’ll


Patty Talahongva Herbert Lowe Juan Gonzalez Ernest Sotomayor

(Continued on next page)

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(Continued from previous page)

have to cover them from a broader range ofperspectives. Subjects like immigration and schoolsaffect everybody. I’m optimistic that we will seeincreasing change in the biggest and most diversecommunities because news media will understandthe demographics eventually. Otherwise they willhave gigantic chunks of their communities simplydisappear as readers and audiences.

“This all comes down to power sharing. They didn’terase Jim Crow laws willingly; the laws had to bedismantled by force, by marches, by law. We’ve hadto advocate and lobby and try to make mediacompanies understand the importance of this, tosee that they can’t survive unless they change.This is something we will continue to struggle within 2050, and after that.’’

Amy Bernstein, deputy editor, strategy+businessmagazine; former president, Journalism and WomenSymposium (JAWS):

“At some point the majority of this country will notbe WASP. As a result, the forces that keep ournewsrooms white will give way. I think we’re seeingmore people in power in newsrooms who wanttheir staffs to look more like America. It’s the thinedge of the wedge, thank heaven. Every woman Iknow in a position of power in a newsroom looksout for talented women and minorities. It’s aconscious act and they think of it as vital to thefuture of the business. Our judgment of what isimportant will change, what’s accepted and familiarwill change.

Amy Bernstein Eric Hegedus

“You’re already seeing it in magazines. For them,it’s about markets. When it becomes clear there isan underserved market, people will create magazinesto serve it: an Advocate, an Essence, a Latina, orPeople en Español.’’

Eric Hegedus, president, National Lesbian and GayJournalists Association, page designer, New York Post:

“When you consider how diverse the population isgetting, the news industry really has to get intopace with that. We need to see more women, AfricanAmericans, Asian Americans, just across the board.I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the industry ismade up of largely white, male leaders. We’ve madestrides, but is everything where it should be? No.

“Diversity matters, period. I can’t think of anyonecoming up with a clear reason why it doesn’t. Itabsolutely matters who is in the newsroom, becausewe each have a different perspective. I have acertain understanding of what LGBT (Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender) issues are, for instance,and how they should be covered fairly and accurately.The UNITY groups have a right to be unhappy. AndI should hope that by 2050, things will be a wholeheck of a lot better than they are.

“As far as gay coverage goes, as LGBT peoplebecome more of the mainstream, as the youngergeneration becomes more accepting/tolerant, LGBTpeople will be more common in the news. Andmaybe as acceptance grows, LGBT issues will becomeless important because they will have been resolved.You can see it reflected in entertainment first andforemost. But as time goes on, as you see anincrease in civil rights for LGBT people and others,you’ll see changes in how things are covered in the news and what is covered regularly.” •

– Sally Lehrman

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News in a New America

in the news. Nonwhite and female executivesnow commonly decide policy and setdirection at many corporations, yet theyrarely appear as experts on business matters.

The same editorial myopia can be found inother areas of society undergoing a changein leadership. One of three medical schoolgraduates in 2004 was Asian American,Pacific Islander, African American, NativeAmerican or Latino, yet journalists seldomask for their views on hot issues such asprescription-drug benefits or health insur-ance costs. The voices of women and ethnicminorities who serve in positions of author-ity in the military, schools and governmentoften go unheard.

Mainstream journalists who push for news-rooms and news coverage that reflect thenation’s changing demographics have beenaccused of dictating a “diversity orthodoxy.”Critics of news diversity say journalists areskewing sourcing and preventing balanceddiscussion of troubling issues such ascrime, welfare, drug use, even race itself.They worry that a commitment to hiringjournalists of color will translate intobiased coverage. In fact, the opposite istrue. Good journalism, as the SPJ coderecommends, should “tell the story of thediversity and magnitude of the humanexperience boldly.”

The real news of today, not the imaginarynews of the future, tends to oversimplify, to stereotype, to come loaded with the bias(conscious or not) of its creators. At theextreme: Latinos are swarming in fromMexico to grab all the U.S. jobs. AsianAmericans are stealing coveted academicopportunities. Native Americans are buildingcasinos and exploiting local civic resources.Women are always tempted by the “mommytrack.” People with disabilities are heroes

or objects of pity. Deeply religious folks arecrazy conservatives. Gays and lesbians?They all want to get married and upset thenuclear family.

In their 2001 book, The Black Image in theWhite Mind, Robert Entman and AndrewRojecki detail the distorted pattern ofbroadcast news coverage of black people.Local and network news producers nearlyalways place African Americans in narrowlydefined roles, they report: at the center ofcrime and sports, as social victims or assupplicants on the public dole. Newspapersfollow suit. It was race news in 2003 whenthe esteemed civil rights scholar ChristopherEdley arrived at the University of California,Berkeley. The San Francisco Chronicleheadline: “Black to lead UC Law School.”

ARE JOURNALISTS HUMAN?

Journalists don’t build social bias intostories deliberately. Our own human filters– race, gender, generation, geography,class and ideology – help create it. (Laterchapters will talk in detail about thatphenomenon.) It’s also true that shortcutsin writing and editing help produce muchof this imagery, as do news values thatrely on conflict, immediacy and symboliccharacters to carry the narrative. Still, anewsroom’s composition plays a huge role.Even as recently as 2005, at least 346 U.S.newspaper newsrooms, or about one offour, were 100 percent white. That numberballoons to 621, or 44 percent of allgeneral-circulation newspapers, if you takeinto account the newsrooms that didn’treport their numbers in the 2005 AmericanSociety of Newspaper Editors’ annualsurvey. Only a little over a third of dailynewspapers (36 percent) are even halfwayto parity with the nonwhite population in their communities, according to an

News in a New AmericaNEWS IN A NEW AMERICA

WHAT WORKS: TEN TIPS ON RECRUITING FOR DIVERSITY

(Editor’s note: This list was developed for thoserecruiting for midcareer journalism programs).

1. Join forces. Team up with other midcareerjournalism fellowship programs to present panelworkshops and receptions at ethnic journalismconventions, attracting more prospectivecandidates who are interested in fellowships ingeneral. Split the costs and make a bigger splash.

2. Seek more and better visibility for yourprogram. Do a number of things each year to makeyourselves known (and always look for new ways):advertise in journalism magazines; send flyers tohundreds of newsrooms and news executives; sendpaper flyers and e-mail notices to mailing lists ofethnic and other journalism organizations; attendjournalism conventions and distribute materials,meet candidates and more.

3. Use your web site as a recruiting tool. Inaddition to providing background information onyour program and application forms that can bedownloaded from the web, post testimonials withphotos of your alumni (many of them people ofcolor) talking about their fellowship experiencesand what it meant to their careers.

4. Invite your alumni to help recruit for yourprogram. With more than half of our U.S. applicantstelling us they heard about our program from formerfellows, we know alumni are a powerful recruitingtool. Send a letter to your alumni each year with acopy of your updated brochure, asking them tothink about who might make a great fellow. Thisalso encourages alumni to think more about recruit-ing, and to offer names of potential candidates.Consider hosting occasional alumni dinners indifferent U.S. cities and alumni receptions at theUNITY convention and other such events wherealumni are invited to bring a fellowship candidate.

5. Seek out new places and new populations.The ethnic media is a growing area of journalism,and there has been an increase in fellowshipapplications from U.S. journalists working at pub-lications and broadcast outlets in Spanish, Chineseand other languages. Attend the New AmericaMedia convention, where some of these journalists

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A Report for the John S.and James L. Knight Foundation CLOSE-UP:


analysis of ASNE data by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporters Bill Dedman,managing editor of The Telegraph ofNashua, N.H., and Stephen K. Doig, KnightChair in Journalism at Arizona StateUniversity. (See Appendix I.)

Broadcast also is behind the demographictimes. In 2005, people of color made upjust 21 percent of the television news workforce and only 8 percent of radio newsworkers – even counting the Latinosworking in the Spanish-language media,according to a study by the Radio andTelevision News Directors Association andBall State. For the past 15 years, theproportion of workers of color in televisionnews has held at about 20 percent, whilethe proportion in radio has declined. (See Appendix II.)

The effects of these trends are more thanskin-deep. In an environment where anysingle group dominates, reporters mustwork harder to gather the increasinglyvaried perspectives and experiences oftoday’s multicultural society. Add to thatthe aging of newsroom staffs and theheavy influence of the East Coast media oneach day’s news mix, and the search fortruth can be even more difficult.

When Robert McGruder, then-executiveeditor of the Detroit Free Press, acceptedthe Helen Thomas Diversity Award in 2000,he explained the importance of goingbeyond staff percentages. Though hispaper’s newsroom was one of the few acrossthe nation reaching racial parity with thesurrounding community, McGruder believedhis paper was not doing all it should. “Theissue is not just employment, it is content,”he said. “It is what’s going into the news-paper. … Despite some major successes,we know we are not listening to all the

21

voices, showing all the faces and telling all the stories.” As an editor, McGruderemphasized that the real bottom line isfairness and equality.

Most reporters and editors would agree thatstereotyping and misrepresentation is badjournalism. Unfortunately, many just don’tthink hard or long about it. We don’t payenough attention to the influence of storiesthat leave out context when covering issuessuch as crime, employment and rural poverty.

We may be tempted to dismiss the powerof words and images because of the tempo-rary nature of the news. Broadcast newslasts only as long as someone is listening.Newspapers become outdated before theyeven land on the doorstep. Even so, theyreally are the first rough draft of history.People still rely on television, magazinesand newspapers as a primary source ofinformation about each other. They usethe news to decide on the importance ofissues, learn specifics about social concernsand gauge the climate of opinion. Peoplewill choose to speak out or hold back their own views on affirmative action, forinstance, depending on the flavor ofcoverage. Their opinions become votes.

To understand the power of their work,modern journalists might do well to readthe 1968 Kerner Commission report. Inanalyzing why riots had seethed in U.S. citystreets for four summers in a row, the com-missioners pinpointed the isolation andneglect of black Americans by white society.They chastised the news media for its part– both before and during the uprisings. “By and large, news organizations havefailed to communicate to both their blackand white audiences a sense of the problemsAmerica faces and the sources of potentialsolutions,” the commission concluded

CLOSE-UP:CLOSE-UP:


meet annually, and send flyers to their members.JAWS – the Journalism and Women Symposium – isa smart and irreverent women’s journalism groupthat has been around for years, but is growing and isnow taking advertising in its annual conference, or“Fall Camp,” program. Attend JAWS conferencesand participate in panel discussions.

6. Be there for candidates. Offer to talk withapplicants who were not selected as fellows afterthe process is over, making suggestions on howthey might improve their application if they decideto apply again. Find ways to reach out to journalistsin other settings, such as making yourself availablefor regional journalism conferences and workshops,helping judge journalism contests and invitingjournalists to your public events as a way to getthe word out about your program that may pay offwith more applicants in the future.

7. Show commitment to diversity through yourchoices. By selecting a diverse group of fellows eachyear, journalists of color and those from mediaother than traditional daily newspapers (broadcast,online, etc.) see that you are interested in themand that they should consider applying.

8. Tailor promotion materials. Translate promotionalflyers into languages other than English for inter-national candidates; and when you do so, be readyto receive and answer queries in those languages.

9. Solicit top editors and news directors.Journalists in leadership positions in newsroomsand broadcast stations who once were fellowsthemselves – or understand the power of fellow-ships – are terrific advocates for programs. Seekthem out to find good candidates. In addition, theirnewsrooms are the ones that often make the bestuse of fellows when they return, recharged andready for bigger challenges, after their fellowship.

10. Recruit with the long view in mind. Many ofthese efforts often take years to pay off from firstcontact until someone actually applies. Be patient. •

– Dawn Garcia, deputy directorJohn S. Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists, Stanford University

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tant for the newspaper, the initiative gener-ated background knowledge and a sourcelist that still helps reporters cover the citymore inclusively and accurately. The paperhas continued to write in depth aboutimmigration, in 2005 publishing a seriesabout the exodus of the Hmong from Laos30 years ago.

Alas, too few general-circulation mediaoutlets are adapting to the demographicchange across America as actively as thePioneer Press. To be fair, industry statisticsnote real progress at both Gannett andKnight Ridder, which lead newspapercompanies in newsroom diversity. But theAmerican people set the pace here:Newsrooms simply are not changing as fastas the nation. Without major new efforts,most mainstream print and broadcast newsorganizations risk losing market share andsocietal influence to niche media.

A probable scenario for 2050: A few far-sighted media companies rise above therest, and other, more relevant media useever-cheaper technology to step into thegap. America’s journalists will either workat news organizations that reflect theircommunities, or ones that don’t. In anation where democracy is organized bygeography, the news organizations thatreflect their communities will stay inbusiness. The others probably won’t. Whatabout the individual journalists who chosenot to consider the rapidly changingcountry? They will be giving away the roletheir predecessors fought for over thecenturies: to be right in the middle of themost important debates, to be the townsquare of a democratic nation. Their readers,listeners and viewers may find themselves,for a time at least, living in a societywhere vital concerns fester unexpressedand unaddressed.

bluntly. “The media report and write fromthe standpoint of a white man’s world.”

WHAT NEXT?

This work focuses mainly on race becausethe case here has been documented beyondall reasonable argument. As the UnitedStates rapidly becomes more diverse, theconventional news media risk repeating pastmistakes – to be again branded as “white,”and thus irrelevant for a large portion ofthe population.

Not long ago, Midwest editors could waveoff the nation’s increasing blend of race,sexual orientation, religion and nationalorigin as an artifact of coastal cities suchas New York, Miami, Los Angeles and SanFrancisco. But consider the transformationin areas such as Minnesota’s Twin Cities,St. Paul and Minneapolis, famed for theirlight-skinned, Scandinavian immigranthistory. St. Paul (population 287,000) ishome to more than 30,000 people of Hmongdescent – most of whom are second- orthird-generation citizens whose parentsfled Laos after the Vietnam War. Of theseven million Muslims across the UnitedStates, some 75,000 live in this historicallyLutheran region. The Hispanic populationin Minneapolis more than tripled from1990 to 2000, and, across the state, theblack population has doubled.

In 2000, the St. Paul Pioneer Press profiledfive immigrant groups that were transform-ing the city and conducted a survey in fivelanguages in order to let the new arrivalsspeak for themselves. With “The New Faceof Minnesota,” the paper hoped to reconnectlongtime residents to their own families’immigrant experiences and generate discus-sion about how best to allocate resourcesto the changing population. Just as impor-

But here are 10 basic steps:

1. Make diverse hires. Take hiring as seriously asbudgeting. Post all openings. Advertise in communityand trade publications. Recruit at conferences andcolleges. Keep a database of diverse candidates.Hire young and promote in-house. Base managerialbonuses on hiring performance.

2. Connect with your community. Form commu-nity advisory boards. Write and distribute mediaaccess guidebooks. Offer your cyberspace toschools, neighborhoods, civic groups. Set up guestcolumns in all sections of the paper. Sponsorcommunity events. Stand up proudly as thecitizens responsible for asking good questions.

3. Train. Set up a comprehensive program of in-house training. Arrange for your experiencedjournalists to coach newcomers. Start writinggroups. Fill in gaps with traveling trainers. Makeyour newspaper a local training hub, working withhigh schools and colleges. Let the staff know whatthe research says about your newspaper, readersand community. Spend 2 percent of payroll ontraining. Send people to the Media ManagementCenter, Poynter, the American Press Institute.

4. Adjust your attitude. Having a growingaudience online is a good thing. Having ReadershipInstitute research on who reads what is a goodthing. Having interesting stories to tell about achanging America is a good thing. As former KnightFoundation president and CEO, Hodding Carter IIIputs it: “This is an explosively creative time to begoing into journalism – if you are not in search ofthe past.”

5. Open up your reporting. Ask reporters for theirown story ideas. Help get them out of the office.Subsidize their reading lists. Build diverse sourcelists in databases. Use content-audit software tocheck what you’re doing. Gain access to everygovernment database in your region. Use TracFed(http://tracfed.syr.edu). Raise writing standards.Issues hide behind every news event: find as manyas you can. Answer the question: So what?

6. Open up your editing. Require reporters andeditors to talk as a story is edited. Open newsmeetings on a rotating basis to staff and commu-nity members. Have regular planning meetings

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TO INNOVATE, OPEN UP YOUR NEWSORGANIZATION

Does your news organization have a diversitycommittee, but no diversity? Readership or viewer-ship task forces, but no new readers or viewers?Retention programs, but no retention? Web sitesbut no web revenue?

Innovation means more than a new hire, a newbeat or a new edition. It means creating new waysof doing things: ways that help us change with thetimes while honoring the journalism values offairness, accuracy, context and truth.

To diversify, to open up coverage, to grow, toinnovate and to move fast, news organizations arerealizing they need to make big changes. I oncedescribed these broad moves toward new people,practices and products in a book about thecreation of The Open Newspaper. These days,though, you might want to call it The Open NewsOrganization.

At an open news organization, we agree that eachof us sees only a piece of the whole picture. Webuild the skills of group decision-making. We taketime to learn about things that separate people –such as gender, age and race – as well as thingsthat bring people together.

An open news organization builds an institutionalopen mind – it has a Learning Newsroom, onedesigned to routinely add knowledge about thecommunity it serves and the people it employs.Such a news organization seeks to grow byattracting new readers and viewers from its corecommunity, instead of only by taking new territory.

The big problems faced by news people today –even such advertising department problems asfailure to match online audiences with onlinerevenue – are created or made worse by institu-tional closed-mindedness.

It doesn’t have to be that way. There are, in fact,as many ways to open news organizations as thereare journalists, who are, after all, the soul of newsand the people whose souls are fed when opennessmakes things happen.

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http://tracfed.syr.edu


away from the office. Align your training plans with your editorial plans. Don’t forget your lineeditors or producers; they make it happen, make sure there are enough of them. Know yourcolleagues; use each other as cultural specialists.Set up style rules that respect all your readers.Don’t dictate, coach.

7. Expand your mix. You now mix hard with soft,local with wire. Try mixing in stories important tothe different people of your community. Look atthe paper through the prism of Robert C. Maynard’sfault lines: gender, generation, race, class,geography. Try making Page One or newscastdecisions by consensus. Let anyone at the meetingnominate any story to be your lead. Don’t be afraidto promote your web site.

8. Review and revise. Look at what you are doingdaily, weekly, monthly, yearly. Survey readers andthe community. Seek out critics. Make your phonenumbers available. Speak and meet in thecommunity. Keep rewriting your rules. Have a five-year editorial plan and one-year plans. Organizethe newsrooms to reflect the way readers livetoday. Rules make results: If a newspaper routinelymakes 70,000 beat calls to the cops every year,unnecessary police stories will be reported.

9. Brand your standing features. If you work at a newspaper, comics, columns, stock pages and thelike take up most of a newspaper’s editorial space,yet get the least attention. Order research withsample sizes large enough so no group is “statis-tically insignificant.” Look for alternatives tosyndicates that have no demographic readershipbreakdowns. Make sure you know who reads,listens to or watches what and why. If you havegood locally produced columns or commentary orstanding features, promote them. Grow your ownstanding features, columns and special sections byreaching out to the staff and community. Letreaders write a special section or send in video.

10. Experiment. Establish a “new products” unit.Find ways to collect the news once and distributeit through five different pipelines. Sell newspapers,books, magazines, parts of the web site, radio,television. Train journalists to do media they don’tusually do. Use other media to promote your coreproduct. Become more than a single source. Turn

your news organization into what Bob Maynardcalled “a geographically discrete dynamic database.”

If this sounds like a tall order, perhaps now wouldbe a good time to start.

Change is here. A generation ago, televisionpassed newspapers as America’s No. 1 news source.Ten years ago, cable television developed greaterreach than newspapers. Today, the web has greaterreach. Yet the nation’s newspapers – weekly anddaily, free and paid – still possess America’s greatestnews-gathering system, and are best positioned tomove quality local news into cyberspace.

To survive and thrive, all news organizations mustbe ready to change. To propel this great newsgather-ing system onward into the 21st century, we needto help each other drop the defensive stance andfocus on achievement. Seeking the truth is anhonorable calling. Let’s be open to doing the newthings that will help Americans – all Americans –get the news they need to run their nation andtheir lives. •

– Eric Newton, director of Journalism InitiativesJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation

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CLOSE-UP:

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The civil conflict and unrest of the 1960sarose in just this sort of disconnectedenvironment, as the Kerner Commissiondetailed. Does American journalism reallyneed more riots before it starts writingagain about social and political issues thatconcern more than white, middle-classmen? Do we need our route to work blockedby fires before we think about polling inmore than one language? Given thecompanies that are trying new formats andapproaches to reach young readers, second-generation Asian Americans and Spanish-language consumers, among others, we hopethe answer is no. Yet America’s demographicclock is ticking. By failing to seek truthand report it, we are robbing people of thenews they need to govern themselves. •

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THE HUMANFACTOR

CHAPTER TWO

27

THE HUMAN FACTOR

y now, many journalists know toavoid obvious blunders such asdressing disrespectfully in a mosque

or describing a person as “wheelchair-bound.” We tend to notice wrongheadedword choices, as when The Seattle Timeswrote that Californian Michelle Kwan wascompeting against “Americans” in the2002 Olympic figure-skating competition.We cringe at a Chicago Sun-Times storythat referred to a 2,250-member tribe inOklahoma as “ghosts of the past” whowere troubling the descendants of Germansettlers in the area.

But the most dangerous of mistakes usuallygo unnoticed. They are sins of omissionand emphasis, errors that can have life-or-death consequences. Look at the missingpieces in most medical reporting. If articlesabout breast cancer rarely mention AsianAmericans, will Japanese American womencheck for lumps or get mammograms?When they do, they discover malignanciesnearly as often as white women. If heart-disease stories don’t mention AfricanAmericans, how will people in that groupknow the extremely high mortality ratethey share? How often have you seen areport on diabetes featuring AmericanIndians? And yet they are more likely tohave the disease than anyone else.

Gaps in coverage and off-base ways offraming a story and its importance, ofcourse, aren’t limited to topics that couldmake a difference in the health of peopleof color. They show up in news aboutschools, crime, politics and all the topicsof the day. Usually they result from journal-ists’ shortage of background knowledgeand a surplus of assumptions. Why wouldone in five news stories about NativeAmericans, for instance, focus on reservationlife when most native people live in cities?

These problems – while solvable – godeeper than the choices we make inresearch and reporting. They begin withthe very way we perceive the world.

SEEING THINGS OUR WAY

Do journalists routinely consider the wayour own situations in life – from educationto employment to home ownership – colorour “objective” reality? Do we think abouthow these might affect the way we goabout our work? The honest answer is No,not really.

If we have never faced discrimination, forinstance, we are less likely to notice theproblem. We may have never needed tolook for its signs. On our beats, we may beless likely to check for discrimination inschool funding, corporate hiring or realestate lending. If we have been raised onimages of violent urban youth, we may beoblivious to the problems of youth angerand alienation until suburban young people,such as the boys at Columbine High Schoolin 1999, turn on their classmates withgunfire. We may see medicine only throughthe experiences of our own family andfriends, not even guessing that others mayget different standards of care.

Our personal histories can also help us seethings that others don’t. If we live with acondition that limits our physical abilities,we might pay more attention to accesstechnologies or prescription drug pricing.If we grew up in a religious family, wemight find it easier to interview peoplewith fundamentalist beliefs and portraythem fairly. If we are the first generationin our family to live in the United States,we may have a finely tuned radar forimmigrant achievements and concerns.

B

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As many journalists point out, what we’rereally after is better news coverage. Andthat requires an expansion in thought,inclusiveness in ideas. Recently The NewYork Times formally adopted this conceptby broadening its definition of diversity.“We will make an extra effort to focus ondiversity of religious upbringing andmilitary experience, of region and class,”wrote Executive Editor Bill Keller. Hiring amixed work force is just one aspect, headded. “It calls for a concerted effort byall of us to stretch beyond our predom-inantly urban, culturally liberal orientation.”

True newsroom diversity can lead to acompletely different take on the news.Reporting on three studies released inAugust 2005, the San Francisco Chroniclewrote this headline: “Health care treat-ment for blacks improving.” The San JoseMercury News, which has a more diversenewsroom and nearly the same market,looked at it differently: “Studies: Healthcare disparities persist.”

How often do we overlook interesting storiesabout people unlike ourselves? Recentfigures collected by Media Tenor Interna-tional, the media-analysis group based inGermany, offer a clue. Researchers studiedrace and ethnicity references in Time,Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, andthe NBC, ABC and CBS nightly news showsover 32 months ending in August 2004(see chart, Page 29). Of 170,212 newsreports, African Americans appeared asmain characters only 138 times – unlessthey were well-known entertainers,athletes or government figures. Latinosappeared half that often; Arab Americans alittle less often; and Native Americans,about a third as often as African Americans.Asian Americans, the subject of just 13stories, were nearly invisible.

Our experiences each day as journalistsreflect the whole package of our lives tothat moment: broadly, our race or ethnicity,class, gender, generation, ideology and theplaces where we live and grew up. Togetherthese elements influence our news judg-ment, how we perceive and evaluate issuesand events.

Each of us, of course, is a unique mix. Butpatterns can develop when people who workin a newsroom are a lot alike. According to the latest data, most mainstreamAmerican journalists are well-educated,male and white. The news they notice andthe sources they consult have led to astatistically provable national media tilttoward the white world. Shaped by news-room traditions and shared personal back-grounds, a powerful, unconscious beliefsystem has come into play. Because it iswoven into the very structure of the organi-zation, it is hard to identify and tough to crack. It determines what journalistscollectively see as newsworthy. The less wenotice it, the more that system influenceschoices about whose stories are deemedimportant and whose are overlooked.

People create routines, but then the routinestake on a life of their own. Newsroomcultures are famously defensive. Journalistsdeal with the ever-changing news streamby avoiding change or even, at times,awareness in how or why they process thatstream. You may hear a person of color talkabout the “white media.” But it would bequite unusual to hear a white broadcastproducer or newspaper editor use the phrase.Tom Jacobs, an African American documen-tary producer who worked in television forthree decades, says he hopes one day for“real color TV.” In a column for ElectronicMedia, Jacobs wrote: “White male newsexecutives, producers and writers report on

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THE HUMAN FACTOR

Who’s in the News?A majority-white news department runs the risk of producing majority-white news.

Bolstering that supposition is a study of 32 months of print and television news reports in which people of color were seldom the main characters. The chart below shows

the number of news reports in which people of color were the focus.

Source: Media Tenor International, 2004, 2005. Based on 170,212 reports in Time, Newsweek,The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News. Jan. 1, 2002, to Aug. 31, 2004.

30


the world from their point of view. The world,for most of these people, is a white world.”

As cognitive psychologists and mediaanalysts explain it, the bias toward thewhite majority is rarely deliberate or – atleast within the newsroom – even noticed.It emerges in news reporting through alack of cultural awareness, unconsciousstereotyping and selective sourcing. It ismaintained by news traditions that hadgrown out of a U.S. social structure wherewhite, upper-income men historically heldleadership positions. It especially flourishesin fast-moving, closed, assembly-line stylenews systems. “Most reporters are embeddedin this racial ideology – it’s somewhatequivalent to ‘common sense,’” saysHemant Shah, journalism and mass

communication professor atthe University of Wisconsin-Madison. “This comes out inwhose culture, whose ideas,whose values are assumedto be proper.”

Shah studies howjournalists shape, source and write stories.“We look at who are the heroes, thevillains, who is to blame,” he says. Peopleof color are “portrayed as having concernsthat are less important than the majority… presented in a way that highlights theiranger or other emotion instead of theargument they’re trying to make.”

It would be a mistake to assume thissystem is solely a problem of the white-majority newsroom. Mistaken assumptionsdon’t come only from notebooks held bypeople from a certain race, class, gender,generation or region. Fortunately, thereverse is also true. Each of us has thepower to change the situation.

PRIMING STEREOTYPES

News helps people learn about the worldaround them, and to make up not just theirminds but also their policies. Most journal-ists avoid obvious stereotypes. But we maynot know that the stories we choose aboutpeople or the way we characterize themcan activate unconscious stereotypes. They can strengthen assumptions that ouraudiences already hold.

A 1999 study showed this directly. Whenimmigration reporting focused on jobs andother resources, readers began to thinkabout race– and race-based stereotypes –even if the word was never mentioned. Inresponse to questions after they read newsarticles with an economics angle, people

who thought of Hispanics as“nurturing” said immigrationhelped the United States.Those who saw Hispanics asviolent, of course, saidimmigration was harmful.When reporting emphasizedhuman rights or ethics

instead of economics, though, readers didnot associate their views on immigrationwith any perceptions about Hispanics them-selves. Social psychologists call this “priming,”a process by which certain subject matteractivates unconscious ideas. David Domke,the University of Washington professorwho led the research, concluded thatjournalists may be building a powerful biasinto stories just by the angles we choose.

Of all the possible ways to frame it, main-stream journalists by and large reportedCalifornia’s Proposition 187 as a dollars-and-cents issue. The 1995 law – most ofwhich was later ruled unconstitutional –would have blocked undocumented immi-grants from education, health care and

David DomkeHemant Shah

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THE HUMAN FACTOR

government services. “It is a matter oflimited resources, not race,” wrote EvelynIritani of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,paraphrasing a political consultant. But bysticking to an economics angle, journalistsmay have unintentionally given the propo-sition an advantage.

Even if government were mainly a financialtransaction, there still would be more tothe story. When the stories on Proposition187 covered only one part of the equation– taxes brought in and services going out –without covering any other aspects – culture,history, human rights, moral values orpersonal responsibility – was that eitheraccurate or fair?

In an analysis of 166 stories about immi-gration in 2005, University of Missouri-Columbia graduate student Brendan Watsonfound that reporters across a range ofnewspapers mostly wrote about conflict.This approach, other researchers have found,often provokes negative reactions by theaudience. Watson also found differences inimmigration coverage depending on whowas doing it. Latino reporters more oftenwrote from a human-interest perspective.They also used more immigrants and otherregular people as sources, instead ofofficials or academics.

When it comes to economics in general, main-stream news appears to take on a negativetone in covering Latinos. Media Tenor studiednews from top national outlets in the 20months from January 2002 to August 2004.Most stories with a Latino as the maincharacter had a positive tilt – except thoseabout the labor market and, as might beexpected, HIV/AIDS (see chart Page 33).Could journalists be influenced by the sametriggers linked to race-based stereotypesthat we help to cause? Why wouldn’t we?

Our unconscious attitudes don’t affect justthe way we report about race. In a two-year Media Tenor analysis of coverage endingin 2003, most television reports thatfeatured women involved social issues orhuman interest topics. Even with thenNational Security Adviser Condoleezza Ricein the news regularly, women featured lessoften in international policy stories. Onceagain, who works in the newsroom matters.Women television reporters were morelikely then men to use and give time towomen sources, according to an analysisof local coverage of the 2002 governor’srace in Michigan.

Journalists often pick news angles, wordsand imagery to make stories more under-standable and meaningful. But the choiceswe make may unintentionally promote apoint of view. Domke, a former journalist,studied the use of terms such as “innercity” or “disadvantaged teenagers” inwritten crime coverage. Not surprisingly,the phrases spurred readers to draw onracial stereotypes when they weighed anti-crime strategies such as a stronger policepresence or job programs for youth. Politicalscientists Franklin D. Gilliam Jr. and ShantoIyengar found in a 1999 study that people’sattitudes shifted significantly when localcrime news on television included clearracial elements. Stories with race referencestriggered white television viewers’ supportfor a punitive criminal justice policy.“Journalists have to recognize that theyare fundamentally part of the processes bywhich people construct their racial reality,”Domke says.

Researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angelesrecently tested this phenomenon in ajuvenile justice system setting. They foundthat when police and probation officers

32


had been primed with words such asdreadlocks or homeboy, they favoredtougher punishment.

We have the most influence, studies havefound, when our audiences live in placesor work in jobs that are not very diverse.That’s when they most rely on the newsmedia for information about other groups.When certain types of people don’t showup in the news, “long-standing culturalstereotypes and misunderstandings …readily fill in the blanks,” wrote RobertEntman, co-author of The Black Image inthe White Mind: Media and Race in America,summarizing a 2001 Shorenstein CenterConference on Race and the Press.

The sheer volume of black Americansfeatured in crime news stories – but notincluded elsewhere as contributingmembers of society – helps shape racialprejudices, conclude political scientistsJon Hurwitz and Mark Peffley. They’veshown that these biases, in turn, influencesocial and political choices: whether tobuild more prisons, or teach inmatestechnical skills. And when both black andwhite people have followed news aboutrace relations and affirmative action, theyare less likely to blame African Americansthemselves for race-based social andeconomic inequalities.

CATEGORICAL THINKING

Knowing this, why don’t journalists justannounce that, starting Monday, there willno longer be any bias in the way we tellstories? Because we’re people. Humanscan’t help but think categorically. Wenaturally sort our environment into comfortzones, using past experiences and visualcues as our guides. “The human mind mustthink with the aid of categories. … Orderly

living depends upon it,” wrote psychologistGordon Allport in his influential The Natureof Prejudice in 1954.

Categories are everywhere. Letters areletters. Numbers are numbers. But categoriescan also betray us. Students in a 1995study described differences in color betweena letter and a number – when the symbolswere actually the same shade of red.

Socially, people align fast and easily withwhat psychologists call our “in group,”which can be our race, class or gender, ourgeneration or our occupation, our neighbor-hood or our nation – or even the side ofthe room we sit on. Quite quickly, wedecide on one another’s perceived warmthand competence, then react accordingly,says Susan Fiske, a social psychologist atPrinceton University. “These associationsare in your head, even if you don’t haveprejudiced values,” she says.

While we may not notice our resultingpreferences and distinctions, we act on themall the time. In 1998, social scientists nowat Harvard University, the University ofWashington and the University of Virginiadesigned the Implicit Association Test tolearn more about unconscious bias andcategorization. Their quizzes, available on the Internet to anyone, measures auto-matic responses to images and words. Over six years, visitors to the web site(http://implicit.harvard.edu) have takenmore than three million tests.

Most people show a more positive attitudetoward whites than blacks and a strongerliking for young over old. Regardless oftheir conscious beliefs, they more often linkwomen with liberal arts and family, whilethey pair men with technical subjects andcareers. We can even hold an unconscious

http://implicit.harvard.edu

33

THE HUMAN FACTOR

How the Media Covers LatinosMainstream news outlets are generally evenhanded when reporting on the most

common topics involving Latinos – except when it comes to jobs and health. As this chart illustrates, print and broadcast media took a negative view of the

Latino community in the areas of the labor market and HIV/AIDS during 32 months of reporting.

Source: Media Tenor International, 2004, 2005. Based on 73 reports on Hispanics out of 170,212 stories in Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News.

Jan. 1, 2002, to Aug. 31, 2004.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Collective lifeof society

Integration ofMinorities

Nationalelections

Labor market Demographicfocus

Religion Elections ingeneral

AIDS/HIV rateincreasing

As voters

Positive Rating

Neutral Rating

Negative Rating

Num

ber o

f sto

ries

feat

urin

g La

tinos

34


following Hurricane Katrina? The termusually describes people fleeing from onecountry to another. Before September2005, it had been mainly associated withSudan and Afghanistan, according to theGlobal Language Monitor, a media trackingcompany. Some residents of New Orleans,including those sheltered in the HoustonAstrodome, felt the word turned them intooutsiders. “The fact is they are our ownpeople,” Donna Jo Napoli, a SwarthmoreCollege linguistics professor, told theAssociated Press. Some news outlets droppedthe word. But others insisted on it.“Refugee,” said Associated Press ExecutiveEditor Kathleen Carroll, captured the“sweep and scope of this historic naturaldisaster on a vast number of our citizens.”

News coverage of the hurricane broughtmore African American faces to televisionscreens and newspapers than had beenseen in decades. Some wondered whyreporters were so quick to repeat unsub-stantiated rumors of armed carjacking andrape. Why the emphasis on people whowere pulling food, clothes or tools out ofruined stores? Were there really “wildgangs” and an “urban menace,” as Fox’sBill O’Reilly warned, blocking rescues? In a column that ran in black communitynewspapers, Freedom Forum DiversityInstitute training editor Dwight Cunninghampredicted that reporters will be much lesseager to cover Katrina’s ongoing impact onAfrican American families across the nation.Now is the time for journalists to monitorthe fairness of the rebuilding effort, toreport on government responsibility to thepoor and to African Americans, he urged.Journalists, he wrote, should “embracetheir basic ideals. For all the people.”

Can we undo our natural inclinations? Yes,social psychologists say. Some very simple

bias against people like ourselves. About40 percent of African Americans in thestudy so far show a pro-white bias, 40percent show a pro-black one, and the resthave been neutral.

The response is very deep. Harvard Universitypsychologist Mahzarin Banaji, a collabora-tor on the test, explains that these reactionsreflect social conditioning and an ancientfear of people who seem different from us,whether physically or due to differentbeliefs or cultures. If we have little contactwith people of another race, followed byone bad experience with someone, we arelikely to reflexively fear everyone in thatgroup. Banaji said she was encouragedthat the effect can be overcome – first ofall just by spending time with peopleunfamiliar to us and learning about them.“Above all it seems to be contact withother groups that’s positive,” Banaji says.

As journalists, we may unconsciously acton these reflexive attitudes. They mayinfluence whom we rush to interview, andwhom we avoid. They may cause us tothink of some people as representative,and others, not. Banaji and Thierry Devosat San Diego State University tested theidea of “American” in six studies. Theyfound that both white and black peopleviewed Asian Americans as less “American”than themselves. And both white peopleand Asian Americans thought whites weremore American than anyone. For allgroups, “to be American is to be white,”the researchers concluded. Do we think ofthis phenomenon when we rush out to getreactions on a breaking news story? Notusually. Could it be one reason whitesources dominate in every area of news? Could it help explain why so manyreporters called the people leaving NewOrleans “refugees” during the week

35

THE HUMAN FACTOR

“She hit the man.” But if the person isoutside the group, it tends to be asweeping indictment: “She’s hostile.”

Does this sound familiar? It might. Similarpatterns show up in coverage choices.Every day, journalists decide what will be“spot news” – a one-time story that justhappened – and what will be more: a bigfeature, a running story worth many days,an investigative series, a major trend.

Here’s an example: In 2001, there seemedto be plenty of news coverage of Coca-Cola’s agreement to pay $192.5 million toremedy racial inequities in the workplace.But a bigger story, unearthed by Rutgerslaw professors Alfred and Ruth Blumrosenthe following year, 2002, got littleattention. These two former EEOC officialsstudied Equal Opportunity Commissiondata from 1999, the most recent yearavailable. They found that workplacediscrimination went far beyond Coca-Cola.A whopping 37 percent of mid- to large-sized U.S. companies intentionally avoidedhiring nonwhites in nine job categoriesthat year and 29 percent discriminatedagainst women. (See chart Page 37 for alook at the risk of discrimination byoccupation.)

What’s a bigger story? One company, ornearly four in 10?

When we cover social disparity on a sporadicbasis and shy away from documentingdiscrimination, social scientists say, weinfluence the way people think about it.Instead of getting concerned about asocial issue, they say, our audiences thinkin terms of victimization and personalresponsibility. “Media coverage and debatesabout affirmative action may help to amplifya form of racial resentment that runs

strategies work, they have found. First, wecan pay attention to these tendencies andnotice what triggers them. Over time, theyare likely to have less influence. And wecan do what we already know how to do.We can spend time with the people whomake us feel uncomfortable. We can visitcommunity gatherings, cultural events; wecan observe and ask questions. We canlearn how others do things, and why theydo things the way they do.

THE IN CROWD

Many journalists are trying to reach diverseaudiences and to portray all of societyfairly. They know that they must respondmore deeply than counting up staffmembers or thinking more carefully abouttopics and sources. They are looking forways to recognize our built-in bias, tobetter see how this may infiltrate thenews. Compared to the scientists, though,we have a long way to go.

Jack Dovidio, a Universityof Connecticut psychologistwho studies stereotypingand prejudice, points to aphenomenon called “linguis-tic intergroup bias.” Thisbuilds on the theory that

people unconsciously favor their own kind.

Dovidio finds that even simple sentencescan come out of our heads with bias builtin. Describing positive behavior in our owngroup, we tend to convey a general senseof a person’s inner goodness: “She is helpful.”But if the person isn’t in our group, it’sjust the facts: “she helped someone,” asthough tomorrow, maybe she won’t.

When a group member behaves poorly,they get the concrete, one-time language:

Jack Dovidio

36


through the opinions of many whites today,”wrote Oscar Gandy, a professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania Annenberg Schoolfor Communication, in a study on the waysnews influences attitudes about inequality.

TREATING PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY

The unconscious human tendency tocategorize others and treat them accord-ingly also helps explain why change is sodifficult – in any enterprise, but especiallyin pressure-cooker workplaces. Whenseveral journalism organizations complainedabout a news story that described a manwho had been murdered as “Oriental,”KMPH FOX 26 in Fresno, Calif., apologizedand tried to explain. “Our staff was in arush to report the story ‘live’ on the air,”wrote General Manager Charles Pfaff in aletter to the groups. Without a thought,the reporter had repeated the term a policeofficer had used.

At KRON-TV 4 in San Francisco, the staffhas worked hard to avoid such errors. Theynow have guidelines on when and where itis appropriate to use race in a story or touse descriptions that might point to race.But sometimes, the result is still “informa-tion that stereotypes rather than informs,”says producer Kevin McCormack. Crimenews especially – because of frighteningcontent and tight deadlines – attractsquick-reflex mistakes. “Unconscious framinghappens a lot,” he says. Often these storiesare set in predominantly African Americanor Latino neighborhoods. Reporters “willget whatever pictures they can of the scene,and grab whatever interviews they can,”McCormack explains. “There is little timeto think, let alone to look for other sources,other perspectives. So the end result is aone-dimensional view of the story.”

Organizational analysts compare thenewsroom culture to hospital emergencyrooms. Both are places where people mustthink and act quickly. They know timepressure and stress like the back of theirhands. Medical schools even train doctorsto quickly evaluate someone’s health bymaking guesses based on that person’sappearance, age and social circumstances. So how do doctors handle the intensity?Are they able to sweep aside stereotypesand unconscious assumptions that mightsteer them wrong?

In many cases, probably not.

Though health care overall is improving,white men enjoy the benefits more thanothers. Black Americans still die dispropor-tionately from heart disease and cancer.Latinos in the Northeast have twice thedeath rate from asthma as white people.In some parts of the country, NativeAmerican men generally live only into theirmid-50s.

Why? Biology? Lifestyle? Physicians haveblamed these things.

But more than 100 medical studies docu-ment the biggest reason: unequal care.

In 2003, a panel of experts convened bythe Institute of Medicine analyzed all thedata on health disparities. Their finalreport, “Unequal Treatment: ConfrontingRacial and Ethnic Disparities in HealthCare,” concluded “there was no diseasearea where the studies did not show differ-ences in the quality of care.”

Black people and Latinos are less likelythan white patients to receive the propercardiac medicine. They’re less likely to getanalgesia when they break their bones.

37

THE HUMAN FACTOR

Blacks

Hispanics

Asians/Pacific Islanders

Women

Laborers ServiceWorkers

AllOccupations

34.9

%34

.4%

43.6

%30

.0%

40.3

%34

.0% 38

.1%

19.0

%

34.1

%35

.0% 39

.0%

23.0

%

Officials &Managers

Professionals TechnicalWorkers

Sales Office &Clerical

Craft Workers(skilled)

26.6

%21

.8% 24.6

%18

.0%

27.6

%20

.7%

30.8

%23

.0%

29.1

%21

.9%

23.0

%30

.2%

39.5

%28

.1%

27.3

%20

.0%

31.8

%21

.8%

19.0

%

28.7

%27

.1%

35.0

%37

.0%

26.4

%

Discrimination by Job CategoryThis chart, based on a study of EEOC data from 1999, shows the likelihood that an applicant will face intentional discrimination because of race, sex or national origin each time a job is sought in a given occupation. The figures indicate the percent of

establishments that discriminate in each occupation.

Source: Blumrosen, Alfred W., and Ruth G. Blumrosen. “The Reality of Intentional Job Discrimination inMetropolitan America – 1999.” Rutgers University Law School, 2002.

THINGS JOURNALISTS CAN DO

To learn more about bias and stereotyping, youcan read some of the references at the end of thisbook. In addition, you may wish to:

â Try the implicit association test to betteridentify and understand your unconsciousbiases. You can find the test athttp://implicit.harvard.edu.

â Study other cultures. Your writing will becomericher in detail and context if you come toeach story with a better understanding of thepeople and cultures you cover, as well as theirhistory in your area. One way to do this is tovisit cultural centers and museums for a lookinto community histories. Another way is toread A Different Mirror: A History of MulticulturalAmerica by Ronald Takaki and Africana: CivilRights, An A-Z Reference of the Movement thatChanged America, edited by Kwame AnthonyAppiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

â Build new relationships. Spend more time withsources and subjects so you can write aboutthem with detail and nuance. Visit communityhangouts and get to know people. When youcan include revealing details, your news reportsbecome stronger.

â Widen your sourcing. People of color; elderlypeople; gay and lesbian people, and peoplewith disabilities all have more to talk aboutthan “their issues.” Include the totalcommunity in all your coverage.

â Audit your “big” and follow-up stories. What doyou consider trends worth writing about? Whatdo you treat as just one-day stories? Is yourwork as a whole oriented too much towardinstitutions and not enough toward a diversegroup of people?

â Audit overall coverage and sourcing regularly.The Maynard Institute for Journalism Educationoffers “Reality Checks,” a web-based diagnostictool to analyze coverage and track progress.

â Look at the language. Do you see cases whereabstract descriptions have been used to favoran “in group” or to negatively label anoutsider? Are quotes from women and peopleof color used differently than those from white


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38

Doctors amputate the limbs of people ofcolor more often than those of whitepatients. They give their patients of coloranti-psychotic medications more oftenthan they do people who are white.

Along with structural and institutionalreasons, the institute’s panel concludedthat the unconscious biases and stereotypesheld by doctors themselves are an impor-tant factor. Studies on physician-patientinteractions have found that class, race,gender and age all play a role. In onestudy that ruled out other possible reasonsfor their judgments, cardiologists rated theAfrican Americans they treated as lesseducated, less intelligent and less likely tocomply with medical advice than theirwhite patients. “These processes are fairlyuniversal; we all need to be on guard andknow that stereotypes may affect judgment,”says Brian Smedley, who directed thenational project.

The diversity among physicians nearlymatches that in newsrooms: about 14 per-cent are people of color. Asian Americansmake up 8.4 percent of doctors; Hispanics,3.3 percent; African Americans, 2.4 percent;and American Native/Alaska Natives, alittle under 1 percent, according to theAmerican Medical Association. Men out-number women as doctors by two to one.

With such similarities in the work environ-ment, perhaps the strategies that medicalinstitutions are using against unconsciousstereotyping and bias may work in journal-ism, too. The Institute of Medicine’s recom-mendations may even sound familiar:

http://implicit.harvard.edu

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39


men – for example, to add emotion to thestory, but not analysis?

â Encourage the newsroom to apply checkliststhat will help keep fairness in the forefront.KRON-TV 4 in San Francisco has guidelines tohelp producers decide when race is appropriateto include in stories (http:www.ciij.org/newswatch?id=145). The Columbia Workshop onRace and Ethnicity suggests a list thatreporters can use to review their work athttp://www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/race/APME/growingyourcontent_diversity.asp.

â Find out about the sociology, psychology,politics and history of relations between groupsin the United States. Check for resources onbetter reporting and media analysis at theManship School of Communication Forum onMedia Diversity:http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/bibliography.

â Try the Writing for Change section of theSouthern Poverty Law Center’steachingtolerance.org. The center’s 10-minutewriting exercises focus on unconscious bias inword choice, phrasing and perspective. Writtenfor college students, they are also useful fornewsrooms.http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/wfc/wfc_sctn1_4.html.

â Create friendly, open forums within thenewsroom where stories can be discussed andideas suggested. Keep the focus on improvingfuture work.

â Go out to neighborhoods and invite people fromthe community into the newsroom to talk aboutcoverage and offer their suggestions. Somenewsrooms do spot checks on accuracy by send-ing letters to sources from randomly selectedstories. Others use diverse editorial boards.

â Learn who lives in the community you cover.Consult the “American FactFinder” on the U.S.Census web site http://www.census.gov. Youcan get fact sheets on communities down tothe size of a census tract, with details on thelanguages people speak, whether they own orrent their houses, where they work and howthey get there each day. •– Sally Lehrman

â Hire a more diverse staff.

â Provide interpreters.

â Monitor progress.

But that’s only a start. To change the culturethat builds in unequal treatment, Smedleyand his colleagues would like to see doctorslearn about disparities and about culturesdifferent from their own. They recommendmore research on the unconscious processesthat can undermine good care. They suggestnew procedures that help remove subjectivityfrom decision-making.

Both the IOM and the American MedicalAssociation emphasize cross-culturaleducation and encourage doctors to buildstronger personal relationships across differ-ences, whatever they may be. The Depart-ment of Health and Human Services HealthResources and Services Administrationoffers a downloadable course (www.hrsa.gov/financeMC/ftp/cultural-competence.pdf) for physicians. The training describessuccessful practices such as listening tothe needs of historically underservedgroups, involving them in problem-solvingand taking the time to learn aboutknowledge, beliefs and attitudes shared bythe community.

TRAINING AND EXPOSURE

The effort reaches back to medical school.The American Association of Medical Collegesoffers programs to broaden interest in highschool, support diversity among medicalstudents, encourage faculty of color andraise awareness. Many schools have beguncourses on racism and racial profiling. Theyteach students cultural traditions andcustoms, and do exercises intended toimprove doctor-patient interactions.

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/race/APME

http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/wfc/

http://www.census.gov

40


It’s a complicated challenge. People tryingto address cultural diversity and health-care disparities in medicine can run upagainst the very problems they are tryingto address, says Letha Mosley, an occupa-tional therapist and faculty member at theUniversity of Central Arkansas. “They oftenhave to deal with issues of racism andsexism even as they are trying to incorpo-rate such programming into their institu-tion,” she says.

Mosley studied diversity efforts at fouraccredited medical schools; two in historic-ally black colleges, two in historicallywhite ones. The strategies that workedmight easily transfer into newsrooms.Program planners measured progress. Theymade sure people throughout the schoolknew about the diversity effort and itssuccess. And they integrated culturalsensitivity of all types – not just aboutrace – into the most important courses ofthe school. When interviewing patients forthe first time, students at some schoolsmet people of different races and genderswith a range of physical abilities, linguisticskills and socioeconomic backgrounds.They learned about culture, context andhistory. The most successful medicalschools cultivated the assumption thatdiversity and responding to disparities wasa central mission. “It was a given, ratherthan a goal,” Mosley says.

Stanford Medical School aims to incorporatecross-cultural awareness in every aspect of its curriculum. “You’ve got to look at thewhole system,” says Ronald Garcia, a psychol-ogist who directs the Center of Excellencein Diversity. To begin, the school is offeringone course that introduces students to therole of race in society, epidemiologicaldifferences between racial and ethnic groupsand culture-based understandings about

disease. Stanford also brings in prestigiousspeakers for a quarterly lecture series onmulticultural health. “I try to tweak theirinterest to know that culture is part ofevery encounter,” Garcia says. “You haveto be immersed in it, use it and value it.”

Garcia sends his charges out into thecommunity for everyday experiences, suchas grocery shopping or visiting the library.He asks them to study a culture differentfrom their own and to research each ethnicgroup’s history in the area. He urges themto find “guides” into a community and tobuild relationships with “cultural brokers,”people who serve as informal bridgesbetween groups of people. His father, abusiness agent for the Longshoremen’sUnion in Southern California, was one.Cultural, educational and political pathscrossed inside their house in Ventura,Calif., as visitors of all races, classes andbackgrounds stopped by. “It’s about trust,it’s about honesty, it’s about time andbeing available,” Garcia says. “That may betoo intimate for journalists. But you can’thave a relationship without nurturing it.You will always be on the outside.”

Every good journalist knows to cultivatethe informed and connected people on hisor her beat. Think of it that way, no matterwho you are meeting, suggests PattyTalahongva, managing editor for the syndi-cated radio shows National Native Newsand Native America Calling and an on-airhost for the latter. “You have to win trustwith every story you do,” she says. “Why isit so hard to talk to an Indian? Yes, youhave to approach it with a certain amountof caution, respect and sensitivity – butyou do that every day. Just pick up thephone, call the Indian and meet them.” •

41

‘INTELLECTUALS LOST TRACK … OF RACISM’

Many Americans would agree that open racialbigotry is mostly a thing of the past.

But stark race-based disparities in daily lifepersist. Academic researchers, the U.S. CensusBureau and the Institute of Medicine continue todocument examples like these:

â African Americans with a college diploma findthemselves jobless almost twice as often aswhite people with the same education.

â Hispanics must get by on about half theindividual income that Asian Americans andEuropean Americans are able to divvy upamong the bills.

And what happens when blacks and Latinos go to the hospital with a heart problem? Theyare less likely than whites to receive catheter-ization, be sent home with certain heart-protecting medicines or even be advised totake aspirin to protect their health.

Sociologists who study the reasons behindthese disparities have begun to develop anew framework to understand racism and come upwith solutions. “It’s not just Archie Bunkeranymore,” says Troy Duster, a sociology professorat the University of California, Berkeley, and NewYork University.

In recent books, Duster and other researchers sayovert prejudice and direct discrimination happenless often in today’s world. But bias, they contend,remains sewn into the fabric of work, school andthe medical system. They document policies andpractices throughout U.S. institutions that favorwhite people. And even the most well-intentionedwhite man or woman, they report, benefits fromunseen preference built up over generations.

These researchers give historical and social contextto proposals for “color-blind” government policiesthat might create a more equitable society. Theyoffer a way of thinking about ongoing racialinjustice that they hope will help U.S. society over-come a history of favoritism and bias.

When legislators outlawed discrimination byemployers based on race, sex, religion or nationalorigin, people assumed the practice would simply (Continued on next page)

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end. “Intellectuals lost track of the ability todiscuss what racism is,” says UC Berkeleysociologist Andrew Barlow. As social theories aboutrace develop, he adds, “We are really at thebeginning of a new era.”

This emerging school of sociologists is also reactingto other intellectuals who contend that discrimi-nation – and even the idea of race itself – is old news.Stephen and Abigail Thernstrom, who wroteAmerica in Black and White: One Nation Indivisiblein 1997, and Shelby Steele, author of A DreamDeferred in 1999, argue in their books that the nationought to forget about race. It’s time to appreciateprogress made over the past several decades, theysay. Race-conscious policies make white peopleresentful, they argue, and at the same time, dolittle for people of color. Instead, they say, suchrules promote low ambition by holding some

groups to a lower standard.

Those who want do away with race-basedprograms point to the Human GenomeProject. When researchers had completed arough draft of all human genes in 2000,they announced that race has no basis inbiology. In a 1998 statement, the AmericanAnthropological Association explained how

modern ideas of “race” started. The concept arosein the 18th century as a way to justify statusdifferences between European settlers and thepeople they conquered and enslaved. The Nazis laterbuilt on the idea to support the extermination ofJews, gypsies and others.

Since race is not biologically “real,” the associationproposed, the U.S. Census should plan to stopasking people about it by 2010. Instead, the term“ethnic group” would provide a “more nonracistand accurate” means to show U.S. diversity.

Soon, some proposed to abolish the idea of “race”in other arenas, such as education and medicine. Aproposition on the California ballot in 2004 wouldhave stopped most state agencies from collectingrace-based data. As the initiative headed towardthe ballot, the American Sociological Associationattacked the suggestion as wrongheaded. Theprofessional society urged scientists to continueusing race categories in order to study how thesegroupings affect people’s daily lives, access toresources and overall well-being. “A vast body of

Troy Duster

42

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subsidies built public housing, which wouldcontain black migrants from the South inurban areas.

The GI Bill, enacted in 1944, deepened therace bias built into the economic provisionsof the time. Millions of returning veteransand war industry workers could get low-interest mortgages and free access to

higher education. But white Americans benefitedmost, the book’s authors write. First, federallending rules favored segregated suburbs. Andwhite people more often had the educationalcredentials to go to college. The policies of thetime created an economic advantage for manywhite families that continued to grow as eachgeneration built upon the wealth of its parents.

Like interest on a bank deposit, children collecteconomic potential for themselves from theproperty and social standing of their parents, Dusterexplains. Privileges in housing, jobs, educationand other arenas, in turn, build upon one another.Disadvantages such as barriers to well-paying jobs,safe housing and fair-priced loans pass from parentto child, too. As a result, the racial hierarchydeveloped over the middle of the 20th century haspretty much held fast, he says.

Some think that the disparities built into Americansociety may even be growing worse. In BetweenFear and Hope, a book on globalization and race,Barlow writes about this change. In the 1960s and’70s, he says, business regulation, low-incomehousing, job training, public-health measures andother social programs began to undo the advantageslong held by white people. But in the 1980s, theeconomy started to change. Service jobs replacedindustry, businesses became internationally mobile,and deregulation and tax cuts became common.Wages dropped, health benefits declined and manyjobs headed overseas. In 2004, household incomeshad not improved during five consecutive years.The U.S. Census Bureau said they had stayed stableonly because people were working more hours.

With more worries about jobs and pay, accordingto Barlow, many white people began to feelthreatened. “Growing inequality makes more andmore of the middle class experience a sense ofcrisis, so they try to buffer themselves,” he says.He points to attacks on affirmative action and


sociological research …shows that racialhierarchies are embedded in the routinepractices of social groups and institutions,”the society wrote in a 2003 statement.

The statement sparked some debate.California State University, Los Angeles,professor Yehudi Webster complained that sociolo-gists who use race terminology promote racialawareness and separatism. These in turn lead toexclusion and discrimination. Journalists, govern-ment officials and educators should stop talkingabout race, too, he said. The human history ofintermarriage, migration and genetic change makesuch boundaries meaningless, Webster wrote in thesociety newsletter.

While race may not hold up as a biological concept,others responded, its influence cannot be ignored.“Not everything ‘real’ is genetic,” says Pilar Ossorio,a microbiologist and assistant professor of law andmedical ethics at the University of Wisconsin. “Weuse racial categories to interact with each other inways that have significant consequences.”

The association urged its members to study race-related data to understand disparities in a deeperway and to develop policy ideas for greater socialjustice. Discrimination on an individual level doesnot explain much anymore, an increasing numberof sociologists now say. They hope to unravel theways racial privilege may be hidden inside the day-to-day workings of institutions from education topublic transportation to criminal justice.

White-Washing Race: The Myth of a Color-BlindSociety, written by seven scholars including Duster,begins the story in the 1930s with FranklinRoosevelt’s New Deal, which was aimed to protectthe working class. Congress then revised the law toprotect racial segregation, too. The Social SecurityAct excluded domestic and agricultural workersfrom old-age pension and unemployment payments.Three-quarters of the black population, fromdomestic workers to sharecroppers, fell throughthe net. Similarly, the Wagner Act, which gavepower to unions, also allowed labor to shut outblack workers from closed shops. Loans under theFederal Housing Act differentially provided whitesthe wherewithal to move into new suburbs. Federal

Andrew L. Barlow

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THE HUMAN FACTORTHE HUMAN FACTOR

tough-on-crime laws that have put more AfricanAmericans and Latinos in jail. “We need to thinkabout racism in a new way,” Barlow contends.

Scholars now are studying the effects of race insociety in more detail. Julie Sze, an assistantprofessor at University of California, Davis, looksat links between health and policy decisions suchas where city planners place garbage dumps. Someresearch explores segregation in housing and howit limits people’s job options. Others are looking athidden racial animosities and the ways teacherstreat students of different races.

Barlow, Duster and colleagues emphasize that whitesmay have no awareness of their privilege. Theymay not even know when they are trying to protectit. Say parents decide to fight to save funding forsuburban high schools. Their work helps create moreadvanced-placement classes and leadership oppor-tunities. Graduates can then more easily win a spotin the best colleges. But in urban areas, schoolsrarely have parents pushing for more money. Theycan’t offer the same academic advantages. And theparents and graduates of top-tier schools? Theyunderstandably consider their achievements solelythe result of the young peoples’ own hard work.

While they may agree that race-based disparitiesexist, Barlow says, white people often know littleabout the history that tilts opportunities towardthem. Instead they often suspect a lack of ambitionor effort on the part of people of color. “You don’tneed to be a racist to promote policies that arerace-conscious,” says David Wellman, a professor of community studies at University of California,Santa Cruz and one of the White-Washing Raceauthors. Most whites don’t see white as a race, hesays. “Like a fish in water, they don’t think aboutwhiteness because it’s so beneficial to them.” •

– Sally Lehrman

This article was adapted from a three-part series on race for the Institute for Justice and Journalismat the University of Southern California’s AnnenbergSchool of Communication.

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PRESSURESIN THE

NEWSROOM

CHAPTER THREE

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im Kalich, editor andpublisher of The GreenwoodCommonwealth, had just

hired his only black reporter. Thisboosted the nine-member news-room to 11 percent AfricanAmerican. “You hope coveragechanges,” he says. “Commonsense tells you that if you’re in acommunity that’s majority black, you’ll bemore able to tap into that.”

African Americans dominate city governmentand school board leadership in Greenwood,Miss., population 18,425. White people ownmost of the businesses. Kalich says hiswhite reporters try to cover everyone,sometimes by relying on the paper’s blackcirculation director for tips. Indeed, thepaper has won awards for the best paperof its size in Mississippi for the past fouryears. But coverage could be better, Kalichacknowledges. “The stories you don’t get,”he says, “are the ones passed on at thegrocery story or at church, through dailyinteractions with people.”

Kalich’s new hire was CharlesBrown, 25 years old at thetime and raised in a town anhour away. Yes, some commu-nity members were morewilling to talk to him. Andhe noticed different stories.

When a press release came in about June-teenth, for example, Brown learned thatsome of his colleagues didn’t know thatcommunities across the country celebrateJune 19 as the day U.S. slavery finallyended. They didn’t know that news of theEmancipation Proclamation, which tookeffect on Jan. 1, 1863, did not reach Texasslaves until two years later – June 19, 1865– when a Union regiment arrived inGalveston, Texas, to order the last remaining

slaves in the country freed.

The Greenwood Commonwealthwas among the 346 papers thatreported an all-white staff to theAmerican Society of NewspaperEditors in 2005. Though such pub-lications are small, together theyreach at least 3.3 million readers

across the country. The Commonwealth,with its circulation peaking at nearly 7,800on Sundays, serves one of the most diverseareas on ASNE’s all-white newsroom list. Ofthe 50,000 who live in or near Greenwood,66 percent are black, Hispanic, AsianAmerican or Native American. At the paper,the number of journalists of color hasping-ponged between zero and one duringthe past 20 years. Though Kalich can offera starting salary of $22,000 to $25,000, hesays nonwhite reporters and editors arehard to attract and keep. “They’re in suchhigh demand,” explains Kalich, 47, editorand publisher for 10 of his 23 years at thepaper. “When you take that small crop ofcandidates attracted to journalism, we’rekind of on the bottom rung.”

‘WASTING OUR TIME’

Many newsroom managers do make aneffort to hire, promote and encouragepeople of all backgrounds to succeed. YetAmerica’s newsrooms have remained mostlywhite and male. Why? Sociologists andpsychologists have discovered hiddenbarriers that help explain the glacial paceof change within many an industry, evenwhen the best intentions really exist.Without realizing it, they say, people favorthose most like themselves. These naturalhuman processes play into newsroomcultures and systems that tend to givewhite and male journalists an advantage.

PRESSURES IN THE NEWSROOM

T

Charles Brown

Tim Kalich


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Minority Employment in Daily NewspapersThe American Society of Newspaper Editors has surveyed minority representation in U.S. newsrooms since 1978.The results of this annual census are shown here. The figures are based on newspapers’ responses to the survey,and are rounded off.

Total Minorities in Minority Percentage in Work Force Work Force Work Force

1978 43,000 1,700 3.95

1979 45,000 1,900 4.22

1980 47,000 2,300 4.89

1981 45,500 2,400 5.25

1982 49,000 2,700 5.51

1983 50,000 2,800 5.60

1984 50,400 2,900 5.75

1985 53,800 3,100 5.76

1986 54,000 3,400 6.30

1987 54,700 3,600 6.56

1988 55,300 3,900 7.02

1989 56,200 4,200 7.54

1990 56,900 4,500 7.86

1991 55,700 4,900 8.72

1992 54,500 5,100 9.39

1993 53,600 5,500 10.25

1994 53,700 5,600 10.49

1995 53,800 5,900 10.91

1996 55,000 6,100 11.02

1997 54,000 6,100 11.35

1998 54,700 6,300 11.46

1999 55,100 6,400 11.55

2000 56,200 6,700 11.85

2001 56,400 6,600 11.64

2002 54,400 6,600 12.07

2003 54,700 6,900 12.53

2004 54,200 7,000 12.95

2005 54,100 7,300 13.42

Source: American Society of Newspaper Editors Survey of Employment in U.S. Newsrooms, 2005

Kalich may think the Commonwealth isunusual. In aggregate, however, staffing atthe 926 daily newspapers that sent in theirnumbers isn’t terribly different from hisown paper’s. ASNE’s leaders committed aquarter century ago to change theirnewsrooms to reflect the U.S. population.Today, at newspapers across the country,the share of journalists of color has reachedjust 13.4 percent. (See chart Page 46,which tracks minority representation inU.S. newsrooms since 1978.)

The U.S. public is now one-third Latino,Asian American, African American andNative American. The country will, the U.S.Census says, be half “minority” by 2050.Yet 40 percent of the daily papers thatreported on hiring and retention employno journalists of color at all.

Plus, not all editors provide data everyyear. Of the papers that didn’t answer the2005 survey, 275 had earlier reported all-white newsrooms. So the actual number ofjournalists of color at U.S. daily newspaperscould be at least a point lower than ASNEbelieves. In 2002, when ASNE had forseveral years been reporting close to 12percent journalists of color in U.S. news-papers, Indiana University’s AmericanJournalist Survey made this estimate: just9.5 percent.

Broadcast data is equally discouraging –almost all of the numbers for journalists ofcolor slipped last year, especially in radio.Television newsrooms are nearly 80 percentwhite, according to the Radio and TelevisionNews Directors Association, while radionewsrooms are 92 percent white.

Women now hold about 37 percent of printand 39 percent of television editorial jobs.

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Yet they make up 51 percent of the popula-tion and more than two-thirds of the jour-nalism and mass communications graduates.The proportion of women with executivejobs is even smaller – about one out offive people who head up newspaper orlocal television news departments. Perhapsworse, an American Press Institute/Pewsurvey found that one out of two femaleeditors plans to leave her job soon – andmaybe leave the business entirely. Salariesfor women languish at $10,000 per yearless than those of their male counterparts.

“What we’re doing now is wasting our time,”says Herbert Lowe, a Newsday reporter whois immediate past president of the NationalAssociation of Black Journalists. Newspapersmust integrate up and down the ladder ifthey intend to change, he and other minor-ity journalist association leaders insist.“Fundamentally,” Lowe says, “it’s all aboutwho gets to hire whom.”

‘BEGIN TO TAKE A TOLL’

As it turned out, Charles Brown left TheGreenwood Commonwealth. While theexperience was great, he says, the hourswere brutal: 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. many aday. His new job involves covering thecampus and developing press materials forthe historically black Mississippi ValleyState University. Brown earns more moneyand enjoys a more reasonable schedule.And there’s something else. “I feel morecomfortable here,” he says. He can relateto his colleagues easily, and they canrelate to him. They can talk about personalthings. “It wasn’t a really big problem,”Brown goes on, hesitating as he tries toexplain. “It’s like your finger hurts, itdoesn’t really bother you, but it will beginto take a toll.”

In 2001, ASNE leaders reported thatAmerica’s daily newspapers had a retentionproblem. An ongoing exodus of journalistsof color was undermining efforts to buildracially diverse newsrooms. For every sixjournalists of color that editors had hiredthat year, seven had departed. Thedisillusioned émigrés complained aboutlimits to their professional challenge andgrowth, according to a study by LawrenceMcGill, a sociologist now at PrincetonUniversity. “Journalists of color are notconvinced that they have equal opportu-nities for advancement,” McGill wrote atthe time, “or that they are being judged bythe same evaluative criteria as whitejournalists.”

Which journalists get to serve on newsroomcommittees, chase the best stories or writefor the front page? In survey after survey,journalists of color say they feel they arethe last to be chosen. “People who leavethe field tend to do so accompanied by thefeeling that what they had to offer wasnot given a chance to bloom,” McGill wrote.

From assignments to daily news lineups,many newsrooms operate on the gutinstincts of managers. Journalists trust inquick reflexes and timeliness. Many seethings like job descriptions and writtenassignments as a waste of time. A MaynardInstitute for Journalism Education work-book calls this approach “the closed news-paper.” There’s little give-and-take betweeneditors and reporters. Editors assign, andreporters write what their editors expect.The bosses dictate news priorities.

In this kind of environment, both the waywe work and our hidden biases can createa culture that shuts people out. Even today,many editors will tell you they know exactlywhat they want in an “ideal journalist”–

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INSIDE THE NEWSROOM: CONSENSUS MATTERS

The Poynter Institute’s News and Race Projectsurveyed 970 journalists about their attitudes ondiversity. They found:

â Journalists of color were more supportive ofdiversity goals than white journalists.

â Journalists of color were more critical of theircompany’s current diversity efforts.

â The smaller the differences of opinion betweenjournalists of color and white journalists, thegreater the chance a newsroom is actuallydiversifying its staff and coverage.

In the chart below, the “climate” score is calculatedas a mathematical ratio of how far apart journalistsof color and white journalists are on diversitygoals and efforts. A “newsroom diversity climate”score of 0 would mean there was no disagreementover diversity goals and efforts. Higher scoresindicate greater disagreement. The full 2001research report by Edward Pease, Erna Smith andFederico Subervi may be downloaded athttps://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=5045&sid=5.

News organization Newsroomdiversity climate

The Dallas Morning News 145

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 234

San Jose Mercury News 35

The Seattle Times 141

South Florida Sun-Sentinel 109

KRON, San Francisco 238

KTVA, Anchorage 126

KVIA, El Paso 108

WFLA, Tampa 290

WNBC, New York 70

WXYZ, Detroit 247

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https://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?

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in job postings on journalismjobs.com,they seek reporters who are “goal-driven”and “aggressive,” prepared to compete with the “big boys.” Important qualities,certainly, but is male stereotype really allthere is to it? What about being persistent,verbally talented, or good at developingtrust with sources? These skills, stereotyp-ically female, are just as important.

Because they operate at an unconsciouslevel, stereotypes have their most powerwhen people make subjective choices ormust rely on incomplete information. Absentprofessional personnel practices, that’s theway newsrooms tend to assign and promote.And so most women who do rise to execu-tive jobs find themselves running depart-ments such as marketing or communityaffairs. Here they can exercise thoseexcellent communications skills – but areunlikely to be groomed for higher positions.

David Lawrence Jr., former publisher of TheMiami Herald and before that the DetroitFree Press, put it this way when he acceptedthe 2004 Robert McGruder Diversity Award:

“Surely we cannot keep good people if wedo not encourage them … if we do not givethem good role models … if we do notgive them good assignments … if we do notgive them real evidence of our commitmentto their personal and professional growth… if good people do not have a sense ofbeing needed, wanted, fulfilled.”

Some organizations say they are “color-blind” – meaning fair – when what theyreally are is blind to the issue of bias. Whenplaywright and actress Anna Deveare Smithexplored attitudes about diversity atStanford University Medical School for itsstrategic-planning retreat, she did not runacross instances of overt racism or sexism.

Instead, Smith found that people in theminority because of their gender, race oreconomic status felt isolated and under-valued. “It doesn’t feel like there’s any valueto having a diverse population,” oneLatino medical student said. “You’re allowedto succeed, but I bet most people feel thatno one would cry very hard if they left.”

UNCONSCIOUS STEREOTYPES AT WORK

When diversity remains unspoken andinvisible except when it’s time for staffcounts, the ambiguity creates lots of roomfor guesses and misunderstandings.Scientists who study human interactionssay this is when unconscious expectationsand imagery – the stories and assumptionsthat everyone grows up with – can takeover. Implicit stereotypes begin to limitpeople’s opportunities, but may go unno-ticed and unquestioned. And those in theminority – because of their sexual orienta-tion, disability, or any other reason – mayturn to stereotypes as well as they try tointerpret and anticipate their colleagues’expectations.

When a stereotype is in play, the peopleaffected by it tend to act unconsciously inalignment with it. Their actual strengthsand abilities don’t matter. Told that femalesusually perform poorly on a particular mathtest, women are likely to do just that.Otherwise they score just as well as whitemen. The same thing happens when blackpeople are asked to mark their race at thebeginning of a difficult verbal test or aretold that it measures intellectual ability. Or when a teacher starts talking about“white males,” those students often beginto feel threatened and uncomfortable.Social psychologists Claude Steele andJoshua Aronson studied this phenomenonat Stanford University. In their research,

MENTORS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Ray Marcano had dreamed of becoming an R&Bstar. He studied voice, percussion and piano whilegrowing up in the Bronx. He even won a place atthe esteemed High School for Music and Art in NewYork City. But then he heard his fellow studentsplay, and began to doubt his own talents. That’swhen an English teacher suggested journalism. Marcano heeded that advice. He is now in his thirddecade of journalism and one of only 14 blackdeputy managing editors in the country. “If youwant it bad enough and if you’re willing to do thethings that help you grow,” he says, “you’ll do OK.”

Marcano doesn’t credit his achievements to anyspecial skills or connections.But he says the welcomingenvironment he felt at CoxNewspapers has made all thedifference in the world. “Cox,unlike a lot of other newsrooms,gets diversity,” Marcano says,explaining why he has remainedat the Dayton (Ohio) DailyNews for more than two decades.“I don’t think I could findanywhere I’d feel as comfortable.”

Marcano applied for his first newspaper job beforehe even finished his journalism degree at LehmanCollege of City University in New York. He spottedthe Vinita (Okla.) Daily Journal’s ad in Editor &Publisher and wrote in right away. Then he calledto check on his application every week for a month.

The publisher agreed to give Marcano a try. Vinita,Okla., home to the annual Will Rogers MemorialRodeo and the World’s Largest Calf Fry Festival andCook-off, was originally the northern capital of the displaced Cherokee nation. When Marcano gotthere in 1981, the town of 6,700 was about 12percent Native American and 6 percent AfricanAmerican – and, he recalls, segregated.

He arrived to join the six-person news andadvertising staff sporting a Mod Squad-style Afro.It was culture shock both ways. To Marcano, thetown felt “98 percent white.” Susan Ryals, whoruns the Vinita Public Library, remembers thatpeople did notice him. “Because he wasn’t fromhere, he was a little more Yankee,” she says.Marcano didn’t know about local specialties likethe “coney” – a chili-covered hot dog – yet

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“people were very, very warm,” he recalls. Just onebad incident sticks in his mind – when he tried toget a haircut and the barber refused.

During his second year in Vinita, Marcano completedhis journalism studies. He would get off work, driveabout an hour and half to Northeastern StateUniversity in Tahlequah, return at about midnight,sleep a few hours, then hit the desk at 7 a.m. Hewas sports editor, lifestyle editor, then news editor.

Marcano wanted to make it back to New York. Hedecided to go to a bigger paper and set his sightson Tulsa. At the Tulsa World, Marcano coverednight cops. He liked the demanding beat. Then,one night, as he joined the news crew covering a

gathering tornado, a policeofficer stopped him. He orderedMarcano to turn around andleave. When the reporterprotested, the cop slappedhandcuffs on him.

Even though he was releasedshortly afterwards, the incidentdisheartened Marcano. He isn’tsure whether race had anything

to do with what happened. After a couple of closefriends left the paper, though, he decided to go,too. “I said, I’m outta here,” he remembers. Hepromptly sent out resumes to newspapers of aboutthe same size in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Soon Marcano landed a minority affairs job inDayton. And, after a week of training at ThePoynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., he says,the quality of his work began to climb. So did hislevel of responsibility. He began to fill in as aneditor on Sunday, next taking over the night assis-tant city editor slot. “I wanted to be in a positionwhere I could shape a newsroom, where I could bea leader,” Marcano says. Every chance he could, hetold his bosses about his goals to move up.

They listened. Marcano rose through several depart-ment-level positions and finally became metroeditor. But then he hit a rough spot. That old self-doubt began to set in. “It was a very, very demand-ing job and I seriously wondered whether I reallyhad the stuff to run a newspaper,” Marcano says.He would agonize over the decisions he had made.He wondered what his boss would have done, whathis boss’ boss would have done. “That’ll just eatyou up,” he says.

Ray Marcano Brad Tillson Jr.

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A call from a recruiter changed everything. BeforeMarcano knew it, he had an offer. While he decidednot to go, his self-image was transformed. Likeother managers of color, he had held himself to anincredibly high standard. “If a paper of that qualitythinks I could be managing editor, I thought, Imust have something going for me,” Marcano says.“We all feel the same way, we can’t make a mistake:You’ve got to be perfect.”

Even though he’s not very good at doing so himself,Marcano advises other journalists of color to try tolet go of that feeling. “That’s simply a byproduct ofmy mother’s upbringing,” he says. “I’m only fourgenerations removed from the slave plantations.We’ve got another generation or so before blackpeople can walk into any job situation and not feellike they have to be better and have to work harder.”

With a renewed sense of his own potential, Marcanoapplied to open several new bureaus as a regionaleditor. Soon he rose to assistant managing editorfor production. In 2000, he won the presidency ofthe Society of Professional Journalists. Then, muchto Marcano’s surprise, Brad Tillson Jr., at the timethe publisher of the Dayton Daily News and chiefexecutive over eight Cox papers, called him intohis office and asked to be his mentor. “I wasfloored,” Marcano says. “I’m thinking, how can Inot screw this up?”

The relationship began as part of a formal mentoringprogram that Cox was testing. (Cox, a nationalleader in newsroom training, ranks No. 5 on theDedman-Doig newsroom diversity index of news-paper companies.) Tillson recalls that Marcano had always made it clear he was looking foropportunities. “There are people who never puttheir hands up; and there are people who some-times put their hands up,” Tillson explains. “Andthen there are people like Ray, who always havetheir hands up.”

Yet Tillson feared that the relationship might beawkward because of the men’s relative positionswithin the organization. He certainly couldn’tshare everything he knew about the company as atop executive. He worried about perceptions offavoritism and the like. Plus there was the timecommitment. All these concerns fell away as thetwo began to meet.

“I really looked forward to the time with him andfelt it was an important part of the job,” Tillson

says now. They got together regularly, mainly overlunch. Marcano set the agenda with his questionsand concerns. “We developed a very openrelationship,” Tillson says. “If I thought he wasgoing about something the wrong way, I wouldn’thesitate to tell him that.”

The conversations ranged from distribution tofinance to how Marcano interacted with others.Marcano decided to go back to school for an MBA and graduated in March 2003. The exchangeswith Tillson continued informally even into thepublisher’s retirement. When someone across thetable really cares about your development, Marcanosays, “It makes a real difference.” •

– Sally Lehrman

ADVICE FOR WOULD-BE MANAGERS

Over 15 years, the percentage of journalistsof color on the staff at the Dayton DailyNews increased from about 12 percent tonearly 14 percent in 2005, in a circulationarea that is 16 percent nonwhite. Genderdiversity has improved, too.

“Coverage has changed,” says deputymanaging editor Ray Marcano. “People bringdifferent ideas to the table. You noticethings you didn’t before.” His advice forwomen and people of color who want to bemanagers:

“You’ve got to take care of yourself, you’vegot to take care of your family. It’s not goingto do anybody any good if you work your14th hour on the seventh day of the weekand you have a heart attack coming home.

“You’ve got to hang on to your confidence.Stick to a right decision. Just becausesomebody disagrees with you doesn’t meanyou’re wrong. Talk it through and find outwhy they differ, but you can’t get down onyourself and start judging yourself.

“Try to let go of the feeling that you’ve gotto be perfect; that you’ve got to work harderthan everyone else. You can’t be anybody butwho you are.’’

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students’ scores reflectedracial and sexual stereotypeswhen the test situation“primed” them in some way.Otherwise, they fared thesame as everyone else.

For journalists of color, Steele says,“stereotype threat” is often exhausting.Every grammatical mistake or misidentifiedsource feels magnified, suggesting somedeeper incompetence. “Every interaction isshrouded with this possibility of beingseen stereotypically and devalued,” hesays. This “burden of suspicion” can causea wearing self-consciousness that in turninterferes with performance.

Our confidence can rise and fall along withthe limits and expectations that we believesociety places on us. Our race, gender,sexual orientation or physical characteristics,of course, help set the bar. The infamousJayson Blair, in the wake of his departurefrom The New York Times, has given aboost to stereotype threat for many youngjournalists, especially those of color. WhileStephen Glass of The New Republic andJack Kelley from USA Today also made upstories and faked sources, their misdeedsdidn’t prompt the same kind of reaction.People in newsrooms didn’t start saying,“Well, we better be more careful abouthiring those white guys.” Nor did you hearanyone saying, “As a white man, I feelmore pressure at work because of whatGlass and Kelley did.”

Some white people do worry about beingstereotyped another way, though: as racist.Blair clearly was felled by his drug abuse,compulsive fabrication and plagiarism. Hisbosses just as clearly failed to practicegood management. They didn’t monitor theexpense reimbursements that would have

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THINGS NEWS MANAGERS CAN DO

1. Set priorities for diversity and explain themclearly. Evaluate assignments, promotions, pay andother rewards to make sure they are fairlydistributed among the staff.

2. Use compensation and comparable rewards tohold managers accountable. The news mediacompanies with the best diversity track recordsreward managers with bonuses for creating adiverse staff.

3. Set goals and monitor progress by collectingdata on hiring and promotion, and by doingregular content analyses.

4. Make sure procedures and criteria for hiring aredesigned to include, not exclude. Review jobqualifications to get rid of stereotype-laden idealsand replace these with specific, equally relevantskills that are less tied to race or gender. Begin byselecting from a diverse pool of qualified candidates.

5. Encourage every staff member to create goalsand objectives that include learning new skills,developing leadership and stretching into morecreative or challenging assignments. Developsystems to make sure managers know about staffmembers’ ambitions.

6. Encourage mentoring. Make sure managementperformance appraisals include demonstrablesupport for the advancement of people of color,women, gays and lesbians, and people withdisabilities. Consider building in systems to mentorup, as well as mentor down.

7. Make sure that the criteria for coveted assign-ments and promotions are explicit and defined bythe actual skills needed, not by a manager’ssubjective judgment.

8. Take the Implicit Association test to understandhow unconscious stereotyping and reactions occur.Encourage others to take it, too.

You can find the test at:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/index.jspor http://www.tolerance.org/hidden_bias/02.html


Claude Steele

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/index.jsp

http://www.tolerance.org/hidden_bias/02.html


9. Include diversity in every aspect of professional-development training. Teach reporters, editors andmanagers about the ways that unconscious stereo-typing and majority privilege influence everyworkplace.

10. Provide a forum for systematic and safe discus-sion of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilityand class issues, both as news subjects and as theyapply to news operations and life in general. Supportintercultural dialogue with specific exchanges, andprepare to bring in a mediator for these.

11. Get feedback from employees and take itseriously. Create safe places for staff members tovoice their worries about unfairness or insensitivity.Provide opportunities outside of the day-to-daywork environment for people to raise specificcomplaints such as “You shouldn’t use this phrasing,”or “You never call on me in meetings or conferencecalls.” Teach others how to respond to suchconcerns thoughtfully and well.

12. Avoid labeling people who speak up aboutrace, generation, gender and other issues astroublemakers. Know that successful discussionabout diversity often involves conflict.

13. Create intercultural experiences within newsteams as they work together on stories. Build inperiodic exercises to support positive collaborationand exchange. Put diversity issues on the agendaof every meeting: from story conferences to newsbudget meetings to sessions about the organiza-tion’s overall mission.

14. Support new hires and transfers. Help peoplewho may feel they stand out as unusual in theircommunities by providing information aboutchurches, restaurants, cultural events and otherresources relevant to their interests. Develop cross-media or cross-company networks they can turn tofor support and advice. •

– Sally Lehrman

given him away. But Steele also gets thesense that both Blair and his bosses werefrantically combating felt stereotypes. Atleast some of his editors may have avoidedconfronting him because they were afraidof being seen as unfair to African Americanreporters. Macarena Hernández, a formercolleague whose work Blair copied, tookthis view a step further in an op-ed piecefor the Los Angeles Times: “If The New YorkTimes was sincerely committed to diversity,Blair’s editors would have chopped off hisfingers at the first sign of trouble insteadof helping him polish his claws.”

Stereotype threat can stand in the way ofmentoring, an important means for less-experienced journalists to develop theirskills and climb the ladder. White men mightavoid relationships with people of anothergender, race, physical ability or sexualorientation for fear of making a misstep orbeing judged. Yet they are the ones mostoften in a position to offer support andadvice. In experiments at Stanford, whenwhite men thought they’d be discussingracial profiling with black men instead oflove and relationships, they moved theirchairs further away. “What’s interesting isthat it’s not related to how prejudiced theyare,” Steele says.

A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

Journalists of color, women, people withdisabilities, and gays and lesbians enter adouble bind the moment they enter anewsroom.

Suppose, for example, you become theonly Latino journalist in a newsroom in atown with a large Latino population. Youaspire to be a political reporter. You knowyou’ll have to work up to it. The first jobyou get is general assignment, and the

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assigning editor is glad to see you. Therehave been complaints about the newsorganization ignoring the Latino community.All your assignments are communitystories, mostly about Latinos. You may benew to this town, but you now have the“Hispanic beat,” are expected to knowwhat “the Latino community is thinking”and are further asked to help guard againstbias or insensitivity throughout the broad-cast or news pages.

You now have three jobs: reporter, assigningeditor and unofficial ombudsman. And, ifno one else is hired, it looks like you’ll havethem forever. How do you feel? How doyour colleagues feel about you? Not only doyou become acutely aware of your minoritystatus, but you are put in a position thatnaturally makes your colleagues defensive.

Newsrooms are no more immune to categor-ical thinking than other parts of society.We align with our in group, however ourminds unconsciously define it, and look fordistinctions with others. While the resultingpreferences lie outside our awareness, weact on them all the time. Despite their bestintentions, people in the dominant grouptend to resist letting go. Editors andproducers may have a hard time digestingunfamiliar approaches and ideas: they justmay not seem relevant or appropriate. Andbecause of the feedback loop they’vedeveloped, they might swear, and possiblybe right, that their currently decliningaudience would agree. But how does thisway of working allow room for the ideasthat expand loyalty and keep news fresh?Whenever they pitched stories about peopleof color or poor communities, AfricanAmerican news producers Gregory Branchand Claudia Pryor found they ran intoresistance. The pattern finally drove themout of the networks to start their own

production company.

Race bias in newsrooms? Many newsmanagers, who are mostly white and male,say there isn’t. But most journalists ofcolor say there is.

Nonwhite broadcast producers, for example,say racial biases influence news decisionson an on-going basis. Their managersconsistently deny such considerations.How can this be? After conducting morethan 120 interviews of television journalistsin 1999, Freedom Forum Fellow Av Westinfound no blatant bigotry. But, he wrote inNieman Reports: “The interviews reveal aclear sense among the rank and file thatnews management’s attitudes about raceplay a role in story selection and content,editorial point of view, and the skin colorof the person who will provide the ‘expert’sound bite.”

Such practices may go unspoken, but notunnoticed. The dissonance can add a levelof stress. “As a society, we want to livethe ideal of a color-blind society – don’ttalk about it, don’t recognize it – and that tends to suffocate dialogue anddiscourse,” says former magazine writerMeta Carstarphen-Delgado, who now studiesrace and gender in the media context atthe University of Oklahoma. She interviewed60 journalists after they attended aPoynter workshop on covering race andwas struck by their descriptions of news-room silence. White journalists don’t wantto ask questions that make them lookstupid. Reporters of color want to let goof their role as the caretakers of raceissues. The result? Frustration. “Nearly allof these journalists believed that discus-sion about race on the job benefited them,even though only 33 percent said that itwas regularly discussed,” she reported.

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Good diversity training can work, but notthe quick and easy kind. “Racism is morecomplicated than calculus, but we oftenthink we can learn about it in one session,”says Jack Dovidio, an expert on prejudiceand stereotyping at the University ofConnecticut. “Most of us are well-intentionedand want to learn. People will want tocome and will listen.” But programs thatseem geared toward remediation – whetherfor women, people of color, or white men– can backfire, Steele’s work shows. Afocus instead on challenge, achievementand the affirmation of each staff member’scontributions will yield better results.

TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE

One way newsroom managers beat theretention problem is by nurturing an open,creative environment. Then all journalistscan do their best work, says San FranciscoState University journalism professor ErnaSmith. The most successful news organiza-tion becomes an exciting place for everyone,concluded Smith and her colleagues,Edward Pease and Federico Subervi, in thePoynter Institute’s News & Race Project.They studied newsroom climate, ethnicdiversity and news content. “It’s theopenness of a place, the willingness totake on new things, the ability to keeppeople engaged through professionaldevelopment,” Smith says. A newspaperwhere she has consulted, the South FloridaSun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, allowsreporters to rotate through special projectsor switch to different desks. “There’s alwayssome opportunity around,” says Smith. Thenewspaper employs 28 percent journalistsof color in a 36 percent nonwhite commu-nity. Its diversity is increasing.

A creative, effective newsroom doesn’t justarise on its own, adds Newsday’s Lowe, and

there’s no magic numerical formula. “Youcan hire a black journalist who simplydoesn’t get it and that doesn’t do us anygood,” Lowe points out. Diversity, heargues, needs to be built into newsroompractices. “I’d like to see a top editor andpublisher agree on a set of principles andpost it throughout the newsroom,” Lowesays. “I’d like to see them set benchmarksand measure progress. Managers’ successshould be tied to their work in this area, andthey should be fired if they don’t do it.”

The San Jose Mercury News, for instance,where journalists of color make up nearly athird of the staff, announces its commit-ment to diversity in a news mission state-ment every day on Page 2. The paper firstfocused attention on the area’s changingdemographics in 1992 when it created the“change pod,” a team charged with coveringAsian and Latino immigrants. The race anddemographics team continues today – plusevery other beat aims to bring the pluralismof Silicon Valley into its coverage as well.The parent company of the Mercury News,Knight Ridder, financially rewards executivesfor recruiting journalists of color and ranksNo. 2 after Gannett Co. in its newspapers’average newsroom diversity.

Yet even the Merc faces challenges. Asdiverse as it is, the newsroom staff has notkept up with its community. For theiranalysis of ASNE data, Stephen Doig andBill Dedman came up with a measure calledthe “newsroom diversity index,” whichcompares staff counts to the populationthat a newspaper serves. A score of 100means the publication reflects at least inoverall terms the ratio of people of colorin its community. More than half of thosewho live in the San Jose area are people ofcolor, so the Mercury News came in with adiversity index of 61 in 2004-2005.

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Another Knight Ridder paper, the AkronBeacon Journal, has a diversity index of177. At 20 percent journalists of color, itsstaff is nearly twice as diverse as the popu-lation it serves, which is about 12 percentnonwhite. The publisher, Jim Crutchfield,(a Knight Foundation trustee), and execu-tive editor, Debra Adams Simmons, are bothAfrican Americans. Simmons says KnightRidder’s commitment to diversity helpedher leap headlong into a wild first year asan executive there, and succeed. And yet,she writes in the March 2005 issue of TheAmerican Editor, that like others in hersituation, she believes she must work twiceas hard as other executives. She feels everystep she takes – for better or worse – willinfluence opportunities available for otherAfrican American editors.

Whatever their newsroom climate, lots ofsmall papers lose excellent reporters tobigger papers on an ongoing basis. KathySpurlock, executive editor of The News-Star in Monroe, La., must constantly recruit.The Gannett Co. paper serves a communitythat is nearly 40 percent people of color;37 percent of the population is black. TheNews-Star works with regional universitiesand provides year-round internships forstudents of color. The paper has wongrants to develop contacts at historicallyblack colleges and universities that couldfeed into the staff. “Our staff is heavilycommitted to a newsroom that looks morelike our community, yet we find ourselvesfilling the same positions over and overbecause we are not able to offer the finan-cial rewards offered by the major dailies,”Spurlock says. Even so, The News-Starkeeps working to meet the challenge. Theproportion of journalists of color there has fluctuated from 10 to 20 percent overthe past decade. In the 2005 report, staffdiversity bumped back up to almost 16

percent from just 10 percent in 2004.

‘THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS’

Even as news corporations continue tostruggle to achieve staff diversity, theorganizations we cover seem to haveprogressed remarkably well. Many nonmediacompanies have built diversity into theirmanagement framework, leading to accom-plishments that leave news media trailingbehind. Executives there view broad-basedinclusion as a business imperative, andthey make this clear up and down themanagement ladder. They value diversityas a means to support creative exchange,stimulate ideas and enhance competitive-ness. They see it as so critical, in fact, that65 businesses joined friend-of-the-courtbriefs in both Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratzv. Bollinger. These parallel cases in 2003involved law school and undergraduateadmissions at the University of Michigan.Eighteen television, print and cablecompanies that are minority owned ortarget substantial minority communitiesjoined in one amicus. They cited diversityas necessary for their success and essentialto the public interest. The U.S. SupremeCourt agreed. The justices decided thatprograms must be “narrowly tailored,” butthey upheld the right of universities toconsider race.

Many top companies, Ford Motor Co., forinstance, try to make inclusiveness astraightforward business priority. Theautomaker wants to make sure that peoplefrom a variety of backgrounds buy its cars.Ford houses its powerful, $4.5 billionsupplier diversity effort in the purchasingdepartment, not in human resources. “Itreally isn’t a program, it’s the way we dobusiness,” says Ray Jensen, former directorof minority supplier development. “If you

57


aren’t in a positionwhere you can influ-ence who buys fromwhom, you can’t domuch.” Ford purchasesdirectly from certifiedminority-owned busi-nesses. The companyalso demands that its525 biggest parts and

service suppliers do the same – the staff,for instance, even tracks whether its outsidelaw firms bill at least 6 percent of hours toattorneys of color. Ford also has a formalmentoring program that seems to alignwith psychologist Steele’s theories. It’s notjust top-down, but bottom-up and cross-organizational, with one branch dedicatedto helping senior male managers learnabout issues important to women.

Each year, the magazine Diversity Inc.ranks the top 50 U.S. companies for bestpractices in diversity based on advocacyand management measures. Editors therehave pinpointed common themes. Whetherthey sell consumer products, technology,or financial services, the successful busi-nesses evaluated progress by using metrics.Nine of the top 10 in 2004 tied managers’salaries or bonuses to the result. They alsocreated pipeline initiatives to bring indiverse hires, and to develop people forleadership posts. In newsrooms, the samepractices work. Instead of calling theirfriends when openings appear, those whoprofile the real qualities of the job andrecruit widely have more success in creatinga welcoming environment for everyone.

Besides bringing diversity values to thefore, all these practices help remove thesubjective decision-making that supportsunconscious bias.

CLARITY WORKS

Even with all this emphasis, pluralismdoesn’t necessarily come easy. Ford stillstruggles with sexual harassment on theassembly floor and settled a race discrimin-ation lawsuit for $9 million in 2005. Inthat case, plaintiffs argued that a requiredtest had blocked African Americans fromits plant apprenticeship programs. In manybusinesses, the problem comes down toresidual policies that encourage unconsciousstereotyping – not to outright prejudice oreven ill will, says Teresa Demchak, managingpartner for Goldstein, Demchak, Baller,Borgen and Dardarian in Oakland. Her firmhas litigated civil rights cases involvingDenny’s, Home Depot and MetropolitanLife Insurance, among others. At Denny’srestaurants in California, a general demandwent out from headquarters to boostprofits and cut losses. Down at the restau-rant level, the goals turned into a policythat black youth prepay for their meals, shesays. Without information about the causeof losses or suggested solutions, discrimin-ation took hold. California managers,acting on stereotype, assumed that AfricanAmerican youths were most likely to leavewithout paying. Servers began asking themfor cash in advance. As part of a $34.8million court settlement in 1994, Denny’strained employees not to discriminate andtaught them how to serve a multiculturalcustomer base. The company set up amonitoring system to ensure fair treatment.

At Home Depot, managers had passed overwomen for promotions. The company createdjob criteria and a formal means for employ-ees to register their interests as part of an$87.5 million settlement in 1997. Hiring andpromotion decisions were no longer sosubjective – and thus susceptible to guessesabout women’s interests and capabilities.

Ray Jensen

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Metropolitan Life, which had ignoredcomplaints from women about their slimchances to win top jobs, discovered that astereotype was at play. Managers hadassumed that women were less willing towork long hours or take on tough assign-ments because of family responsibilities.In fact, they were having trouble balancinghome and work. So along with offeringbetter management training in a 2003settlement, the company took steps toaccommodate working parents – male andfemale alike.

“In media, decision-making may well haveto be subjective,” says Demchak, whosefirm works closely with companies to changetheir cultures as part of settlement agree-ments. “But there are ways to add objectiv-ity without reducing the artistic creativitythat comes with the job.” Standard humanresources practices that cut down uncon-scious discrimination in nonmedia com-panies are likely to work in newsrooms, too.Rather than allowing one person to decideon a new hire, she tells companies to buildin some oversight. Hiring managers shouldarticulate clear reasons for their choices.Instead of tapping promising staffers onthe shoulder, she says, post opportunitiesfor committees and plum beats in a timelyfashion. Turn promotions, including thosethat require informal apprenticeship, intoan open, competitive process. Make surethere’s a way for staff members to maketheir ambitions known. Create proceduresthat offer everyone an equal chance to begroomed for top positions.

These practices limit unconscious stereo-typing and go a step further by weakeningthe dominant group’s predictable resistance.“These solutions change the company’s

personnel practices as they apply toeverybody, making them better and morefair for everyone,” Demchak says.

The best diversity programs do more thanbring many varieties of human beings intothe workplace. They embody the convictionthat diversity enhances the work environ-ment and the product itself – whether it is a car, pancakes and syrup, life insurance,a newspaper or a news broadcast. Success-fully diverse companies find ways to infuseit into the operation until it becomes asunconscious a part of everyday work asimplicit stereotyping used to be. •

REFRAMING

DIVERSITY

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CHAPTER FOUR

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REFRAMING DIVERSITY

n May 2003, President George W. Bushdeclared the military’s mission had beenaccomplished in Iraq. Many Americans

thought peace was around the corner, pollsshowed. But one diverse collection of U.S.residents had misgivings. Immigrants tothe United States from many parts of theworld said it was too early to claim victory.In particular, those who had come fromthe Middle East, China and Korea worriedabout the war’s destabilizing effects onthe region. Many expected the conflict toincrease terrorism. A majority of immigrantsfrom nearly every national backgroundfeared that the United States would loseinternational credibility unless soldiersfound nuclear or biological weapons.

These immigrant views emerged in an 11-language, 1,000-person poll by New AmericaMedia, which was reported shortly after thepresident’s announcement. (See chart Page63.) Unfortunately, few outside of the ethnicmedia heard these cautionary voices.

Public opinion polls typically exclude peoplewho don’t speak English well, or at all.Mainstream news outlets, relying on suchsurveys, reported broad optimism about thewar. People in one ABC/Washington Postpoll a few weeks before Bush’s announce-ment, for example, fully expected theconflict to help stabilize the Middle East.Only by December 2003 did the English-onlyU.S. public begin to worry that the invasionmight not have eased terrorism at all.

The immigrants’ skepticism generally didnot result from misgivings about the UnitedStates. Three-quarters of Latin Americansand Asians – and half of the respondentsfrom the Middle East – said they believethis country is a positive force in the world.Almost nine out of 10 Vietnamese andFilipino respondents approved Bush’s

handling of the war at the time. Nearlytwo-thirds of those from Latin America feltthat way, too. But immigrants may havebeen more realistic about the conflict’soutcome because of what they knew aboutthe world.

Immigrants drew on their personal experi-ence and global connections to family andfriends, as well as the news they generallyrely on. In a typical news program leadingup to the 2004 election, for example,Spanish-language networks devoted at leastfive more minutes to world affairs thanEnglish-language networks, according to astudy by the Pew Hispanic Center and theUSC Annenberg School for Communication.In a typical local news broadcast, Spanish-language stations offered one minute and44 seconds of foreign policy. Their English-only counterparts gave the subject just 17seconds.

New America Media, founded in SanFrancisco as New California Media, representsmore than 700 ethnic and community newsorganizations. The consortium estimatesthat 29 million native and foreign-bornpeople of color turn first to ethnic media.These outlets generally cover internationalnews more extensively than their main-stream counterparts. In five case studiesfor the William and Flora Hewlett Founda-tion, the consortium found that ethnicmedia routinely offer analysis by those wholive elsewhere in the world. The group’s2005 survey indicated two-thirds of Latinossaid they turned first to ethnic media whenthey wanted information about politics andU.S. government activities.

“Ethnic media simply write and report froma more global perspective,” says SandyClose, executive director of New AmericaMedia. “When it comes to understanding

I

62

the U.S. role in the world, these(news media) are definitely aheadof the curve.”

THE ETHNIC MEDIA BOOM

People look to the news to helpthem decide what’s important – to learn arguments about variousaspects of an issue. When journalists offeronly the perspective of one demographicgroup, how can truth emerge? When storiesare overlooked that affect large groups ofpeople, how does that serve thedemocratic process? As America changes,members of a more diverse public willnotice coverage that leaves them out.Instead of complaining, people can easilyturn to entertaining web sites and blogs.They may try to absorb whatever newsthey might need from reality TV, comedyand movies. They may or may not disengagefrom politics and such hotly debated issuesas health care, pensions and schools. Butthey will surely lose interest in traditionalnews media if they don’t find it relevant totheir own experience.

Specialized news organizations, especiallythe ethnic media, are booming. Theseoutlets command loyalty and attentionwildly out of proportion to their resources,which come nowhere close to those ofmainstream outlets. Such niche mediareach more than half of the people in theUnited States who identify themselves asHispanic or Latino, African American,Native American, Arab American or AsianAmerican, according to the 2005 NewAmerica Media survey of 1,895 individualsacross the country. (See chart Page 64.)One quarter of Asian Americans and NativeAmericans, about 40 percent of ArabAmericans and African Americans, andmore than one half of the Hispanics

surveyed said they prefer ethnicmedia and use it frequently.Nationally, the black press nowincludes about 250 publicationsthat reach 11 million readerseach week. The Chinese-languagejuggernauts, the World Journaland Sing Tao Daily, each dayreach 350,000 and 180,000

respectively. And, in five cities across thenation, more people ages 18 to 34 watchedUnivision’s early evening news in 2004than any other local newscast in English orSpanish.

Loyal audiences like these helped inspireViacom to buy Black EntertainmentTelevision for $3.9 billion in 2000 andmake a failed run at Univision two yearslater. The Washington Post bought ElTiempo Latino for an undisclosed price in2004, while Time Warner picked up Essencefor $170 million in early 2005. The NewYork Times announced plans that year tostart its own African American newspaperin Gainesville, Fla. America Online ownsAfricana.com, Blackvoices.com, and startedits own AOL Latino.

Are mainstream outlets smart to buy orstart their own ethnic media? Dependswhom you ask. In a July 2005 essay, syndi-cated columnist and editor George Currypointed out that the black press is a trustedsource for alternative news and perspectives.“Rather than trying to supplant black andLatino publications,” Curry wrote, “white-owned media companies should show thatthey can improve their unbalanced coverageand increase African-American presence atall levels within their organizations.”

Certainly, the explosion of ethnic newssources does make a point: cover all ofAmerica, broaden your audiences and bloom.


Sandy Close

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REFRAMING DIVERSITY

Asian sample Middle East sample Latin American sample

Improve Relations

Create Serious Problems

Immigrants’ Unease About the WarEarly in the Iraq war, the mainstream, English-language press

reported that most Americans were optimistic, with many expecting the conflict to help stabilize the Middle East. But, as this chart shows,

immigrants who relied on the ethnic media had their doubts. Among the questions answered by 1,000 immigrants in a 2003 survey:

“Do you think the war with Iraq will improve the relations of the United States with the Arab and Islamic worlds or do you think

it will create problems?” Their response:

Source: “First Multilingual Poll of Immigrant Opinions on the War in Iraq.” Bendixen & Associates for New America Media, 2003.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

37%40%

21%

55%

39%42%

64

10

30

50

70

90

0

20

40

60

80

100

Hispanics AfricanAmericans

ArabAmericans

AsianAmericans

NativeAmericans

Prefer ethnic media over mainstream

Prefer mainstream media but regularly access ethnic media

55%

32%

42%

32%

40%

34%

25%

45%

25%

39%

Source: ”The Ethnic Media in America: The Giant Hidden in Plain Sight.” Study by Bendixen & Associates for New America Media, 2005. Based on 1,895 phone interviews in 10 languages.

The Reach of Ethnic MediaWhen they want the news, a significant percentage of people

who identify themselves as Hispanic, African American, Native American,Arab American or Asian American turn first to their ethnic media.

This chart shows their preference between ethnic and mainstream media.


BACK TO BASICS: WHO LIVES HERE?

A news organization that decides to coverits whole community often starts by takinga closer, systematic look at exactly wholives there. This sounds elementary, but itturns out to be a crucial first step. Whenthe American Society of Newspaper Editorsasked its members to estimate the demo-graphics of their areas, most got it wrong.Nearly two-thirds of editors had no ideahow diverse their cities and towns hadbecome. If journalists don’t really knowtheir communities, how can they bring in a full range of voices?

Of course, many reporters and editors dorealize that they live in racially mixedplaces. But that, the staff of The News-Star in Monroe, La., learned, is also only abeginning. “We thought we knew what was what,” Kathy Spurlock, the executiveeditor, wrote in Nieman Reports. Seekingto improve, the paper tried civic journal-ism techniques. Reporters walked awayfrom their phones and computers. Theyspent time in barber shops, communitycenters and coffee shops. They beganinterviewing in a more conversationalmanner. An entirely new flow of storiesbegan. The paper discovered how govern-ment agencies had been complicit ineconomic discrimination, Spurlock wrote. A reporter described firsthand the miseriesof living downwind from an aging sewagetreatment plant. “Familiarity had instilledin us natural biases,” Spurlock explained,“blinding us.”

The Maynard Institute for JournalismEducation in Oakland, Calif., starts its news-room training by helping journalists findout who lives in the regions they writeabout. But participants don’t just look atrace. Dori Maynard, the institute’s president,

explains how to think about a communityin a more complex way. She helps journalistssee the many human differences thatinfluence how society sees us and how wesee society. These “fault lines” – race, class,generation, gender, geography and, manydiversity experts add, ideology – are alwaysthere. It’s normal to try to ignore them or pretend they don’t exist. But the socialpressures caused by our differences canbuild, and, like the tectonic plates whosemovement causes earthquakes, makethemselves known in overpowering ways.

Robert C. Maynard, the late owner of The Oakland Tribune and the inventor ofthe fault-lines concept, believed socialpressures can ease when people see theirconcerns reflected in a diverse news stream.A good newspaper, in its fundamental roleof supporting democratic debate, was an“instrument of community understanding,”he said. People and communities free toexpress themselves will more easily solvetheir own problems.

Maynard urged journalists to better under-stand themselves and how their experienceshave changed the way they see the world.Are you a woman or a man? What’s yoursexual orientation? What race are you?How old? How much do you earn? Do youlive in a city, or a suburb, or a rural area?What religious beliefs did you grow upwith? Only if you know yourself, Maynardsaid, can you really know enough to findthe sources who will help you tell thewhole story.

Today the Maynard Institute works to helpjournalists see into their “blind spots” and challenge their assumptions. A recentexample: Most coverage of the SocialSecurity debate has focused on the questionof pension for the primary wage-earner,

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REFRAMING DIVERSITY

66

A CHALLENGE FOR J-SCHOOLS

Ralph Izard had grown up knowing fewAfrican Americans. Then his high school insouthern West Virginia was integrated. Theyoung man got a job cleaning up the blackcampus that was merging into his own. “Itreally hit me – my school building … wasa palace compared to theirs,” he says.

Later, when Izard traveled around the globe as ajournalism educator, he was stunned at how littlehe knew about other people’s lives.

Tomorrow’s journalists shouldn’t have to work withsuch a handicap. But based on the track record oftoday’s colleges and universities, they could verylikely start out that way. In most journalism schoolsand departments, students will meet mostly whitepeople. Their professors will mainly be male. Manystudents won’t experience America’s diversity untilthey step into a professional newsroom or out toreport a story.

Newsrooms across the country clamor to hiregraduates who can cover a multicultural society.Yet journalism schools themselves frequently failto meet their own diversity standards. First, onlyroughly 100 of the nation’s 450 journalism andmass communications programs are accredited.Second, of those that are, in accrediting reportsover the 15 years leading up to 2003, more thanone quarter of those cited for noncompliancemissed the mark in diversity.

The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalismand Mass Communications created this standardbecause it believed the media must reflect andserve the diversity of America. The council requiresschools to hire women and faculty members ofcolor. They must seek a wide mixture of students.And in their teaching choices, professors mustexpose their charges to a spectrum of issues, voicesand views.

But the nation’s journalism school faculty does notreflect the nation’s population. For the past twodecades, less than one out of every 12 full profes-sors in journalism and mass communication wassomeone of color. Journalism and mass communi-cation programs include a smaller proportion offaculty of color than the overall makeup of mostfour-year colleges nationwide.

Women make up about 40 percent of theteaching staff in journalism and mass com-munications, although usually at lower ranksand rates of pay than male faculty. Still, twoof every three students in these programsare female – taught by a faculty where nearlytwo of every three teachers is male.

“I wish we were doing a lot better,” saysJerry Ceppos, former vice president for news atKnight Ridder and immediate past president of thecouncil. “We kind of know the way to do this: havegood critical mass on your faculty, and in everysyllabus have specific items that deal with diversity.”

Recruiting women faculty should be easy, pointsout Lionel C. Barrow Jr., immediate past chair ofthe Commission on the Status of Minorities for theAssociation for Education in Journalism and MassCommunication. About 60 percent of doctoralgraduates in 2003 were women. “Are we ready tohire them?” Barrow asked in his August 2005chair’s report.

The pipeline for professors of color needs moreattention, Barrow says. Only about one in fivereceiving doctoral degrees were students of color,and of those, very few were African American orLatino. “We should, we can and we must do betterthan that,” he wrote. In an interview, Barrow saidschools simply aren’t actively recruiting thesestudents. “There are a number of places the deansand directors could be looking for minorities andthey aren’t,” he said. If schools don’t have fundsto do their own recruiting, they could easilyidentify promising candidates from resources suchas the McNair Scholars Program, which prepareslow-income, first-generation college students andundergraduates of color for doctoral study.

In her 2003 study of the links between classroomsand newsrooms, Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte describedhow faculty ratios affect much more than the facesin the hallway. Some schools have managed tochange their courses despite a preponderance ofwhite professors. But in most cases, these teacherscontinue doing things the way they always have.

Even when faculty members start paying attentionto diversity, they can inadvertently set up a dichoto-my between “us” and the “other.” People of color,those who are not Christian or Jewish or those whohave disabilities often remain the exception andthe outsider.

CLOSE-UP:

Ralph Izard

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REFRAMING DIVERSITY

The Accrediting Council doesn’t consider staffdiversity of student publications or broadcastoutlets. But when Kathleen Woodruff Wickham atthe University of Mississippi reviewed demographicsin the Southeast Journalism Conference, she foundstudent newspaper staffs there to be overwhelminglywhite. The skew matters, because student newspaperalumni often help each other get newsroom jobsafter graduation. Student media are indeed impor-tant stepping stones, educator and formerWashington Post reporter Betty Medsger found inher study of journalism education, Winds of Change.In a survey of 500 newsroom recruiters andmanagers, more than half said they hired three-quarters of their interns from among people whohad worked in campus print or broadcast outlets.

The accrediting council tried to give journalismschools some tools for change in a 2003 handbookof best practices. The teaching strategies rangedfrom bringing in guest speakers to integratingdiversity into every part of the school. In the mostsuccessful classrooms, all courses – from journalismhistory to news values to ethics – include ideasabout diversity.

“You’re going to do a much better job with this ifyou make it a normal part of everything you do,”says Izard, who is now Sig Mickelson/CBS professorat the Louisiana State University Manship Schoolof Mass Communication. He is also professoremeritus at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalismat Ohio University. Newswriting classes should lookat word choices that contain buried assumptions,Izard says. Reporting courses ought to underlinethe value of consulting multiple sources. Ethicsseminars can study stereotypes, fairness andunconscious symbolism. And discussions can stopassuming that the white, male, heterosexualexperience is the norm.

Many educators agree that teaching diversity wellrequires depth and intensity. Students can absorbideas about multicultural reporting more easilythrough activities than lectures. For instance, theycan examine their own stereotypes in classroomexercises. They can learn to identify media biasthrough collaborating on projects. Story assignmentsand beats can help students meet people fromunfamiliar cultures and communities.

De Uriarte, who is an associate professor at theUniversity of Texas at Austin, recommends changingthe learning environment so that it supports

intellectual diversity. Readings and discussionsshould include more writings and research byauthors of color. New classes should educatestudents about the history of race in America andthe U.S. power structure, she says. Students couldread George Fredrickson’s A Short History of Racism,for example, or Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror: A History of the Multicultural United States.

Like newsrooms, journalism schools that commit to do it can indeed diversify. The University ofAlabama went from no communication professorsof color in 1989 to about one in eight in 1998.The University of Florida more than doubled minorityfaculty from 9.4 percent to nearly 20 percent overthe same period. The University of Missouri quad-rupled its faculty of color to 12.2 percent anddoubled its female faculty to 40.8 percent duringthat time.

Lee Becker and his colleagues at the University ofGeorgia studied the reasons behind such successes.All three colleges had targeted hiring and kept jobdescriptions flexible. They also developed studentrecruiting and curriculum diversity at the same time.

At LSU, Manship designed its action plan after itreceived a poor rating on the diversity standard sixyears ago. The faculty began working harder torecruit doctoral candidates of color, tapping histori-cally black colleges and universities for leads.Professors developed relationships with high schoolsin Baton Rouge and New Orleans to introducejournalism to the students.

Izard arrived at Manship as an associate dean twoyears after the wake-up call. Under his leadershipand that of Adrienne Moore, director of the ReillyCenter for Media & Public Affairs, the school recentlyfounded Mass Communicating: The Forum on MediaDiversity (http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu).The web site, the most comprehensive of its kind,offers a host of resources to support diversity innewsrooms and academia. An impressive collectionof research can help reporters and editors improvenews coverage on minority issues. The onlinelibrary features searchable articles on media, gender,religion and race, including directories of scholars,courses and research centers. The site features more than 100 course syllabi.

Izard says he believes that both professional


http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu

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who is usually assumed to be male. Thisseems absolutely right to daily newspapereditors – typically white, middle-agedfamily men. They can’t help but think aboutthe story in relation to their own futures,often that of the main wage-earner. Theissue of spousal and survivor benefitsrarely gets covered. Yet these make up 14percent of Social Security payouts and gomostly to women – usually black women.Also cut are discussions about disabilitybenefits, though these account for nearly17 percent of payouts. And never mindworking women, who as a group relyheavily on the benefits. When you add itall up, more than half of those affected byproposed Social Security changes don’tfind their concerns routinely addressed.

Dori Maynard, Bob’s daughter, describesfault lines this way: “These are the prismsthrough which we view events, ourselvesand each other.” Journalists who recognizethem are able to see stories others maynot. Newsrooms using the fault-linessystem find they can develop more relevantangles, too. The fault lines provide apractical framework for better reportingand editing. Since everyone is on one sideof a social fault line or another, journalistswho look at diversity this way see why it’san issue for all of us.

THINKING ABOUT THE JOURNALISM

If individual journalists can do it, canmainstream journalism as a whole get beyondits institutional fault lines? Despiteprogress in recent years, studies still showthat America’s mainstream news organiza-tions tilt toward coverage of the groupthat for the most part still runs both themedia and the country: white men. Asoutlined in Chapter 2, communicationsresearch also has found that news media


journalists and faculty must commit themselves todiversity before much will change. In an audit of 300 journalism and mass communication programsacross the country, the Forum found that onlyabout one-third address the subject at all. “It’s nota racist attitude,” Izard says, “as much as ‘Thisapproach was good enough for me, why should Ido more?’”

He warns that any new emphasis in a universitydepartment, let alone diversity, takes more thanlip service. “It’s a matter of total dedication andabsolute persistence,” Izard says. Then, and onlythen, he says, is it reasonable to expect a little bit of progress. •

– Sally Lehrman

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tend to frame stories from this group’sgeneral perspective. Are we locked into away of thinking that makes it harder tocover today’s America?

No, we aren’t. But change demands rigoroushonesty and an ability to look not just at who journalists are but what they do.Embedded in the daily journalistic processare many “fault-lines moments,” whenpeople who are operating openly anddeliberately can do things differently fromthose acting internally and instinctively.

Budding journalists learn a set of criteriain school that help them decide what isnewsworthy. They weigh the prominence ofthe people and institutions involved. Theyconsider the event’s impact, its timelinessand its proximity to readers and listeners.They evaluate its currency in the publicdiscussion and whether it is surprising orinvolves conflict.

But these measures are not as neutral asthey may seem. Take prominence. Promi-nence to whom? The whole community?People who have lived there for generations?The readers of that particular newspaper?The editor? If we don’t examine thisquestion, we can easily overlook some ofthe most important people in the commu-nities we cover. Editors who go to churchevery Sunday morning, for instance, maynot know about an influential Muslimleader in town. Reporters may not knowthe funeral home director who follows theactivities of the black community. Youngerjournalists might never have heard thenames of many who led their community’scivil or disability rights movements.

Again, it sounds basic. But is it? Whenactor and racial justice champion OssieDavis died in February 2005, for instance,

REFRAMING DIVERSITY

The New York Times ran a short metro storyon the funeral. Yet the memorial lastedfour hours. Thousands of mourners attended.New York public radio station WBAI offeredsix and a half hours of live coverage – andcreated a web page with photos from thefuneral and links to tributes. Despite tightspace, Jet magazine ran 1,200 words onthe event.

The definition of a “credible” source also is worth thinking about. When we wantauthorities and experts to contribute factsand analysis, reporters routinely call busi-ness executives, government officials andothers with high-powered titles. But what,exactly, is “high-powered,” and who decides?

When the highly anticipated results fromthe first AIDS vaccine clinical trial cameout in 2002, medical reporters turned tothe heads of virology departments andnational AIDS organizations for comment.The result? They spoke mostly to peoplewho thought of the epidemic the old way – as among white gay men. Most reportersdid not realize that the most importanttarget for a vaccine would now be peopleof color, because both black and Hispanicpopulations have much higher rates ofAIDS than whites. The New York Times andother papers pronounced the vaccine acomplete flop. The San Francisco Chroniclereported, “AIDS vaccine mostly a failure:Doesn’t help whites but may help someminorities.” When they saw the headlines,“the African American community heaved abig, collective sigh … this isn’t for us orabout us,” said Dan Hlad, communicationassociate for the Black Coalition on AIDSin San Francisco at the time.

The sources we consult influence the“truth” we learn and the story we tell. In anine-month analysis across all news media

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types, the Project for Excellence inJournalism found that reporters were morethan three times as likely to quote morethan one man in a story than more thanone woman. (See chart Page 71.) Three-quarters of news stories contained at leastone male source. But only one thirdincluded at least one woman. Media Tenoranalysts studied nearly 19,000 newsreports on ABC World News Tonight, CBSEvening News and NBC Nightly News in2001. They found that 92 percent of newssources on the network news were white,and 85 percent were men. When people ofcolor and women were included, theyusually served as “ordinary people,” ratherthan as experts or authorities.

People of color fared far worse as storysubjects. Media Tenor researchers looked at170,212 reports in The Wall Street Journal,two news magazines and on three networknews shows over two years. They countedjust 322, or less than one percent, thatfeatured one or more U.S. ethnic minoritygroups as the main subject.

Yet in the real world, the demographics are far more diverse. For example, duringthe past eight years, native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders alone increased theirbusiness ownership by 67 percent –compared to 10 percent across the fullpopulation. Companies owned by womenand every racial and ethnic group otherthan whites grew at higher rates than theaverage, the U.S. Census announced inJuly 2005.

If journalists define the only “authorities”in business or politics as the big-companyCEOs or the men who dominate Congress,well, we’re oversimplifying. Our country ismore complicated than that. Journalistswho really want to tell the story of today’s

America, should, as Kevin Merida, anassociate editor at The Washington Post,puts it, “cross-pollinate the ‘experts’ withthe lived experience.”

Just plugging people in like colors in anumbered painting doesn’t work, either.How people are quoted is important. Whousually provides the analysis and authority?Are women, people of color, gays andlesbians, and people with disabilitiestreated as an emotional supporting cast?Look at the follow-up stories when HarvardPresident Lawrence Summers said early in2005 that women’s brains just might notnaturally be as capable in math and science.WTNH Channel 8 in New Haven, Conn.,interviewed several female high schoolseniors. The girls, all calculus students,said, “It’s scary,” “I was … shocked,” and“I’m really upset.” Instead of asking whatthe young women thought of the math orscience of the issue (or even what theythought of Harvard), the interviews wentright for what they felt.

The routine use of terms offered up bysources also gets journalists into trouble.Think of the assumptions conveyed bylanguage such as “underprivileged minority”(when most of the nation’s poor are white);and “ethnic cleansing” (a more correctphrase is genocide). Why does an “inner-city” group “threaten,” while rich peoplemake up a group that “cautions”?

Journalists make many decisions on the fly.It is simply impossible, under extremedeadlines, to thoroughly reflect. Newsroomscan shape answers in seconds. In a fast-moving, high-pressure climate like this,social psychologists have found, unconsciousbelief systems come to the fore. Scholarswho track news choices, such as HemantShah, a media analyst and expert on race


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Newspapers Online CablePBS NewsHour NetworkMorning

Network Evening

Female Male

Who Do We Talk To? Men or Women?As sources for their news stories, reporters in all media are more than three times as likely to quote more than one man than more than one woman, an analysis in

2005 found. This chart reflects the percent of all stories in which the source’s gender could be determined. The numbers suggest that news sourcing has a long

way to go to reflect the actual proportion of women in the work force, management, politics and other societal roles.

Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism (2005).

41%

88%

36%

89%

27%

63%

17%

59%

34%

55%

19%

53%

0

20

40

60

80

100

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REZNET: AN OUTLET, A MENTOR FOR NATIVEAMERICAN STUDENTS

Denny McAuliffe Jr., who worked at The WashingtonPost for 16 years, began his journalism career atage 15. In his first job, he earned $5 a storycovering high school sports for the local paper.“The way I learned was sitting next to my editorand watching my editor rip my stories apart,”recalls McAuliffe, who is a member of the Osagetribe of Oklahoma.

Now McAuliffe provides the same intensive, hands-on training for young Native American journaliststhrough Reznet, an online student newspaper(www.reznetnews.org) launched in 2002. A grantfrom the John S. and James L. Knight Foundationfunds the project through the University ofMontana School of Journalism and the Robert C.Maynard Institute for JournalismEducation. McAuliffe edits and mentorsthrough the Internet and on thetelephone, reaching across long distancesas if students were in his office.

The approach is working. As Reznetenters its fourth year of publication,more than 60 of 73 participatingstudents have so far landed intern-ships at publications including TheWashington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune,Associated Press, Arizona Daily Star, Lincoln(Nebraska) Journal Star and Great Falls (Montana)Tribune. Reznet photographer Tetona Dunlap(Eastern Shoshone) became the first NativeAmerican intern at The Post in the summer of2005. The paper liked her work so much thateditors asked her to stay an extra month.

During the past two years, 10 graduates havemoved into full-time journalism jobs. That’s signi-ficant, at a time when daily newsrooms employ fewer than 300 Native Americans.

One writer, Dalton Walker, became a special corres-pondent for The Post after the shootings at theRed Lake Chippewa reservation, where he is atribal member. The day after the tragedy, Walkerflew back home from Mesa Community College inArizona and contributed to stories written by Post staff writers. “I returned to the reservation as a voice. I was on the Red Lake Reservation as a messenger for my people,” Walker wrote in anessay about his experiences.

McAuliffe says the key to Reznet’s success iscontinuity, combined with attentive mentoring.“This particular setup puts me in close contactwith students, and I’m shoving opportunities downtheir throats,” he says. Students usually apply after they’ve completed the Freedom Forum AmericanIndian Journalism Institute, a three-week bootcamp that McAuliffe also helped create. They mayhave first learned about journalism careers in highschool at the Freedom Forum Native AmericanNewspaper Career Conference, held each spring inCrazy Horse Memorial, S.D. And each year, many ofthem go on to become Chips Quinn Scholars,joining a Freedom Forum program that offersstudents of color hands-on training in journalismand mentoring by news veterans.

For the 2005-2006 school year, McAuliffe hired 24staffers to write at least two stories a month,

working under the direction of threeeditors. Another 16 Reznet veteranscontribute occasionally. The studentsearn $50 per story or photo shoot. Theyhave produced news and features onissues such as mascots for sports teams,diabetes in rural areas, the war in Iraqand the portrayal of Native Americans inthe media.

“The success is just that they’rewriting,” McAuliffe says. With just a singleprogram like a boot camp or training, he laments,“We got them all fired up about journalism then,well, it’s ‘Have a nice life!’”

With Reznet, McAuliffe builds a long-term supportsystem. He edits stories with intensity and keepsafter students to make sure they apply for intern-ships. While this is a condition of working for Reznet,he has found that he can’t just tell students aboutthese opportunities and leave it at that. “You haveto ask, beg, order and threaten,” he says. Other-wise, students will let a lack of self-esteem and con-fidence talk them out of their ambitions. McAuliffealso expects to have to prod and cajole when itcomes time to searching for a job. “Once they’re in,they’re fine,” he points out.

McAuliffe thought up Reznet when he was tryingto figure out how to get American Indian kidsinterested in journalism. The obvious answer? Givethem a chance to write. Some 25,000 NativeAmerican students from 550 recognized nationsattend 32 tribal colleges in “Indian Country.”

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Denny McAuliffe Jr.

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Only one college has a printed newspaper, though– and it does not have any journalism classes. But all tribal colleges have Internet access. SoMcAuliffe created Reznet, which alows students toget journalism experience with a Native American-oriented publication. During one peak period inMarch 2005, the Reznet site attracted 16,600unique users. Reznet writers come from tribalcolleges, journalism schools, reservations andurban areas. Their ages range up to 40.

“Reznet allows them to build clips, to be engagedin journalism, whether or not their school has ajournalism program or a student newspaper,” saysJack Marsh, executive director of the FreedomForum’s Al Neuharth Media Center and foundingdirector of the American Indian JournalismInstitute.

Without these programs, Marsh says, NativeAmericans simply wouldn’t be going into mediajobs. In 2005, the American Society of NewspaperEditors said their members employed 295 NativeAmerican journalists, or about 0.5 percent of54,000 newspaper journalists in all. With such alarge gap to fill, Marsh says, “We measure successone journalist at a time.”

McAuliffe really works the Reznet stories, sometimescalling students about them several times in oneday. If necessary, he’ll mail a phone card to makesure the student can stay in touch. “I’m a prettyheavy-duty editor,” McAuliffe says. “Other editorsof Native American students are worried aboutdamaging fragile psyches. I don’t buy that.” Heedits a lot like he did in The Washington Postnewsroom. He may bounce a piece back a coupleof times for rewrites, asking for more quotes, moresources or more evidence to back up claims.

“A lot of my stories for Reznet I consider my bestclips,” says Sarah Moses, a senior at SyracuseUniversity in 2005 who interned at The Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y., as a Chips Quinn Scholar.McAuliffe teaches while he edits, Moses explains.He is straightforward about the realities of thebusiness, but also very encouraging. She isespecially proud of a pair of articles that she wroteafter author Vine Deloria Jr. (who died in 2005)visited campus. In a question and answer session,he challenged the identity of people who are notenrolled in a tribe and did not grow up onreservations. Moses felt hurt by Deloria’s attack onwhat he called “frauds,” but wrote a fair story

anyway. Then she responded in an essay, using herown heritage as an example. Her father is full-blood Onondaga and her mother is English. Sincethe Onondaga Nation defines membership throughthe mother, according to Deloria she would not bea “real Indian,” she wrote.

Moses wasn’t particularly interested in writing forher college paper. White students dominate it and,especially with her desire to write about NativeAmericans and other people of color, she felt thatshe wouldn’t fit in very well. “I jumped on Reznetbecause it was a place I could write the kind ofstories I want to write,” she says. Even better,“people know what Reznet is, and that’s just thegreatest!” •

– Sally Lehrman

REFRAMING DIVERSITY

TIPS FROM JOURNALISTS WHO BUILD STAFFDIVERSITY BY WORKING WITH HIGH SCHOOLAND COLLEGE PROGRAMS

Find out if there’s a summer high school journalismprogram in your area. The Dow Jones NewspaperFund web site lists them all by state (http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com). The AmericanSociety of Newspaper Editors holds regionaltraining as well.

Visit English, art, marketing, design, writing andsocial studies classes and let the students andteachers know about the program. Recruit studentswho applied to freelance or intern for you.Go to the clubs that focus on ethnicity, cultureand gender at local campuses. Ask the studentswhat’s wrong with the newspaper and tell themthey can help change it by joining.

Encourage local journalism teachers to let studentsreport on the communities that they live in. Havethem tell their stories, their parents’ stories andtheir friends’ stories. It may not be hard news, buteditorials and features are vital to a publication.

Assign students to work in teams of two withsomeone completely different from themselves, orsomeone whom they do not normally hang outwith. They will learn from working with each otherthat they probably have more in common than not. Find out if there is a local chapter of one of theethnic journalism organizations (Asian AmericanJournalists Association, National Association ofBlack Journalists, National Association of HispanicJournalists, Native American JournalistsAssociation) or the National Lesbian and GayJournalists Association in your area. Askrepresentatives to visit. Invite students from otherclasses. Those who are not interested in journalismbecause they think it doesn’t represent them maychange their minds.

When covering so-called “ethnic issues,” don’tcover them just during a cultural event, such asNative American Heritage Month. Often, peoplecomplain that their cultures make it into the pagesonly during a special event or when a crimeoccurs.

Work with English teachers. Ask them to assignstudents to write editorials; promise to publish the


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and mass communication at the Universityof Wisconsin, find compelling evidence ofa “white” point of view in mainstreamcoverage. Yet as the U.S. population changesand we become a nation of multiple“minorities” – no single point of view candominate and still be relevant. “Thereneeds to be a readiness and a willingnessto rethink the whole process of journalism,”Shah says.

HOW WE COVER COMMUNITIES

If the routine leads us astray, then thetraditional newsroom beat system is itsPied Piper. Let’s say there’s a protest. Ifthe City Hall reporter is on duty, it mightseem more of a story about disruptedgovernment business. If the police reporteris on it, street violence might be thefocus. If it’s the community reporter, thenwe’ll learn about the leaders of the unrestand their demands. It doesn’t happen onevery story. But it happens often enoughthat experienced editors know that theirreporters are not interchangeable. Who youassign affects what you get back.

When a new crop of Baby Boom-generationeditors began to take over in the mid-1980s, some started to replace the old-school beat systems. Editors created a“youth” beat, for instance, and found thatreporters would cover teens from morevaried perspectives. No longer did youngpeople show up only as gangs (accordingto the crime beat), fad machines (businesspages) or test-takers (education beat).

But the new reporting teams weren’tenough. Sometimes the stories they pro-duced had a hard time finding their way intothe paper. Sometimes the same old sourcesshowed up in new wrappers. Editors alsofound that the system can cut both ways.

http://djnewspaperfund.dowjones.com


best ones. Encourage teachers to discuss student writing in class. Often, once students see theirbylines they get excited. Discussing the writingmakes it real, makes it matter.

Sponsor a high school journalism day. Show up.Talk about why journalism matters and how thestudents are the type of people needed in news-rooms.

Encourage students and teachers to talk to theirschool’s career counselors about the need forjournalists of color at news organizations. Getthem to help encourage students to think aboutthe profession.

Work with the ethnic media in your area. Often,these organizations are interested in youth voices,and your students can get published off campus. It also shows the students that their voices countin many ways that mainstream media may notconsider. Ethnic media reporters, photographersand copy editors can serve as role models andmentors.

Set up a coaching program between your newsorganization and local students. To find out moreabout this, write [email protected] to get a copy of itscoaching manual, “One-on-One, One-by-One.’’Although geared toward college students, it canwork for high school journalism programs too. •

– By Cristina L. Azocar, director Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism, San Francisco State University

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The women and gender team, the urbanaffairs desk and the aging beat can end upbeing the place where other reporters dumpstory ideas they don’t want or understand.

In 1988, David Lampel, then senior vicepresident of Inner City Broadcasting,complained: “The black community iscovered (by the mainstream media) asthough you were covering a foreigncountry.” The Kerner Commission’s famous1968 report on the urban uprisings of the1960s chided reporters for relying almostentirely on information from police andlocal officials. As a result, the commission-ers wrote, the news media exaggerated thescope, damage, and even the nature of thedisturbances. Journalists didn’t just badlycover the riots, the commission found. Theirincomplete coverage of urban Americacontributed to the riots.

Alas, journalists again made many of thesame mistakes when they went out tocover the more recent interethnic conflictsin Washington, Miami and Los Angeles,according to studies by Shah and fellowresearcher Michael C. Thornton. Mainstreamnews reporters asked city officials for state-ments, for instance, and usually didn’t alsoget residents’ voices and views. Their storiesended up oversimplifying the events andtheir causes. They buried underlying issuessuch as racism and economic disparities.Their reports suggested that individualacts caused the conflicts – and so the bestsolutions, one might surmise, would takeplace at an individual level, too.

In contrast, Shah and Thornton found, theethnic media more often pointed toinstitutional and societal underpinnings tothe disputes. Reporters for these outletstended to talk to ordinary people. Theydetailed each group’s history of grievances

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producers detailed child abuse in Mexico.Another award went to an hour-longUnivision special that focused on religiousmiracles, including the Catholic Church’sprocess for determining sainthood. TheNational Black Programming Consortiumwon two 2003 Peabody Awards for newsdocumentaries it helped produce. Oneexplored the racial divide in Jasper, Texas,where James Byrd Jr. was dragged to hisdeath in 1998. The other described conflictsbetween two marginalized groups, gaysand blacks, in the Olde Towne East districtof Columbus, Ohio. These pieces, whichclearly meet traditional standards of jour-nalism excellence, touch on fresh coverageareas. They reach a depth of insight thatproducers for general audience outletsrarely attain.

These can be global, general intereststories anchored here at home: SiddharthSrivastava, reporting for Siliconeer, amonthly magazine for the Asian Indiancommunity, reached beyond the usualoutsourcing story angles to describe thesubcontracting of Roman Catholic Massesto India. U.S. and Western Europeandioceses pass paid requests for “intentions”to congregations in Kerala, India, wherepriests offer the desired Mass in the locallanguage. Sing Tao Daily and The FilipinoExpress described how strict new rules toidentify customers could put small commun-ity banks out of business and block immi-grants from sending money back home.

Niche media journalists often have a deepknowledge of community and a greatinterest in providing social and historicalcontext. Their stories about education,health care and crime, for instance, typicallyprovide background on past inequities thatunderpin revelations about disparities


and the conflicts between them. “Thegeneral circulation press seems morethoroughly bound than the ethnic minoritypress to a model of reporting that seemsto result in misunderstanding interethnicconflict,” the authors concluded. Suchexperiences have led groups like theNational Association of Hispanic Journaliststo include the Spanish-language andcommunity press in their annual conven-tions. English-language sessions includetranslators. Some panels take place inSpanish. The Society of ProfessionalJournalists has begun encouraging andhonoring collaborations between ethnicand mainstream media with its NewAmerica Award.

GETTING TO THE UNDERLYING ISSUES

While it is fashionable for general-circulationnews reporters to dismiss niche outlets as less professional, the ethnic media doesknow its territory. Sure, some in the ethnicpress have a narrow focus. Many don’thesitate to include an explicit point ofview in news reports. But the way ethnicmedia frame stories, select sources andinclude context and history suggestslessons for other journalists who want tomake their work more relevant. “They treatthe issues as a process, not as an event,”Shah says. “They want to be a press thatallows the community to understand itself.”

Ethnic news media are winning accoladesthat once were the province of generalaudience journalists. Univision, for instance,ranked alongside other major networks inthe Radio and Television News DirectorsAssociation’s 2004 Edward R. MurrowAwards. The Spanish-language media giantpicked up two of the 11 honors in networktelevision. In its winning series, Univision

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on “The Boy Monk” for TheRegister, is an Asian affairscolumnist there and also vicepresident of business for herfamily’s paper, Nguoi Viet(Vietnamese People) Daily News.The two papers partner on stories,a weekly bilingual radio show andon joint town hall meetings. Both

the San Jose Mercury News and the LosAngeles Times bring in anchors from non-English television outlets to broadcast asampling of budget lines and stories. Atthe Columbia Workshop, reporters andeditors envisioned content swaps, newsroomexchanges and informal meetings to talkstories and solve problems.

The results can transcend coverage thateither outlet might accomplish alone. SPJgave the top New America Award prize for2005 to an outstanding series that combinedthe skills of investigative journalists atThe Chicago Reporter with the knowledgeand contacts of editors at the Residents’Journal. Together they revealed the deadly,unforeseen consequences of the city’seffort to relocate people from deterioratingpublic housing projects into mixed-incomeneighborhoods. Second-place winnersAlyssa Katz of City Limits and Abu Taher of Bangla Patrika also combined investigationtechniques with deep community connec-tions. They conducted interviews jointly in Bangla and English. Together theyuncovered the exploitation of Bangladeshipush-cart food vendors in Central Parkunder city contracts. Eleven months afterpublication, the workers won a $450,000settlement for labor law violations.

Such collaborations work best when bothpartners benefit from the relationship,suggests Sandip Roy, who hosts UpFront,

today. A piece about the risingincidence of AIDS in the blackcommunity might well mention ahistoric distrust of the publichealth system by AfricanAmericans – because of its long-standing failure to serve them.This level of context can servemainstream media, too: It trans-formed a Minneapolis Star Tribune storyabout soul food into an engaging educa-tional essay on black history in America. It turned The Orange County Register’s“The Boy Monk” into an intimate picture of Vietnamese-Americans’ cultural history.That series told the story of Donald Pham,a child from Laguna Niguel, Calif., whoseparents felt he was destined to become alearned monk. Both works ranked amongthe 2004 award winners at the “Let’s Do ItBetter!” Workshop on Race, Ethnicity &Journalism at Columbia University.

No matter their topic, nearly all theColumbia Workshop winners emphasizedthe time they had spent building trust andgetting to a complicated story’s heart.They described being open to surprisingideas. They said they had to truly observeand follow up. Inclusive coverage meansmore than going to different parts of acity, participating in cultural activities orbuilding a comprehensive source list. Ittakes time to build trust, notes NewAmerica Media’s Sandy Close: “You can’t do this like a drive-by. You really have to embed yourself.”

NEW PARTNERSHIPS IN A NEW AMERICA

Hoping to widen their own awareness andaccess, some mainstream news operationsare collaborating with ethnic and communityoutlets. Anh Do, who led the reporting

Anh Do

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workers. The emphasis on displacedemployees and explanations by companyexecutives conveyed a sense of inevitability.Indian-American outlets brought in a widerarray of sources affected by the trend. Theymore commonly described the practice as atwo-way street, explaining its economicroots and describing benefits to workersand companies. Both depictions could beseen as equally true. Each also reflects anunderstanding based on a particular frameof reference.

If we are to think more about our biases,what do we do when we are ready to admitthat we have them? University of Washing-ton professor David Domke thinks newsoutlets should actively acknowledge theviewpoints and decisions that drive thenews. And, he urges us to consider shakingoff some of the constraints of “objectivity.”

“This notion binds journalists in a straight-jacket I’d love them to be freed from – and I think it would be good for the public,too,” he says. If journalists could some-times write about the subjects they werereally passionate about, their work mightprovoke more interest and debate, Domkesuggests. This isn’t as hard as it seems –writers express their opinions all the timein columns clearly labeled as analysis orcommentary.

Recall the uproar when a lesbian couplecovering the gay marriage story for theSan Francisco Chronicle decided to getmarried themselves in a private civil cere-mony. The paper took them off the beat.But many journalists argued that thesetwo, one of whom was the City Hall reporter,had access and insight that no one elsecould match. Instead of declaring the


New America Media’s weekly radio show.The ethnic journalist gains little by simplyserving as a conduit into the communityfor the mainstream outlet. But if the largerorganization contributes resources andenterprise, coverage improves for everyone.In the Chicago public housing story, forinstance, Roy says, “the two sides, a paperwith investigative reporting capabilitiesand one with on-the-ground connections,really complemented each other.”

These new partnerships work because ofthe different institutional perspectives onthe part of both mainstream and ethnicoutlets. Our news organizations’ prioritiesand traditions lead us to certain coveragechoices. Assignments and the stories thatresult reflect the people who work there.The New America Media case studies showedthis in the coverage of Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS). The Chinese-language press, reporting for people forwhom the disease struck close to ancestralhome and family, generally focused onsolutions. Journalists covered an engagedcitizenry “intent on prevention, helpingothers and defusing the panic,” wrote NewAmerica Media editor Pueng Vongs. Newsoutlets concentrated on dispelling rumors,educating the public and fighting discrim-ination. In contrast, Vongs concluded, TheNew York Times and Los Angeles Timesdescribed a frightening problem arisingfrom Asia. In episodic coverage that reliedon case counts and official comments,these journalists conveyed the image of anAmerican populace helpless against aworldwide health threat.

In another case study, mainstream journal-ists writing about the outsourcing of jobsto India focused on the losses to American

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work is necessary. “That doesincrease diversity, but if you’re notprepared for it, you’re not goingto be able to deal with it. If youdon’t check in with yourself, itcan be a disaster.” Wagner senther students out to report on aprimarily black neighborhood inSan Francisco, but they came backempty-handed. After the group

discussed the outcome, she realized thatthe white students felt uncomfortabletalking about race.

Now Wagner helps students think abouttheir own cultural autobiography – anddiscuss their fault lines – before theyventure out.

THE MAJORITY’S UNEASE

Wagner uses a “diversity wheel” developedby Poynter Institute photojournalist KennyIrby that expands on the core fault lines of race, class, gender, generation andgeography as described by Maynard. Studentsmark down aspects of themselves thatmake them feel “different,” say, in theirschool, in their own neighborhood or ontheir beat. Among other things, theirchoices include religion, nationality, physicalabilities and intellect, and education andcultural heritage. As with fault lines, thetool sidesteps defensiveness. Using it, weall can see ourselves as part of the equation.Wagner’s students can more quickly noticetheir tendency to make assumptions. Andwhen they feel uncomfortable, they mayresist the inclination to retreat.

Both Maynard’s framework and the Poynterdiversity wheel are especially valuable now,as journalists try to cover a dramatically

wedding an insurmountableconflict, the newspaper couldhave simply disclosed it in regulartaglines on news stories andphotos, some journalists said.Others thought opinion columnswould be a better idea.

“Knowledge and interests alwaysintersect,” wrote Theodore Glasser,director of the journalism program atStanford University, who criticized theChronicle’s decision on the Grade the Newsweb site. “The pretense of a disinterestedand detached press, an ‘objective’ press,doesn’t dissolve interests or distance thepress from them; it only makes journalistsless aware of their personal and institu-tional interests and unprepared to acknow-ledge and examine them.” By being moreopen about who we are, journalists maycreate room to be more honest and fair.

Civic journalism techniques championed inthe 1990s suggested comparable ways toget closer to stories. Trainers at the PewCenter for Civic Journalism taught reportersat daily newspapers things known forgenerations at community weeklies. Theyurged journalists to hang out in “thirdplaces,” or informal gathering places likecafes, parks or beauty salons, to find outwhat people care about. They told reportersto search out “connectors” within thecommunity, instead of just leaders withtitles, and to converse with them insteadof simply getting “both” sides of a story.

By its nature, civic journalism puts reportersin touch with lots of different kinds ofpeople, says Venise Wagner, an assistantprofessor at San Francisco State University.But Wagner warns that another layer of

Venise Wagner

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In one training session, Dori Maynardrecalls, newspaper reporters went out intovarious communities and asked how theycould cover people better. “They said youcould stop looking at us from your middle-class point of view,” Maynard says. “Yousee two families in one house, with one car,and you say we’re poor. We say we have ahouse. We have a car. We’re not poor.”

When we recognize the historical, socialand cultural roots that shape our ownworld, we can see how they both limit andenhance our understanding.

In their report on the ethnic media,researchers Rufus Browning, Holley Shafer,John Rogers and Renatta DeFever from SanFrancisco State University sum up theimportance of a vibrant, inclusive pressthat knows how to report across fault lines:

“Discourse in a democracy does notrequire agreement; rather, it requiresdebate and the willingness to hear realdisagreement. There must be somecommon ground – some shareddemocratic values and some confidencein democratic institutions – but beyondthat, there must be vigorous assertionof interests, vigorous competition forattention, vigorous argument aboutimportant issues.”

Most journalists take our professionalduties quite seriously. We see ourselves asdigging out the facts that shed light oninequities, offer insight on social andpolitical issues, and inform public debate.As the Society of Professional Journalistsoutlines in its mission statement, webelieve we ought to be governmentwatchdogs, advocates of free speech andinstruments of communication.


changing nation. Some wonder, will thedeclining majority’s needs and contributionsno longer be important? Concerns like thisspark reactions ranging from tongue-in-cheek proposals to serious petition drives.The College Republicans at Roger WilliamsUniversity in Rhode Island offered a“whites-only” scholarship as a parody. Andsome residents of the Cardinal Valley areaof Lexington, Ky., began organizingagainst a proposed Hispanic center.

CAN DIVERSITY BE DIVISIVE?

In his book, Coloring the News, which won a National Press Club Award in 2002,Manhattan Institute Fellow WilliamMcGowan argued that diversity initiativeswere corrupting journalism. He said theypromoted an orthodoxy of coveragefavorable to people of color, women, andgays and lesbians.

And in the medical arena, some physicianshave complained that training doctors tointeract with other cultures takes toomuch time away from other parts of thecurriculum. Stanford University School ofMedicine clinical professor Wallace Sampsontold The Chronicle of Higher Educationthat doctors can easily respond to people’sdifferences. “Students don’t want to belectured on how to be a human being,” hesaid. “It’s insulting and demeaning.”

Perhaps the greatest advantage of Maynard’sfault-lines concept is that it allowsMcGowan, Sampson and others a place atthe table. Any human being willing to be honest and self-aware has a place.Rather than demanding agreement, thefault-lines concept sets up a structure ofintegrity for every point of view, a basisfor civil debate and understanding.

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REFRAMING DIVERSITY

Today, as the population we serve grows evermore diverse, we must learn to cross theboundaries of our own history and upbring-ing in order to report fully and completelynot just on events, but on the issues andideas that shape society. Only then do wehave a chance of covering a truly extraor-dinary story, the central story of our era:the rapid demographic change sweepingthe United States. And only then can wereveal and record the conflicts and joys ofthe American people as our nation entersits third century of striving toward aninclusive, equitable society for all. •(Continued from previous page)

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AFTERWORD

BY JOHN L. DOTSON JR.


83

hen I was a 17-year-old highschool senior, my grandmotheroffered to pay my first year’s

college tuition if I chose to go to nearbyTemple University. She also promised aback bedroom in her ancient row house in the Little Harlem section of NorthPhiladelphia. All she knew about Templewas that it was within walking distance ofher home.

Several months later, when I told her thatI had been admitted to Temple – the onlyschool I applied to – she asked what Iplanned to study.

“Journalism,” I said proudly.

“Journalism,” she sniffed incredulously.“You’ll never make a dime in ‘journalism.’”

That was 1954 and, for all intents and pur-poses in those days, she was right. Therewere so few “Negroes” in journalism that noone in my family could conceive of actuallymaking a living in that field. Indeed, Idoubt that many blacks in the country couldname a journalist outside of the local blacknewspaper or Ebony and Jet magazines.

Much has changed in the 50-odd years fromthat day. Today there are blacks, Latinosand Asians working at newspapers, maga-zines, television and radio in most of thelarger cities in America. But the pace ofchange has slowed from the days whenintegration and diversity were in vogue backin the late 1960s and ’70s.

As the first of those integration pioneersprepare to retire, they are leaving a businessthat is in such a state of turmoil thatracial, ethnic and gender diversity are fardown on the list of concerns. Mainstream

media are fighting for survival in a societythat is in technological transition. There isno way to predict the forms of media ahalf century from now, let alone to suggesthow diverse they will be.

The biggest diversity these days is in theoutlets for news, information and entertain-ment. What started as a trickling declinein newspaper readers and network broad-cast audience has turned into a gusher asmore Americans seek their news and infor-mation online and through wireless devices.Movie and music producers are crying foulas more and more of their product turns upfree on the Internet.

Like other American institutions, main-stream media have been forced by circum-stances and confrontation to adopt newways of doing things. They hired blacks tocover urban disturbances and Latinos tocover the burgeoning Hispanic population,just as today they are hiring Arabs andAsians to cover the Middle East. Wherenewspapers, radio and TV had a virtual lockon news in former decades, it has becomea commodity today, dispensed in myriadforms and myriad ways. In response,traditional media have joined the fray.

Out of such turmoil in a country as diverseas the United States, one would think thatlots of new voices would be heard. But, forthe most part, that has not been the casethus far. It is true that there are now moreSpanish-language television and radiostations and more ethnic newspapers, butthe preponderance of media are stillEnglish-speaking and mostly white. And,certainly, the online and wireless worldsare dominated by whites.

Clearly, our media world is in such a state

WAFTERWORD

of change that no one can predict whatthe landscape will look like 40 or 50 yearsfrom now. And so how can we predict whatits racial, gender and sociological diversitywill be? What we do know is that, comparedwith many other institutions, the media ingeneral have been slow to change.

Racism is so much a part of the fabric ofAmerica that it will be nearly impossibleto rid the country of it altogether. Americawas settled as a white, Eurocentric nationand for the most part, white males havefought mightily to maintain it as such.Even some European immigrants hadtrouble fighting their way into the societywhen they arrived. And once again, immi-gration is a flashpoint in America. So,there is little question that the nation willstill be fighting bigotry in 2050.

Throughout most of our history, white men have clung to the levers of power astightly as Charlton Heston clutches hisrifle – until it is pried from his “cold, deadhand.” Like government and business,media have been one of the levers of power.All the statistics about changing demograph-ics and all the rationales about society’sneed to be inclusive haven’t underminedthe basic human drive: to stay “in,” to getwhat you want for your family, yourchildren, grandchildren and their progeny.It is a basic need.

There is some potential promise in thetumult brought on by the electronic media.As more readers and viewers turn to theInternet for their news and commentary,many seek outlets that cater to their view-points. In that way, the Internet is morelike the dawn of American newspapering,when most of the writers were polemicists,arguing their points of view on every

subject they reported. Indeed, we may notbe too far away from the wide-open days ofmuckraking and yellow journalism.

That kind of turmoil sets the stage forentrepreneurs to sweep in with new ideasand new ways of doing business. But, thatdoes not necessarily bode well for demo-graphic diversity. Though it doesn’t takemuch funding to start a web site or blog,it does take know-how and, often, funding to make a splash. And people of color arenot at the forefront of the nascent efforts.Furthermore, the one startling fact thatcan’t be corrected easily or quickly is that80 percent of poor households, many ofthem made up of people of color, don’teven own a computer.

Just as newspapers and network broadcast-ing companies were merged and gobbled upby conglomerates in past decades, theycould get caught up in the globalization ofworld business. Already, more viewers thanever are reading foreign newspapers andwatching foreign TV on the ’Net and satel-lite TV. By the middle of this century,American news outlets may not even beowned by American companies, so the verynature of “diversity” may be entirely different.

It has taken some time for the large, main-stream media companies to get fully intothe Internet game, but as they do, theywill move aggressively to regain dominance.They are expanding their platforms toinclude every other medium. Newspapersnow have online outlets, bloggers and TVoperations; network broadcasters have24/7 online offerings of text and video.The question is whether they can holdonto their readers, viewers and advertisersand thus their news staffs while they builda sizeable audience in the new media.

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Like any new technology bubble, many ofthe new ventures will fail because theywon’t make enough money to keep going.However, those that succeed will be mightychallengers to the current media conglom-erates. Regardless of the media structure,as mass audiences form of people withsimilar interests, advertising is sure tofollow. And, make no mistake, the big guyswill move decisively to follow the money.

As new media are becoming established,diversity won’t be of much concern inemployment or reach unless there is amarket to be exploited. Thus far, beyondSpanish-language outlets, there aren’tmany large-scale efforts to reach citizensof color. That does not bode well for mediamulticulturalism in the short run.

Government can have a tremendous impacton the future of diversity. In the yearsimmediately following the black riots andthe civil rights movement, integration wasa front-burner issue in America. But, fordecades now, ever since Ronald Reagan ledconservatives to the presidency, thefederal government has pulled on the reinsof diversity. It hasn’t halted progress, butit has slowed the pace of change. As thenation’s demographics continue to betransformed, however, diversity is inexorable.

Newspapers, with their large localreporting and editing staffs, are still thegorillas of local news, just as network TVstill dominates the way most people gettheir national and international news. It’simportant to keep the pressure on theselarge organizations to hire and promotejournalists of color and women and todiversify their coverage because they willdominate the news landscape for manyyears to come. Further, it is mainly in the

85

mainstream media that young journalistsare trained in the traditional methods andethics of the profession.

People of color and women are in a betterposition than they were when newspapers,television and radio were considered thenew media. Until the amorphous, newelectronic media take a definite form, aswill inevitably happen, people of color,women and those whites concerned aboutdiversity must broaden their interests tostump for changes in all aspects of themedia. They must become bloggers andcitizen journalists alongside their whitemale counterparts, learning and experiment-ing and investing in all forms of the newmedia. Only in that way will the nation’smulticulturalism be reflected, as it shouldbe, in our news media of the future. •

John L. Dotson Jr. ispublisher emeritus of theAkron Beacon Journal, a co-founder of the Robert C.Maynard Institute forJournalism Education and a

member of Knight Foundation’s JournalismAdvisory Committee. Under his leadership,the Beacon Journal won a Pulitzer GoldMedal for Meritorious Public Service in 1994for its series on race relations and thelaunch of Coming Together, a communityorganization dedicated to improving racerelations in Akron. He also won the diversityaward for lifetime achievement by theNational Association of Minority MediaExecutives and the president’s award of theNational Association of Black Journalists.The Beacon Journal is one of just 24 largenewsrooms nationally that has attainedracial parity with the community it covers.

AFTERWORD

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DIVERSITY

RESOURCEGUIDE

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DIVERSITY RESOURCE GUIDE

This guide is designed to help everyone from highschool students to professionals to recruiters findprograms that suit their needs. Information mayvary from year to year. The Robert C. MaynardInstitute for Journalism Education developed thisguide with the support of the McCormick TribuneFoundation.

If there is a program that should be included,contact the Maynard Institute, which maintainsthe guide on its web site, www.maynardije.org.Phone: (510) 891-9202.E-mail: [email protected]

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR PROFESSIONALS

Asian American Journalists Association 1182 Market St., Suite 320 San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (415) 346-2051Fax: (415) 346-6343 E-mail: [email protected]://www.aaja.org

Executive Leadership Program is an annual AAJAleadership-development seminar for Asian Americanjournalists. The two-day seminar focuses on anarray of topics and issues with a different themeeach year. For more information about the program,contact Albert Lee at [email protected] or visit http://www.aaja.org/programs/professional/executive_leadership.

Freedom Forum 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22209 Phone: (703) 528-0800Fax: (703) 284-3770 E-mail: [email protected]://www.freedomforum.org

Diversity Institute, a state-of-the-art educationalfacility adjacent to the Freedom Forum’s FirstAmendment Center at Vanderbilt University inNashville, Tenn., works with daily newspapers,newspaper groups and others to identify anddevelop new journalists of color, many of whomcome from different careers. For more, go tohttp://www.diversityinstitute.org.

Maynard Institute for Journalism Education 1211 Preservation Park Way Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 891-9202

Fax: (510) 891-9565E-mail: [email protected]://www.maynardije.org

Maynard Management @ Kellogg was created toincrease the number of media managers of color inboth editorial and business departments. The four-week program at Northwestern University’s KelloggGraduate School of Management immerses partici-pants in financial management, budgeting, organi-zational behavior, human resources, advertising,marketing, business operations, editorial processand technology and its effects on news. The totalfee is $12,000 and covers on-campus tuition,lodging, breakfast and lunch. For more, go tohttp://www.maynardije.org/programs/mtc.

Maynard Media Academy training is broken intotwo nine-day sessions during the year. This programis open to news professionals and supervisors fromother industries looking to make a career change.Like all Maynard programs, it is open to people ofall races, though the emphasis is on training peopleof color. The total fee is $2,500. For more, go tohttp://www.maynardije.org/programs/mediaacademy.

Maynard Editing Program has nearly 20 yearsexperience producing top quality copy editors. Thesix-week session immerses participants in every-thing from the basics of headline writing, grammar,page design and story organization to interpersonalskills that enable editors to work successfully withreporters and other editors. The $6,000 feeincludes lodging, meals and access to all campusstudent facilities. This program gives participantshands-on experience handling daily deadlinepressure along with producing for both print andthe web. They make the tough judgments editorsface every day. The curriculum was developed byveteran newspaper editors and includes classroomwork, daily skills-building drills, evening seminarsand practical experience working at an areanewspaper. For more, go tohttp://www.maynardije.org/programs/editing.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists 1000 National Press Building 529 14th St. N.W. Washington, DC 20045-2001 Phone: (202) 662-7145 / (888) 346-NAHJ Fax: (202) 662-7144E-mail: [email protected] http://www.nahj.org

http://www.aaja.org

http://www.aaja.org/programs/professional/

http://www.freedomforum.org

http://www.diversityinstitute.org

http://www.maynardije.org

http://www.maynardije.org/programs/mtc

http://www.maynardije.org/programs/mediaacademy

http://www.maynardije.org/programs/editing

http://www.nahj.org

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The Parity Project: The goal of the project is todouble the percentage of Latinos employed bydaily newspapers and to boost the percentage ofLatinos working for local English-language televisionstations. NAHJ identifies cities where Latinos areunderrepresented in the newsrooms but make up asignificant portion of the population. In thosecities, NAHJ works jointly with print and broadcastoutlets, area journalism schools, foundations andLatino community leaders to develop comprehensivemodel programs that will increase Latino newsroompresence and influence. NAHJ’s first partner on theproject was the E.W. Scripps Co. Since its inception,the Parity Project has gained two more partners,Lee Enterprises Inc. and Pulitzer Inc. For more, go tohttp://www.nahj.org/parityproject/parityproject.shtml.

National Association of Minority Media Executives 1921 Gallows Road, Suite 600 Vienna, VA 22182 Phone: (888) 968-7658 Fax: (703) 893-2414E-mail: [email protected]://www.namme.org

McCormick Tribune Fellowship Initiative: Thisexecutive development program for senior managersand executives in the news media is administeredby NAMME. Each year, eight fellows are selected(four from newspapers and four from television) toattend two foundation-funded executive develop-ment programs (Advanced Executive Program andManagement Development Seminar for TelevisionExecutives, both conducted at the Media Manage-ment Center at Northwestern University in Evanston,Illinois). For more, go tohttp://www.mccormicktribune.org/journalism/fellowship.htm.

Leadership Development Institute is a leadershipdevelopment workshop for managers of color. Thethree-day, hands-on program for new and middlemanagers of color is offered twice a year, in thespring and fall, in partnership with different mediaorganizations and associations. For more, go tohttp://www.namme.org/programs/ldi.

Newspaper Association of America 1921 Gallows Road, Suite 600 Vienna, VA 22182-3900 Phone: (703) 902-1600Fax: (703) 917-0636 http://www.naa.org/

Midcareer newspaper professionals of color arepaired with senior-level executives for the News-paper Association of America’s annual Breakthrough:James K. Batten Leadership Program. In thisyear-long program, senior executives serve asmentors to junior colleagues and offer guidanceand advice to help them develop leadership skillsand broaden their knowledge of the newspaper-industry.

The Minority Fellowship program of NAA is ascholarship program for mid-level management.The program is designed to widen opportunities for professionals of color to enter or advance innewspaper management. Newspaper executives and journalism educators are asked to nominatecandidates who demonstrate managerial potential.The supervisors’ recommendations play a key rolein the selection of fellows. For more information,contact Angela Winters at (703) 902-1727, or e-mail [email protected].

The Poynter Institute 801 Third Street S. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Phone: (888) 769-6837 http://www.poynter.org

Four seminars are being offered in 2006 to helpjournalists deepen their understanding of diversity:“Beyond Schiavo: Reporting on End-of-Life Issues,”Jan. 9; “Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories,”Feb. 26; “ Diversity Across the Curriculum,” May21; and “Beat Reporting: Covering Race Relations,”Sept. 10. For more information, go to the web siteand click on Diversity. The site also providesexcellent tip sheets, discussions, resources anddiversity reports.

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL,COLLEGE STUDENTS AND ADVISERS

American Society of Newspaper Editors 11690B Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20191-1409 Phone: (703) 453-1122 Fax: (703) 453-1133 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.highschooljournalism.org/

The High School Journalism Institute is anintensive two-week summer newspaper journalismtraining program for high school teachers. Teacherswho have never advised a school newspaper but

http://www.nahj.org/parityproject/parityproject.shtml

http://www.namme.org

http://www.mccormicktribune.org/journalism/

http://www.namme.org/programs/ldi

http://www.naa.org/

http://www.poynter.org

http://www.highschooljournalism.org/

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want to are encouraged to apply. Experiencedteachers seeking to update their journalism skillsare also welcome. Most expenses are paid by theHigh School Journalism Program. For more informa-tion, contact Diana Mitsu Klos, ASNE Senior ProjectDirector, at (703) 453-1125 or [email protected].

ASNE Partnership Program works to establishlinks between daily newspapers and the highschools in their communities. Its immediate goal isto create high school newspapers where none existor to dramatically improve existing papers; grantmoney is available, if needed, to fund technologypurchases to help realize this goal. Partnershipsare initiated by the daily newspaper.

Asian American Journalists Association1182 Market St., Suite 320 San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (415) 346-2051Fax: (415) 346-6343 E-mail: [email protected]://www.aaja.org

J Camp is a free six-day training camp that bringstogether a multicultural group of high schoolstudents from across the nation to sharpen theirjournalism skills and work together in a learningenvironment. The curriculum consists of interactiveworkshops, hands-on training and field trips. Forany questions or inquiries about student-relatedprograms, contact Brandon Sugiyama, studentprograms coordinator, at (415) 346-2051, ext. 102,or e-mail: [email protected].

Detroit Free Press High School JournalismProgramJoe Grimm 600 W. Fort St. Detroit, MI, 48226 Phone: (313) 222-6490, ext.600 E-mail: [email protected]://www.freep.com

Specially prepared high school pages are part ofFree Press editions. Those editions are delivered tohigh schools and their feeder middle schools(about 72,000 copies per month). In the summerof 1991, the Free Press inaugurated an annual five-week summer apprentice program for high schooljournalists. High school juniors and seniors fromthe Detroit and Flint areas receive intense journal-ism instruction at the University of Michigan andOakland University before starting their Free Press

apprenticeship. While at the Free Press, studentsreceive four weeks of hands-on experience workingwith Free Press staffers who serve as their mentors.For information, e-mail Pat Hartley, high schooljournalism coordinator, at [email protected].

Freedom Forum 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22209 Phone : (703) 528-0800 Fax: (703) 284-3770 E-mail: [email protected]://www.freedomforum.org/diversity/http://www.usd.edu/press/news/news.cfm?nid=153&uid=user

American Indian Journalism Institute, SouthDakota. AIJI gives Native American collegejournalism students the opportunity to train asnewspaper reporters, editors and photographers atthe Al Neuharth Media Center at the University ofSouth Dakota. AIJI teaches journalismfundamentals in a four-credit course. Studentsattend classes, receive practical experience injournalism labs, go on field trips and produce twoeditions of an institute newspaper, The NativeJournal. Follow-up programs for institute graduatesinclude paid internships at three daily newspapers,further schooling and assistance with eventual jobplacement. For more information, contact JackMarsh at (605) 677-6315 [email protected].

Chips Quinn Scholars program offers students ofcolor mentoring and hands-on training in journalism.The aim is to provide support and encouragementthat will open doors to news careers and bringgreater diversity to the nation’s newspapernewsrooms.

George Washington University School of Mediaand Public AffairsPrime Movers ProjectDorothy Gilliam805 21st St. N.W.Washington, DC 20052Phone: (202) 994-0761E-mail: [email protected]

This project brings experienced journalists, particu-larly people of color and women, into high schoolclassrooms to help students launch school news-papers, web sites, and television and radio broad-casts. The program enables veteran journalists, or

http://www.aaja.org

http://www.freep.com

http://www.freedomforum.org/diversity/

http://www.usd.edu/press/news/

“Prime Movers,” to share their knowledge andexperiences with junior colleagues and high schoolstudents interested in creating student media inhigh schools in underserved communities in theWashington, D.C., area. Four urban high schoolshave been selected to participate in the programduring the 2005–2006 school year. This project isfunded by the John S. and James L. KnightFoundation.

Hispanic Link Journalism Foundation 1420 N St. N.W. Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 234-0280 http://www.hispaniclink.org/foundation/fellowshipinternship.htm

The Hispanic Link Journalism Foundation offersreporting fellowships on a continuing basis. Theyinclude a one-year fellowship for an aspiringHispanic print journalist to train as a reporter inthe nation’s capital. It offers a stipend of $20,800,plus benefits. Other paid and unpaid internships,including work-study, are available throughout theyear. Each placement is designed to provide achallenging work environment in which individualscan expand their expertise and develop new skills.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists1000 National Press Building 529 14th St. N.W. Washington, DC 20045-2001 Phone: (202) 662-7145 / (888) 346-NAHJ Fax: (202) 662-7144 http://www.nahj.org/educationalprograms/educationalprograms.shtml

Creating Future Journalists is built around a fullday of activities held in conjunction with annualconventions of the NAHJ. Over the past threeyears, the program has helped 300 middle schooland high school students and their journalismadvisers explore the benefits of media careers. Itincludes post-convention events such as essaycontests and field trips.

Los Angeles Times Student Journalism ProgramStudent Journalism Program Hotline Phone: (213) 237-5195 http://www.latimes.com/extras/studentjournalism/

This program is designed to support the educationof high school and college students in the greater

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Los Angeles area who exhibit talent and interest injournalism. The program helps prepare participantsfor print media careers, with an emphasis oncultivating journalists of color who will reflect thediverse communities of Southern California in thenewsroom. For information about specific events,call the Student Journalism Program Hotline at(213) 237-5195.

Native American Journalism AssociationHigh School Project - Project Phoenix 555 N. Dakota St. Vermillion, SD 57069 Phone: (605) 677-5282Fax: (866) 694-4264 E-mail: [email protected] http://naja.com/phoenix/

Project Phoenix meets in the host city of theNative American Journalists Association’s annualconvention. Each year, 10 to 15 students gather tofind out what it takes to put together their ownnewspaper. The students of Project Phoenix learnthe basics of newswriting and photojournalism.During the course of about a week they produce a12-page newspaper called Rising Voices.

The Poynter Institute801 Third Street S. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Phone: (888) 769-6837 http://www.poynter.org/seminar/seminar_view.asp?int_seminarID=3170

Florida High School Writers Workshops aredesigned for high school students and teachers in the Tampa Bay area. This program is modeledafter Poynter’s highly successful National WritersWorkshops for professional journalists. Eachdaylong workshop will be on a Saturday and willoffer intensive sessions on writing, reporting andediting taught by Poynter faculty and visitingprofessionals. Contact: Jeanne Nissenbaum,[email protected].

Radio and Television News Directors Foundation1600 K Street N.W., Suite 700 Washington, DC 20006-2838 Phone: (202) 659-6510Fax: (202) 223-4007 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.rtnda.org/resources/highschool.shtml

http://www.hispaniclink.org/foundation/

http://www.nahj.org/educationalprograms/

http://www.latimes.com/extras/studentjournalism/

http://naja.com/phoenix/

http://www.poynter.org/seminar/

http://www.rtnda.org/resources/highschool.shtml

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The RTNDF High School Journalism Project,funded by a grant from the John S. and James L.Knight Foundation, seeks to identify, inspire, trainand challenge the next generation of diverse radioand television journalists and First Amendmentadvocates. Its mission is to develop scholasticbroadcast journalism programs and to strengthenexisting projects through collaborations with theprofessional journalists who are members of theRadio and Television News Directors Association.

SUMMER JOURNALISM WORKSHOPS FOR HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS OF COLOR

ALABAMA

University of Alabama207 Student Media BuildingBox 870172 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487Contact: Ed MullinsPhone: (205) 348-8592E-mail: [email protected]

ARIZONA

University of Arizona Department of JournalismTucson, AZ 85721Phone: (520) 621-7556Contact: Kathy D’AssisE-mail: [email protected]://journalism.arizona.edu

This serious, but fun, intensive summer journalismworkshop is intended to help high school studentsof color understand the demands of today’s andtomorrow’s journalism, the opportunities for ahigher education and the possibilities for successin the newspaper field. The workshop coversreporting, interviewing, writing, editing, layout,design, photojournalism and visual communication.Students will be introduced to state-of-the-artdigital imaging and design. Each student willconstruct a web page.

CALIFORNIA

California Chicano News Media Association/SanDiegoLeonel SanchezThe San Diego Union-Tribune

P.O. Box 120191 San Diego, CA 92112-1023 Phone: (619) 293-1023 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.ccnmasd.org/

Students spend two weeks each summer at ajournalism boot camp, guided by professionaljournalists in the classroom and in the field. Thatfield experience in a student’s journalism career iscommonly reserved for junior and seniors at theuniversity level. The students produce anewspaper, a television newscast and a radionewscast. They also attend classes on writing andgrammar and participate in panel discussions onethics in journalism and interviewing techniques.The workshop is open to high school junior andseniors from San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardinoand Imperial counties. Applications are availablein January and the workshop is usually held inJune at a local university.

California Chicano News Media Association/SanJose Daniel Vasquez, director San Jose Mercury News 750 Ridder Park Drive San Jose, CA 95190Phone: (408) 920-5406http://www.mosaicworkshop.org

Bay Area Multicultural Media Academy San Francisco State UniversityDoris Y.S. Owyang, Program ManagerCenter for Integration and Improvement ofJournalism1600 Holloway Ave.San Francisco, CA 94132-4082Phone: (415) 405-0727www.ciij.org

The Bay Area Multicultural Media Academy is atwo-week residential program built around develop-ing journalism skills and careers for Bay Area highschool students. The Center for Integration andImprovement of Journalism at San Francisco StateUniversity has sponsored BAMMA since 1990. Itsgraduates work in print, radio, television andonline journalism. BAMMA is dedicated to providingopportunities to youth from underserved communi-ties to develop skills as journalists that will opendoors for them in media careers and help the profes-sion do a better job covering news for everyone.

http://journalism.arizona.edu

http://www.ccnmasd.org/

http://www.mosaicworkshop.org

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KENTUCKY

Western Kentucky University Dr. Pam Johnson, director School of Journalism and Broadcasting 1 Big Red Way Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576 Phone: (270) 745-5837 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.geocities.com/wkumjw

University of Kentucky Dr. Beth BarnesSchool of Journalism107 Grehan Building University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506-0042Phone: (859) 257-4275 Fax: (859) 323-3168 E-mail: [email protected]://jat.uky.edu/indexALL.html

MASSACHUSETTS

New England High School Journalism Professor Carole Remick, directorUniversity of Massachusetts Regis College 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA 02125-3393 Phone: (617) 287-7932 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.mijohn.com/hsjc/index.htm

MISSISSIPPI

University of Mississippi 331 Farley, P.O. Box 1848 University, MS 38677 Contact: Beth FittsPhone: (662) 915-7146http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/journalism/

MISSOURI

University of Missouri Dr. Anna Romero School of Journalism 76-K Gannett HallColumbia, MO 65211-1200 Phone: (573) 882-2422 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.journalism.missouri.edu/contact.html

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Howard University Department of Journalism 525 Bryant St. N.W. Washington, DC 20059 Phone: (202) 806-7855 http://www.howard.edu/schoolcommunications/

FLORIDA

Florida A & M UniversityProfessor Diane Hall, director School of Journalism Tallahassee, FL 32308 Phone: (904) 599-3357 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.sjgc.net/index1.html

Florida International University North Campus Professor Don Sneed, director School of Journalism and Mass Communication 3000 N.E. 151st St. North Miami, FL 33181 Phone: (305) 940-5625 http://jmc.fiu.edu/sjmc/

University of Miami Professor Tsitsi Wakhisi, director School of Communication P.O. Box 248127 Coral Gables, FL 33124-2030 Phone: (305) 284-6493 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.miami.edu/com/

ILLINOIS

Eastern Illinois University Professor Joseph GisondiDepartment of Journalism 600 W. Lincoln Ave. Charleston, IL 61920 http://www.eiu.edu/~journal/

Youth Communication/Chicago Phil CostelloColumbia College and Roosevelt University 600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605 Phone: (312) 922-7150 http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/faculty/

http://www.geocities.com/wkumjw

http://jat.uky.edu/indexALL.html

http://www.mijohn.com/hsjc/index.htm

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/journalism/

http://www.journalism.missouri.edu/contact.html

http://www.howard.edu/schoolcommunications/

http://www.sjgc.net/index1.html

http://jmc.fiu.edu/sjmc/

http://www.miami.edu/com/

http://www.eiu.edu/~journal/

http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/faculty/

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NEW JERSEY

Monmouth University Dr. Eleanor Novek, director Communications Department 400 Cedar Ave. West Long Branch, NJ 07764 Phone: (732) 571-4427 http://www.monmouth.edu/academics/deptlinks/comm.asp

NEW YORK

New York UniversityProfessor Pamela Newkirk Department of Journalism 10 Washington Place New York, NY 10003 Phone: (212) 998-7980 E-mail: [email protected]://journalism.nyu.edu/ujw/

OHIO

Kent State University Gene Shelton, directorSchool of Journalism and Communication P.O. Box 5190Kent, OH 44242-0001E-mail: [email protected]

PENNSYLVANIA

The Pennsylvania State University Joseph M. Selden, Director/Assistant Dean andLecturer Office of Multicultural Affairs, College ofCommunications 208 Carnegie Building University Park, PA 16802-5101 Phone: (814) 863-6081 http://my.highschooljournalism.org/pa/universitypark/mhsjw

SOUTH DAKOTA

Native American Journalists Association Kim Baca, Interim Executive DirectorUniversity of South Dakota414 E. Clark St.. Vermillion, SD 57069-2390 Phone: (605) 677-5282Fax: (866) 694-4264

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] http://www.naja.com/news.html

TEXAS

San Antonio College Irene Abrego, director Journalism Department 1300 San Pedro Ave. San Antonio, TX 78212-4299 Phone: (210) 733-2870 http://www.accd.edu/sac/j-p/jlsm.html

Texas Christian University Elizabeth Faulk, directorDepartment of Journalism 294 Moudy SouthFort Worth, TX 76129 Phone: (817) 257-6274E-mail: [email protected]://www.jou.tcu.edu/

University of Texas at El Paso Zita Arocha, directorDepartment of Communication Studies 500 W. University Ave., Room 202 El Paso, TX 79968-0550 Phone: (915) 747-6287 E-mail: [email protected]://www.utep.edu/comm/

VIRGINIA

Virginia Commonwealth University June Nicholson, directorSchool of Mass Communications 901 W. Main St. P.O. Box 842034 Richmond, VA 23284 Phone: (804) 367-1260 E-mail: [email protected]://www.has.vcu.edu/mac/

WASHINGTON

Seattle University Tomas Guillen, director Communication Department Casey Building, Room 232 900 Broadway Seattle, WA 98122-4340 Phone: (206) 464-2045E-mail: [email protected] http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/communication/


http://www.monmouth.edu/academics/deptlinks/

http://journalism.nyu.edu/ujw/

http://my.highschooljournalism.org/pa/

http://www.naja.com/news.html

http://www.accd.edu/sac/j-p/jlsm.html

http://www.jou.tcu.edu/

http://www.utep.edu/comm/

http://www.has.vcu.edu/mac/

http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/communication/

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Poynter College Fellowships

Newswriting and reporting: Poynter is looking forthe best graduates in the arts and sciences andjournalism who will become leaders in tomorrow’snewsrooms. It seeks people who can write withclarity and flair, who have the education and insightto understand the world they report on, whorecognize the important role the profession playsas a public service, and who have great ambitionto succeed in life.

Visual journalism: Fellows will learn (or relearn)the fundamentals of visual journalism from Poynterfaculty and guest experts. This is a visual bootcamp where students will explore typography, colorand architecture for news and feature page design;information graphics; traditional and photoillustration; documentary photojournalism; onlinedesign; and interactivity.

The Washington Post1150 15th Street N.W.Washington, DC 20071-0002http://washpost.com/community/education/yjdp/index.shtml

The Post’s Young Journalists DevelopmentProgram provides a range of services to local highschool journalism programs. They includeequipment donation, printing services, technicalassistance, seminars and workshops, andscholarships. For more information, contactdirector Athelia Knight, (202) 334-7132 [email protected].

COLLEGE PROGRAMS

The following is an abbreviated list of colleges anduniversities that serve primarily students of color.For a complete list of the historically black collegesand universities that have communicationsprograms, go to the Black College CommunicationAssociation web site, www.bccanews.org.

California State University, FresnoMass Communication and Journalism McKee Fisk Building, Room 238 2225 E. San Ramon Ave. M/S MF10 Fresno, CA 93740-8029 Phone: (559) 278-2087 Fax: (559) 278-4995 http://www.csufresno.edu/MCJ/

WISCONSIN

Marquette University Rose Richard College of Communication 1131 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 288-5227 http://www.marquette.edu/dept/comm/

MULTI-STATE PROGRAMS

Hispanic Link Journalism Foundation 1420 N St. N.W.Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 234-0280 http://www.hispaniclink.org

Reporting Fellowships: For 20 years, Hispanic Linkhas been the training host of 25 full-year fellowsand provided shorter-term internships for morethan 100 aspiring journalists. Participants covernational news in Washington alongside correspon-dents, with emphasis on how current events affectHispanics. Their work is published in Hispanic LinkWeekly Report and distributed to subscribersnationally. Dozens of still-connected, Link-trainedjournalists continue to work and advance at majordailies and broadcast outlets throughout the country.

Freedom Forum Grants for Native American HighSchool Journalism StudentsDr. Richard W. LeeDepartment of Journalism and MassCommunication, South Dakota State University Brookings, SD 57007 Phone: (605) 688-4171Fax: (605) 688-5034E-mail: [email protected]

Native American high school students may apply forgrants to attend the South Dakota State Universitysummer journalism institute held in mid-June.Grants cover transportation and workshop costs.

The Poynter Institute801 Third Street S. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Phone: (888) 769-6837 http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=9260

http://washpost.com/community/education/yjdp/

http://www.csufresno.edu/MCJ/

http://www.marquette.edu/dept/comm/

http://www.hispaniclink.org

http://www.poynter.org/content/

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Forty percent of the student population is Latinoand Asian American. Graduates of the mass commu-nication and journalism program have gone on tocareers at The Washington Post, The BakersfieldCalifornian and The Record in Stockton, Calif.

Florida A&M University Professor Diane Hall, director School of Journalism Tallahassee, FL 32308 Phone: (904) 599-3357 E-mail: [email protected]

In 1982, FAMU’s Division of Journalism became the first journalism program at a historically blackuniversity to earn accreditation by the AccreditingCouncil on Education in Journalism and Mass Commu-nications. It was reaccredited in 1988, 1994 and2000.

Florida International University University Park Campus 11200 S.W. Eighth Street Miami, FL 33199Biscayne Bay Campus 3000 N.E. 151st St. North Miami, FL 33181 http://jmc.fiu.edu/sjmc/

Master’s Program in Spanish-Language JournalismThis program is designed for those who want towork at the professional level in the Spanish-language media in the United States, Latin Americaor Europe. The program focuses on the developmentof the writing, critical thinking, analytic and ethicalskills necessary for a professional journalism career.

Hampton UniversitySchool of Journalism and Communication Department of Mass Media ArtsArmstrong 117Hampton UniversityHampton, VA 23668Phone: (757) 727-5405http://www.hamptonu.edu/arts_edu/arts_humn/mass_media/

This journalism and communications program trainsstudents in print and broadcast journalism, publicrelations, advertising and media management.

Howard University School of Communications 525 Bryant St. N.W.Washington, DC 20059

Phone: (202) 806-7690http://www.howard.edu/schoolcommunications/

Students gain critical, hands-on work experienceat WHUR-FM/WHBC (Howard University Radio) andWHUT-TV (Howard University Television), the onlyAfrican American-owned public television stationin the United States.

Lehman CollegeMultilingual Journalism Program @ Lehman CollegeProf. Patricio Lerzundi Phone: (718) 960-8161 Fax: (718) 960-8218 http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/depts/langlit/mlj/

At this City University of New York campus in theBronx, students of color comprise more than 80percent of the student population. Lehmanemphasizes multilingual media, a reflection of thediversity on campus and in the community. TheBronx Journal, the campus newspaper, is written in11 languages.

Norfolk State University Mass Communications and Journalism700 Park Ave. Norfolk, VA 23504 Phone: (757) 823-8330 Fax: (757) 823-9119 http://www.nsu.edu/mcjr/contact.htm

About half of the students in the mass communi-cations program at this historically black universityin Virginia are men, a surprise given that womenoutnumber men in many communications programs.The Spartan Echo, the student newspaper, wasnamed best biweekly in 2001 by the Black CollegeCommunications Association.

HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES ANDUNIVERSITIES SCHOLARSHIPS

Knight RidderDirector, Corporate HR Services50 W. San Fernando St., Suite 1500San Jose, CA 95113http://www.knightridder.com/career/internships.html

Knight Ridder provides scholarships in advertising,business and journalism at two major historicallyblack colleges: Howard University, located inWashington, D.C., and Florida A&M University inTallahassee, Fla. The scholarships are awarded to

http://jmc.fiu.edu/sjmc/

http://www.hamptonu.edu/arts_edu/arts_humn/

http://www.howard.edu/schoolcommunications/

http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/depts/langlit/mlj/

http://www.nsu.edu/mcjr/contact.htm

http://www.knightridder.com/career/internships.html

outstanding students entering their junior year.The scholars are awarded $2,500 for their junioryear and work at a Knight Ridder company as asummer intern. The scholarship continues into thesenior year if the student maintains a 3.0 GPA. Ifyou are a student at one of these institutions,contact your college placement office.

University of North DakotaSchool of Communication O’Kelly Hall 7169P.O. Box 7169Grand Forks, ND 58202Phone: (701) 777-6388Contact: Paul Boswell, Director, Native Media CenterE-mail: [email protected]

The Native Media Center Program is designed toincrease communication skills of Native Americans,the number of native people working in the mediaand the quantity and quality of coverage of NativeAmericans. Programs include Red Nation News, anonline news magazine and Native CommunityStudio, a weekend during the school year whenNative American high school students come to theNative Media Center to work with professionaljournalists on developing skills and gain exposureof the profession.

University of Texas, El Paso College of Liberal Arts 500 W. University Ave. El Paso, TX 79968 Phone: (915) 747-5129 http://www.utep.edu/comm/

The UTEP program in communication is a contem-porary blend of the humanistic and applied directionsof the field as the profession is challenged by achanging world order, new media and informationtechnology, and the new realities of the information-based society. UTEP’s Department of Communicationhas partnered with the National Hispanic PressFoundation to bring exposure and recognition touniversity students’ research and writing abilitiesand increase the number of Hispanic professionalsin communication fields.

University of Texas-Pan American 1201 W. University Drive Edinburg, TX 78541 http://www.panam.edu/

About 88 percent of the student population is

Hispanic. Students at this lower Rio Grande Valleycampus get newspaper experience at the PanAmerican, which comes out twice weekly. The PanAmerican web site is located athttp://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican.

Wayne State University Department of Communication 585 Manoogian Hall Detroit, MI 48201 Phone: (313) 577-2943 http://www.comm.wayne.edu/

Wayne State University’s Journalism Institute forMinorities trains high-achieving students of colorfor communication careers. Exceptionally talentedstudents are recruited for the intensive four-yearcareer preparation program. Institute membersreceive fully paid scholarships and gain professionalexperience through internships with such localnewspapers as the Detroit News and Detroit FreePress, as well as The New York Times, USA Todayand the Chicago Tribune. Institute graduates areemployed at the Los Angeles Times, The Wall StreetJournal, the Detroit Free Press and other newsorganizations throughout the country. Institutestudents have received numerous awards, includingthe Community Journalism Award of the MichiganPress Association.

Wilberforce University 1055 N. Bickett Road Wilberforce, OH 45384-1001 Phone: (937) 376-2911 http://www.wilberforce.edu/opencms/export/bulldog/home/home.html

This private, four-year historically black universityrequires internships and practicums for graduates,who can study journalism as a communicationsmajor in the Humanities Division. Students can getexperience at the biweekly campus paper, TheMirror. Wilberforce students have interned at thelocal Xenia Daily Gazette and the nearby DaytonDaily News. Five Wilberforce students have hadinternships at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

Asian American Journalists Association 1182 Market St., Suite 320 San Francisco, CA 94102 Contact: Albert Lee, professional programscoordinator

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http://www.utep.edu/comm/

http://www.panam.edu/

http://www.panam.edu/dept/panamerican

http://www.comm.wayne.edu/

http://www.wilberforce.edu/opencms/export/

Phone: (415) 346-2051 Fax: (415) 346-6343 E-mail: [email protected]

AAJA supports and encourages the advancement of mid-career journalists in the newsroom. It offersseveral fellowships to provide members theopportunity to attend career-building programs.

AAJA Fellowships help members attend short-termprofessional training and development programs.Grants of up to $1,000 are offered to provideassistance with tuition, travel, food, lodging andother program-related expenses. Applicants mustbe full or associate members wth at least threeyears of professional experience. Applications areaccepted throughout the year.

AAJA/Poynter Institute Fellowships help twomidcareer journalists attend selected managementtraining courses at the Poynter Institute in St.Petersburg, Fla. Applicants should be full-timeemployees of a print, broadcast or online newsorganization or journalism educators. Tuition andhotel costs are covered by Poynter, whiletransportation costs are covered by AAJA.

AAJA/Newspaper Association of AmericaFellowship helps newspaper journalists attend theannual Executive Leadership Program. Applicantsshould be full-time employees of a newspaperorganization. The fellowship covers seminarregistration fees, travel, meals and hotel expenses.

AAJA Business Fellowship offers members a chanceto develop a better understanding of the challengesof running a newspaper or media company. Partici-pants can expect to observe and learn about theoperations in production, marketing, advertising,circulation and distribution. Previous fellowshipstook place at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and TheNew York Times.

American Society of Newspaper Editors 11690B Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20191-1409 Phone: (703) 453-1122 http://www.asne.org

Robert G. McGruder Awards For Diversity Leader-ship: ASNE, in partnership with the AssociatedPress Managing Editors and the Freedom Forum,accepts nominations for the Robert G. McGruderAwards for Diversity Leadership. Two awards are

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given annually – one for newspapers with acirculation of up to 75,000 and one for news-papers with more than 75,000 circulation. Eachaward is $2,500. The awards go to individuals,newsrooms or teams of journalists who embody thespirit of McGruder, a former executive editor of theDetroit Free Press and a relentless champion ofdiversity. McGruder died of cancer in April 2002.

Columbia Scholastic Press Association http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/index.html

Services provided by the CSPA include writtenevaluations of student publications (annual critiques)as well as the planning and conducting of fourconferences and workshops. In addition, the CSPApublishes a quarterly magazine called SPR, StudentPress Review. The highest awards given topublications by the CSPA each year are its CrownAwards. The association also judges more than10,000 individual entries in its annual Gold CircleAwards for student journalists. More than 500 collegestudents and 500 high school students receive awardsin the 75 categories of this competition.

Detroit Free Press Scholarships for High SchoolSeniorsJoe Grimm 600 W. Fort St. Detroit, MI, 48226 Phone: (313) 222-6490, ext.600 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.freep.com

The Detroit Free Press High School JournalismProgram was conceived by former Free Press execu-tive Jerry Tilis in 1985 after budget woes forcedthe school district to eliminate the journalism pro-gram from most schools. Once a month, fromOctober through May, each of 22 participating publicschools produces one full-size newspaper page.

Independent Press Association65 Battery Street, Second FloorSan Francisco, CA 94111Phone: (415) 445-0230, ext. 116 or 117Fax: (415) 445-0231E-mail: [email protected]://www.indypress.org

The George Washington Williams Fellowship wascreated to encourage journalists with diverse back-grounds to pursue important social issues. Namedfor the 19th century African American journalist


http://www.asne.org

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/index.html

http://www.freep.com

http://www.indypress.org

the civil rights movement during the 1950s and1960s and in 1972 became the nation’s first blackfemale network commentator – with a commem-orative 37-cent stamp. It was Payne’s work inAfrica as a foreign correspondent that promptedNABJ to create the fellowships.

Ida B. Wells Award: Given annually by NABJ andthe National Conference of Editorial Writers(http://www.ncew.org/) to a media executive ormanager who has made outstanding efforts to makenewsrooms and news coverage more accuratelyreflect the diversity of the communities they serve.The award is named for the 19th century journalistwho crusaded against lynching. It is administeredby Northwestern University’s Medill School ofJournalism. Contacts: Lisa Goodnight, NABJcommunications manager, (301) 445-7100, [email protected]; and Wendy Leopold, Medill Schoolof Journalism, w-leopold@ northwestern.edu.

NABJ Scholarships: Annually, NABJ awardsdeserving students interested in pursuing a careerin journalism awards of more than $30,000 inscholarships. Each scholarship is worth up to $5,000.Scholarships are open to any foreign- or American-born students, currently attending an accreditedfour-year college or university in the U.S. or thosewho are candidates for graduate school.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists 1000 National Press Building 529 14th St. N.W. Washington, DC 20045-2001 Phone: (202) 662-7145 / (888) 346-NAHJ Fax: (202) 662-7144 E-mail: [email protected]

The Rubén Salazar Scholarship Fund programoffers scholarships designed to encourage andassist Latino students to pursue journalism careers.NAHJ offers scholarships to college undergraduatesand graduate students pursuing careers as print,photo, broadcast or online journalists. Applicantsmust plan to attend a college or a university in theUnited States or Puerto Rico as a full-time studentfor the entire academic year to be eligible.

ñ Awards: Awards are presented in these categories– Leadership, Emerging Journalist, Frank del OlmoPrint Journalist of the Year, Broadcast Journalist ofthe Year, Photographer of the Year. The leadershipaward is open, through nomination, to any indivi-dual, organization or institution that has demon-

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who wrote the first history of African Americansfrom their own point of view, the fellowship fundsmagazine stories about such issues as environment,global trade policy, health care, race and education.Fellows receive access to some research support,consultants, advanced professional training and alarge network of journalists working in the publicinterest sector. Any journalist with at least threeyears of solid professional reporting and writingexperience may apply.

Knight Ridder Scholarship for High SchoolSeniors http://www.knightridderscholars.com/index.html

$40,000 Minority Scholarship Program: Eachyear, Knight Ridder offers four college scholarshipsto outstanding high school graduates of color. Twoscholars are chosen for their interest in journalism;two are chosen for their interest in business-sidedepartments such as marketing, technology andadvertising. The scholarships are for $5,000 a yearfor four years. In addition, KR Scholars will work ata KR company each summer beginning after highschool, and continuing through their college years.After graduation, the scholars will work at a KnightRidder company for at least one year. The scholar-ships are intended for students in communitiesserved by Knight Ridder papers, and applicants mustwin at the local level to go on to national judging.As local winners are chosen in January, localdeadlines tend to be in December and January.

National Association of Black Journalists Scholarships for Undergraduate and Graduate StudentsUniversity of Maryland 8701-A Adelphi Road Adelphi, MD 20783-1716 Phone: (301) 445-7100Fax: (301) 445-7101E-mail: [email protected] http://www.nabj.org/media_institute/fellowships/index.html

Ethel Payne Fellowships: NABJ annually seeks toaward $5,000 fellowships to journalists wantinginternational reporting experience through self-conceived assignments in Africa. The fellowshipsbear the name of the woman known as the “firstlady of the Black Press.” Ethel Payne (1911 – 1991)covered seven U.S. presidents as a journalist andwas a war correspondent for The Chicago Defenderand Sengstacke Newspapers. In 2002, the U.S.Postal Service honored Payne – who reported on


http://www.ncew.org/

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http://www.nabj.org/media_institute/fellowships/

strated an outstanding commitment to Latinoconcerns and is actively working toward promotinga better understanding of Latino issues or culture.The other awards are open through a nominationprocess to Hispanic journalists who have made asignificant contribution to the Latino communityand brought awareness to issues affecting Latinos,or Hispanic journalists who have achieved excel-lence through their chosen media.

New America Media275 Ninth St., Third floorSan Francisco, CA 94103Phone: (415) 503-4170Fax: (415) 503-0970E-mail: [email protected]://www.newamericamedia.org

The NAM Awards recognize journalistic excellencein ethnic media. They showcase news stories andthe people and media outlets that report them.Journalists from print, broadcast and online ethnicmedia are nominated by colleagues. Journalistscan also nominate their own work. Contact: Sandip Roy.

Radio and Television News Directors Foundation RTNDA/RTNDF 1600 K St. N.W., Suite 700 Washington, DC 20006-2838 Phone: (202) 659-6510Fax: (202) 223-4007 E-mail: [email protected]

N.S. Bienstock Fellowship: A $2,500 awardestablished in early 1999 by N.S. Bienstock Inc.owners, Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper.Bienstock is a longtime member of RTNDA. Thisaward recognizes a promising journalist of color in radio or television news management.

Michele Clark Fellowship: RTNDF’s first fellowship is named for a CBS News correspondent who waskilled in a plane crash while on assignment in1972. Her family and colleagues at CBS created afund in her name, endowing a permanent $1,000award for young, promising professionals of colorin television or radio news.

Society of Professional JournalistsEugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Center3909 N. Meridian St.Indianapolis, IN 46208Phone: (317) 927-8000

Fax: (317) 920-4789http://www.spj.org/awards_NAA.asp

New America Award: To encourage and honorcollaborations between ethnic and mainstream media.This award honors collaborative public servicejournalism by ethnic and mainstream media workingtogether to explore and expose an issue ofimportance to immigrant or ethnic communities inthe United States. The competition is open to anyethnic media organization or journalist and amainstream media organization or journalist based onthe quality and impact of their collaborative work.SPJ welcomes nominations from media outlets,journalists, community and issue advocacy groups,individuals and others concerned with ethnic andimmigrant issues. Each entry must include a letterexplaining the significance of the issue, why it waschosen and how the collaboration between ethnicand mainstream media came to be, includingobstacles encountered and benefits gained.

The New America Award winner is honored at the annual Sigma Delta Chi Awards banquet inWashington, D.C.

Sponsors for Educational OpportunitySEO Scholars Program 126 E. 31st Street New York, NY 10016 Phone: (212) 532-2454http://www.seo-usa.org

The SEO Scholars Program (formerly the CollegePreparation or Traditional Program) is an out-of-school academic enrichment program for promisingstudents of color in New York City public schools.It works with motivated students from under-resourced communities and has provided consistent,targeted services over several years. The ScholarsProgram offers a rigorous four-year plan of academicenrichment and standardized test preparation,college counseling, mentoring and summer learningexperiences.

Thomson Fellowships Jim Jennings, Vice President and Editorial DirectorThomson NewspapersMetro Center1 Station PlaceStamford, CT 06909(203) 435-2515 http://journalism.berkeley.edu/jobs/details.php?cat=newswire&ID=1997

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http://www.newamericamedia.org

http://www.spj.org/awards_NAA.asp

http://www.seo-usa.org

http://journalism.berkeley.edu/jobs/

Thomson Newspapers offers several paid three-month working fellowships for university juniors,seniors and graduate students who plan to pursuecareers in newspaper journalism. These fellowshipsare available to members of racial or ethnicminority groups in the U.S. and Canada. Eachfellow works at a daily newspaper as a member ofits editorial staff with training and evaluation.Applicants should send a résumé, a one-page essayon the role of newspapers in their communities,nonreturnable samples of their work, threereferences and a cover letter describing what theyhope to gain from the fellowship and what theycan bring to the newspapers.

INTERNSHIPS, PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS ANDFELLOWSHIPS FOR JOURNALISTS OF COLOR

Asian American Journalists AssociationAlbert Lee, professional programs coordinator 1182 Market St., Suite 320 San Francisco, CA 94102 Phone: (415) 346-2051Fax: (415) 346-6343 E-mail: [email protected]://www.aaja.org

AAJA Broadcast Mentor Program: Mentoring forthose who work in front of the camera or behindthe scenes in television.

Cox Reporting Internship: Cox Newspapers offersa Washington, D.C., reporting internship to anAAJA member. The interns works for the summer asgeneral assignment reporter in the Cox WashingtonBureau, helping cover all aspects of Washington,from Capitol Hill to the White House. Cox willprovide the intern with airfare and a furnishedapartment in the DuPont Circle area ofWashington, as well as a $300 weekly stipend.Contact: Lila Chwee at AAJA.

Siani Lee Broadcast Internship for Television isheld during the summer at CBS affiliate KYW-TV inPhiladelphia. Interns must be at least 18 years ofage and enrolled in a post-secondary program thatgives academic credit for internships. QualifiedAAJA members are preferred. AAJA awards astipend of $2,500 to help defray internship costsof travel and housing. AAJA created the internshipto honor the late Siani Lee, a Philadelphiatelevision news anchor who died in 2001.

Black College Wirec/o National Association of Black JournalistsUniversity of Maryland8701-A Adelphi RoadAdelphi, MD 20783-1716(301) 445-7100E-mail: [email protected]://www.blackcollegewire.org

Black Newspaper Internship: Students work asreporters, copy editors, photographers, graphicartists or page designers at participating black news-papers. Interns are responsible for their own housingand transportation; placements will take intoconsideration the student’s summer living plans.

Black College Wire Internship: Interns work as reporters for the Black College Wire. They willreport, write and file from their summer homes ascorrespondents under the supervision of the wire’seditors. A telephone and Internet-accessiblecomputer are required.

Institute for Justice and Journalism University of Southern CaliforniaAnnenberg School for Communication1 California Plaza300 South Grand Ave., Suite 3950Los Angeles, CA 90071Phone: (213) 437-4410Fax: (213) 437-4424http://www.justicejournalism.org/index.htm

The institute provides professional fellowships,reporting tools and a network of colleagues andjustice experts to support in-depth coverage ofcomplex justice issues.

National Public Radio InternshipHuman Resources Department635 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20001Fax: (202) 513-3047E-mail: [email protected]://www.npr.org/about/jobs/intern/

NPR offers internships at its national headquartersin Washington and at its NPR West office in LosAngeles. The internship program is designed toprovide students and recent graduates with anopportunity to learn about broadcasting and thesupporting areas of NPR. A candidate must be agraduate student, an undergraduate student or

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http://www.aaja.org

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have graduated from college within 12 months ofbeginning the internship. Interns are expected towork between 20 and 40 hours a week during an 8-to-10 week period. Internships are offered duringthe summer, fall and winter-spring semesters.Interns may receive academic credit if an agreementis made between the NPR Human ResourcesDepartment and the intern’s college or university.More than two dozen internships are offered. Seeweb site for details.

Kaiser Media Fellowships ProgramPenny Duckham, Executive DirectorThe Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation2400 Sand Hill RoadMenlo Park, CA 94025Phone: (650) 234-9220Fax: (650) 854-4800 or (650) 854-7465E-mail: [email protected]://www.kff.org/about/mediafellowships.cfm

The Kaiser Media Fellowships is a summer programfor young journalists of color interested inspecializing in urban public health reporting. Thereis no application form. Applicants should submit adetailed letter describing their reasons for applying,a resume, examples of recent work and one or moreletters of support. Please refer to the specificprogram area for complete application instructions.

Knight Ridder Newsroom Internships http://www.knightridder.com/career/internships.htmlThis is a guide to newsroom internships at KnightRidder newspapers. Apply directly to the newspapers.Each newspaper acts independently, so massapplications are not possible.

Minorities in Broadcasting Training Program Patrice WilliamsP.O. Box 39696Los Angeles, CA 90039Phone: (818) 240-3362E-mail: [email protected]://www.thebroadcaster.com

This nonprofit organization provides trainingopportunities to college graduates of color in radioand television news reporting and newsmanagement.

National Association of Black JournalistsInternshipsUniversity of Maryland8701-A Adelphi Road

Adelphi, MD 20783-1716Phone: (301) 445-7100Fax: (301) 445-7101E-mail: [email protected]://www.nabj.org/programs/internships/

NABJ provides internships to African Americanjournalism students. Students are placed in 10-week paid internships with newspapers, televisionand radio stations and online news services acrossthe country. NABJ internships give students hands-on reporting, editing, photography and designexperience in professional settings. Interns haveworked at news outlets such as Bloomberg News,The Associated Press, The Seattle Times, The News& Observer in Raleigh, N.C., CBS, National PublicRadio and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Philadelphia Inquirer P.O. Box 8263Philadelphia, PA 19101Phone: (215) 854-4975Fax: (215) 854-2578E-mail: [email protected](only for questions)http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/contact_us/2480089.htm

Art Peters Program: Seven college students ofcolor are selected for 10-week internships, four incopyediting and three in reporting. After anorientation period, reporting interns are assignedto the metropolitan, business, features or sportsdesks. Students from all college classes areeligible. Applicants should submit five to sevenclips, a resume and cover letter, and references.

Minority Graphic Arts Internship: One person ischosen to work in the art department. Applicantsshould submit five to seven samples of their work(published or unpublished), a resume and coverletter, and references.

Minority Photojournalism Internship: One person is chosen to work in The Inquirer’s photodepartment. Applicants should submit 20 to 40images of news, features, sports, environmentalportraits or a photo story, a resume and coverletter, and references. Contact Ed Hille, Inquirerdirector of photography, E-mail:[email protected]

Acel Moore Minority Career DevelopmentWorkshop: This program for high school students

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http://www.kff.org/about/mediafellowships.cfm

http://www.knightridder.com/career/internships.html

http://www.thebroadcaster.com

http://www.nabj.org/programs/internships/

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/contact_us/

of color seeks to introduce them to journalism.They are taught reporting, writing, editing andphotography by Inquirer editors. The program runsfor four Saturdays in February at The Inquirer. Thestudents help write, edit and produce their ownnewspaper, First Take, and create a web site oftheir stories on philly.com. To receive an applicationcontact Acel Moore, [email protected]: (215) 854-4975Fax: (215) 854-2578

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Summer InternshipProgram Cynthia Todd, director of newsroom recruitment900 N. Tucker Blvd.St. Louis, MO 63101 Phone: (314) 340-8282E-mail: [email protected]

Thirteen-week, paid internships in all areas of thenewsroom are available on the metro, business,sports, features, design, graphics, photography andcopyediting staffs.

The salary is $393 per week. Applicants must beseniors or graduate students enrolled in a degreeprogram at the time the internship begins. Studentsalso must have taken basic journalism courses aswell as any specialized courses in the students’areas of interest.

To apply for a reporting or copyediting internship,send six clips; an autobiographical essay; a resume;and the names, telephone numbers and titles offour references. To apply for other internships, submita portfolio of work (20 images for photography);an autobiographical essay; a resume; and the names,telephone numbers and titles of four references.Applicants also must submit official transcripts, butthose may be sent under separate cover.

Times Mirror Minority Editorial Training Program(METPRO) Los Angeles Times 202 W. First St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Phone: (800) 283-6397, ext. 77397Fax: (213) 237-4749E-mail: [email protected]://www.metpronews.com/

The Minority Editorial Training Program offers 18aspiring journalists an opportunity to train for twoyears at Times Mirror newspapers. The paid program

requires little or no experience. METPRO providestraining as reporters, photographers and copyeditors at daily newspapers. Reporting and photog-raphy trainees spend the first year at the Los AngelesTimes; editing trainees spend the first year atNewsday, Melville, N.Y. The second-year trainees areassigned to newsrooms of Times Mirror newspapers.

Send an e-mail to receive an application packet.Applications for both METPRO/Editing and METPRO/Reporting are available beginning in October. For reporting and photography applications, [email protected] editing applications, e-mail [email protected]

UNITY: Journalists of Colorhttp://www.unityjournalists.org/Fellowships/fellowships.html

A resource guide for a variety of internships, fellow-ships and scholarships for journalists of color.

DIVERSITY TOOLS

Center for Integration and Improvement ofJournalismSan Francisco State UniversityHumanities 3071600 Holloway Ave.San Francisco, CA 94132Phone: (415) 338-2083Fax: (415) 338-2084E-mail: [email protected]

Extensive lists of organizations and resources canbe found at http://www.ciij.org/resources/

Journalism Institute for Minorities (JIM)Wayne State University191 Manoogian HallDetroit, MI 48201Phone: (313) 577-6304E-mail: [email protected] site: http://www.comm.wayne.edu/JIM.html

Latinos and Media Project6304 Colina LaneAustin, TX 78759Phone: (512) 250-0487E-mail: [email protected]://www-new.latinosandmedia.org/resources/index.html

Information and resources about a variety of issues

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http://www.metpronews.com/

http://www.unityjournalists.org/Fellowships/

http://www.ciij.org/resources/

http://www.comm.wayne.edu/JIM.html

http://www-new.latinosandmedia.org/resources/

related to Latinos and the media.

Mass Communicating: The Forum on MediaDiversityManship School of CommunicationReilly Center for Media & Public AffairsBaton Rouge, LA 70803Phone: (225) 578-2223Fax: (225) 578-2125E-mail: [email protected]://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/about

Provides information about diversity in highereducation and professional journalism and masscommunication.

Radio and Television News Directors Foundation1600 K St., N.W. Suite 700Washington, D.C. 20006-2838Phone: (202) 659-6510Fax: (202) 223-4007Get a copy of RTNDF’s “Diversity Toolkit” athttp://www.rtnda.org/diversity/toolkit.shtml

Society of Professional Journalists RainbowSourcebookhttp://www.spj.org/diversity_search.asp

The SPJ Rainbow Sourcebook, a searchabledatabase of experts compiled by and for journalists,makes it easy to step beyond the narrow demo-graphic band usually seen in stories. The sourcebook,searchable by common news topics, featuresbackground and contact information on qualifiedexperts from demographic groups historicallyunderrepresented in the news.

SPJ Diversity Toolbox http://www.spj.org/diversity.asp

The SPJ Diversity Toolbox offers essays and links to valuable resources to help journalists broadenthe perspectives in their work.

STYLE GUIDES

National Association of Black Journalists http://nabj.org/newsroom/stylebook/index.html

Asian American Journalists Associationhttp://www.aaja.org/resources/apa_handbook/

National Association of Hispanic JournalistsManual de Estilo ($14.95 plus shipping and

handling) and “Latinos in the United States: AResource Guide for Journalists” ($8.50 shippingincluded) can be ordered athttp://nahj.org/nahjproducts/nahjproducts.shtml,or call NAHJ at (202) 662-7483; fax, (202) 662-7144.

Native American Journalists AssociationRed Report 2002, a content analysis on coverageof Native Americans by the largest U.S. newspapers,and Red Report 2003, a report about recognizingracism in sports team nicknames and mascots, canbe found athttp://www.naja.com/resources/publications/. Inaddition, two books can be ordered: “The AmericanIndian and the Media’’ and “Pictures of our NoblerSelves: A History of Native American Contributionsto the Media.’’

National Lesbian and Gay JournalistsAssociation:http://www.nlgja.org/pubs/style.html

JOB FAIRS

Journalism Opportunities Conferencehttp://www.ccnma.orgE-mail: [email protected]

This annual job fair, organized by the CaliforniaChicano News Media Association, is the largest onthe West Coast for journalists of color. It is heldevery October. The conference annually attractsmore than 100 news media recruiters representingabout 75 companies. Interviews for jobs andinternships are a combination of scheduled sessionsand walk-up interviews. Workshops on video tapecritiques, and resume-writing and interviewing tipsare held during the conference.

PSI (Personnel Strategies Inc.)1809 S. Plymouth Road, Suite 350Minnetonka, MN 55305-1977http://psijobfair.com/

Working with such groups as the NAACP and UrbanLeague, PSI conducts a number of diversity jobfairs throughout the year and across the country.

Spirit of Diversityhttp://www.freep.com/jobspage/toolkit/spinfo.htm

The Spirit of Diversity job fair is designed toconnect newspaper recruiters with African American,

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http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/about

http://www.rtnda.org/diversity/toolkit.shtml

http://www.spj.org/diversity_search.asp

http://www.spj.org/diversity.asp

http://nabj.org/newsroom/stylebook/index.html

http://www.aaja.org/resources/apa_handbook/

http://nahj.org/nahjproducts/nahjproducts.shtml

http://www.naja.com/resources/publications/

http://www.nlgja.org/pubs/style.html

http://www.ccnma.org

http://psijobfair.com/

http://www.freep.com/jobspage/toolkit/spinfo.htm

Hispanic, Asian-American and Native American jobcandidates. Most of the job seekers are collegestudents seeking internships and newer professionalsseeking full-time jobs. The Spirit of Diversity hasbeen held annually since 1993. It is hosted by theDetroit Free Press, The Detroit News and DetroitNewspapers. Hotel accommodations for one nightare provided for students who live more than 75miles from Detroit.

JOURNALISM DIVERSITY ORGANIZATIONS

American Press Institutehttp://www.americanpressinstitute.org/

Associated Press Managing Editorshttp://www.apme.com/index.shtml

American Society of Newspaper Editorshttp://www.asne.org/

American Women in Radio and Televisionhttp://www.awrt.org/

Asian American Journalists Associationhttp://www.aaja.org/

Association for Women in Communicationshttp://www.womcom.org/

California Chicano News Media Association http://www.ccnma.org/

Center for Integration and Improvement ofJournalism http://www.ciij.org/

Coloring the Newshttp://www.cmpa.com/

Emma L. Bowen Foundation for MinorityInterests in Mediahttp://www.emmabowenfoundation.com/

Freedom Forumhttp://www.freedomforum.org/diversity/

International Women’s Media Foundationhttp://www.iwmf.org/

Journalism and Women Symposium http://www.jaws.org/

Journalismnext.comhttp://journalismnext.com

Journalism.orghttp://www.journalism.org/resources/tools/newsroom/diversity/online.asp

Maynard Institute for Journalism Educationhttp://www.maynardije.org

Media Awareness Networkhttp://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

Minorities in Broadcasting Training Programhttp://www.cwire.com/pub/orgs/Minorities.in.Broadcasting/default.asp

National Association of Black Journalistshttp://www.nabj.org/

National Association of Hispanic Journalistshttp://www.nahj.org/

National Association of Minorities in Cablehttp://www.namic.com/

National Association of Minority MediaExecutiveshttp://www.namme.org/

National Center on Disability in Journalismhttp://www.ncdj.org/index.php

National Diversity Newspaper Job Bankhttp://www.newsjobs.com/

National Federation of Press Womenhttp://www.nfpw.org/

National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association http://www.nlgja.org/

Native American Journalists Associationhttp://www.naja.com/

News and Views by Native American Studentshttp://www.reznetnews.org/

News Watch – Center for Integration andImprovement of Journalism http://www.ciij.org/newswatch

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http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/

http://www.apme.com/index.shtml

http://www.asne.org/

http://www.awrt.org/

http://www.aaja.org/

http://www.womcom.org/

http://www.ccnma.org/

http://www.ciij.org/

http://www.cmpa.com/

http://www.emmabowenfoundation.com/

http://www.freedomforum.org/diversity/

http://www.iwmf.org/

http://www.jaws.org/

http://journalismnext.com

http://www.journalism.org/resources/tools/newsroo


http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

http://www.cwire.com/pub/orgs/Minorities.in.Broad

http://www.nabj.org/

http://www.nahj.org/

http://www.namic.com/

http://www.namme.org/

http://www.ncdj.org/index.php

http://www.newsjobs.com/

http://www.nfpw.org/

http://www.nlgja.org/

http://www.naja.com/

http://www.reznetnews.org/

http://www.ciij.org/newswatch

Newspaper Association of Americahttp://www.naa.org/

New Voices in Independent Publishing http://www.indypress.org/programs/nvip.html

Northwestern University Media ManagementCenterhttp://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/

Pacific News Service http://news.pacificnews.org/news/

Poynter Institute for Media Studieshttp://www.poynter.org/default.asp

Radio and Television News Directors Foundationhttp://www.rtnda.org/diversity/index.shtml

Society of Professional Journalists http://www.spj.org

South Asian Journalists Association http://www.saja.org/index.html

UNITY: Journalists of Colorhttp://www.unityjournalists.org/

Women in Journalism http://www.leisurejobs.net/wij/

OTHER RESOURCES

American Journalism Reviewhttp://www.ajr.org/

Ball State (J-IDEAS)http://www.jideas.org/

Provides materials for high school journalismprograms nationwide, aimed at revitalizingjournalism and First Amendment education in highschools, particularly city schools with a majorityenrollment of students of color.

Center for Media and Public Affairshttp://www.cmpa.com/

Columbia Journalism Reviewhttp://www.cjr.org/

Columbia School of Journalismhttp://www.jrn.columbia.edu/

Editor and Publisherhttp://www.editorandpublisher.com

New America Mediahttp://news.ncmonline.com/news/

National Lesbian and Gay JournalistsAssociationhttp://www.nlgja.org/

PBShttp://www.pbs.org/

University of Missouri Television & Radio NewsResearchhttp://web.missouri.edu/%7Ejourvs/index.html

University of Missouri School of Journalismhttp://journalism.missouri.edu/

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http://www.naa.org/

http://www.indypress.org/programs/nvip.html

http://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/

http://www.poynter.org/default.asp

http://www.rtnda.org/diversity/index.shtml

http://www.spj.org

http://www.saja.org/index.html

http://www.unityjournalists.org/

http://www.leisurejobs.net/wij/

http://www.ajr.org/

http://www.jideas.org/

http://www.cmpa.com/

http://www.cjr.org/

http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/

http://www.editorandpublisher.com

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/

http://www.nlgja.org/

http://www.pbs.org/

http://web.missouri.edu/%7Ejourvs/index.html

http://journalism.missouri.edu/

APPENDICES

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By Bill Dedman and Stephen K. Doig

Newsroom diversity has dropped from itspeak levels at most of the country’s dailynewspapers, including three-fourths of thelargest, according to a study of newspaperemployment from 1990 to 2005 for theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

While the newspaper industry may beslowly adding journalists of color overall,the gains have been uneven. In mostnewsrooms, large and small, the share ofjournalism jobs held by people of color hasreceded from its high-water mark.

Among the 200 largest newspapers, 73percent employ fewer people of color, as ashare of the newsroom jobs, than they didin some earlier year from 1990 to 2004.Only 27 percent of these large dailies wereat their peak as 2005 began.

Looking more broadly at all daily news-papers, only 18 percent were at their peak,while 44 percent have slipped. And thoseare the papers that employ any people ofcolor at all. The remaining 37 percent of thedaily newspapers that divulged theiremployment figures reported all-whitenewsrooms.

This third annual report for Knight Foundation

adds context to an annual survey by theAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors.Each year ASNE surveys its members, andeach year the editors bemoan the industry’sslow progress in employing journalists ofblack, Hispanic, Asian or Native Americandescent as newsroom supervisors, reporters,copy or layout editors, or photographers.

But ASNE shows neither the year-by-yearchanges for individual newspapers, norwhich newspapers are meeting ASNE’s goalof parity between newsroom and community.

That gap is filled by this report, done forKnight Foundation by journalists BillDedman and Stephen K. Doig. Their reporttraces the historical record of nonwhiteemployment at 1,410 newspapers andcompares the employment at each withthe racial makeup of the area it serves.

LARGEST NEWSPAPERS SLIP

The nation’s four largest newspapers havefallen from their peak: Gannett, thecompany with the best overall record ondiversity, has seen nonwhite employmentat its flagship USA Today slide since the1994 report (employment at year-end1993). The Wall Street Journal peaked in2000, The New York Times in 2003 and TheLos Angeles Times in 2000.

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APPENDIX I: DEDMAN-DOIG REPORT

On the Road to a Diverse Work Force,Most Newspapers Have Stumbled

Report for Knight Foundation shows trends at 1,410 U.S. newspapers

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USA TodayYear of peak minority employment: 1994

Nonwhite population of circulation area (national): 30.9%

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The Wall Street JournalYear of peak minority employment: 2000


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THE BIGGEST NEWSPAPERS: HOW DIVERSE?

The charts on these pages trace nonwhite

employment at America’s four largestnewspapers as a percentage of newsroomstaffs since 1990.

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The New York TimesYear of peak minority employment: 2003


1990

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Nonwhite population of circulation area: 58.2%

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Other papers in the top 25 that are belowtheir peak level of employing journalists ofcolor are New York Daily News (peaked in1995), The Washington Post (2004), TheDallas Morning News (2004), San FranciscoChronicle (1998), Newsday, Long Island(2002), The Star-Ledger, Newark (1998), StarTribune, Minneapolis (2001), The Philadel-phia Inquirer (2004), The Plain Dealer,Cleveland (1995) and The Miami Herald(1999).

Papers in the top 25 that reached theirpeak employment of nonwhites in 2005 arethe Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle,The Boston Globe, The Arizona Republic(Phoenix), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,Detroit Free Press, The Oregonian (Portland),St. Petersburg Times and The San DiegoUnion-Tribune. (Papers in the top 25 thatdid not respond to the 2005 ASNE surveywere the New York Post and Chicago Sun-Times.)

FEW REACH PARITY

Comparing newspapers with their commu-nities, only 13 percent of those respondingto the survey have reached ASNE’s goal ofparity between newsroom and community.That’s the same share as 2004.

Even that figure gives an optimistic portrait,because the researchers use figures fromthe 2000 Census. The nonwhite populationhas continued to grow rapidly, puttingASNE’s goal of parity farther out of reacheach year. In most communities, a news-paper maintaining the same percentage ofnonwhite staff would be losing groundeach year.

COMPANY MATTERS

Ownership is a large factor in determining

a newspaper’s newsroom diversity. GannettCo. continues to be the leader, measuredby a Newsroom Diversity Index that com-pares the share of jobs held by journalistsof color with the nonwhite share of thepopulation in the newspaper’s circulationarea. Gannett’s index is 89 (100 equalsparity with the circulation area).

Among the larger newspaper groups, the average index of all their newspapers(weighted by circulation) is:

Rank Newspaper Company AverageNewsroom

DiversityIndex

(100 =parity)

1 Gannett Co. (Va.) 892 Knight Ridder (Calif.) 763 McClatchy Co. (Calif.) 714 New York Times Co. (N.Y.) 695 Cox Enterprises (Ga.) 666 Advance (Newhouse) (N.Y.) 637 Freedom Communications (Calif.) 597 Pulitzer (Mo.) 599 Scripps (Ohio) 5610 Tribune Co. (Ill.) 5511 Dow Jones (N.Y.) 5212 Washington Post (D.C.) 4813 Lee Enterprises (Iowa) 4713 MediaNews Group (Colo.) 4715 Hearst Newspapers (N.Y.) 4516 Copley Press (Calif.) 4317 Community Newspaper Holdings

(Ala.) 4118 Belo (Texas) 4019 Media General (Va.) 3920 Liberty Group Publishing (Ill.) 3221 Journal Register (N.J.) 2422 Hollinger International (Ill.) 2223 Morris Communications (Ga.) 2124 Horizon Publications (Ill.) 1925 Paxton Media Group (Ky.) 1826 Ogden Newspapers (W.Va.) 12

110


(How the index is calculated: The NewsroomDiversity Index is the percentage of non-white newsroom staff divided by the percent-age of nonwhite residents in the circulationarea. Parity equals 100.)

The list is led by companies with well-knownprograms that reward managers—withbonuses – for the recruitment of journalistsof color.

Some of the larger chains appear to have a farm team of journalists at their smallernewspapers, ready to move up to the largernewspapers. Leaving out USA Today,Gannett’s other newspapers have a combinedscore of 103 – greater nonwhite employmentthan the nonwhite share of their circula-tion areas.

IT COULD BE WORSE

How can the industry generally showimprovement in the ASNE surveys, eventhough many papers are falling behind?

It is clear that the increase in the employ-ment of journalists of color at some news-papers is masking a decline at others.

And some papers that are below theirhistoric peaks have made small gains inrecent years. Fifty-seven percent of thelargest 200 papers increased their percent-age of nonwhite staff in 2004, while 32percent of the broader list of all newspapersincreased. (These figures reflect only thoseresponding to the surveys.)

Another factor is that ASNE does notdivulge the raw number of nonwhitejournalists. It reports only the percentageof a newspaper’s staff that is nonwhite. So it is difficult to know whether a papertruly increased the number of its journalists

of color, or whether the percentageincreased as white journalists left.

Many newsrooms have downsized in recentyears through involuntary layoffs, voluntarybuyouts or attrition. Those cuts wouldtend to affect an older, and therefore morewhite group of journalists. If the newsroomshrinks, and whites leave, the nonwhitepercentage can increase without a singleadditional journalist of color being hired.In 2005, ASNE reported that newsroomshave lost more than 2,200 journalistssince 2001, a 4 percent decline, while thenumber of journalists of color has increasedby 700, or nearly 11 percent.

Without the industry contraction, presum-ably the records on nonwhite hiring wouldlook worse at many newspapers. Even withthe contraction, most newspapers are belowtheir peak nonwhite employment, as ashare of the staff.

ALL-WHITE NEWSROOMS

The number of newspapers reporting anall-white newsroom declined a bit. Therewere 346 such newspapers in 2005 and374 the year before. Their editors reportedno journalists of color. As a share of allnewspapers responding to ASNE’s survey,the all-white papers were 37 percent in2005, down from 40 percent in 2004.

Although many of these all-white news-papers are small, they have a combinedweekday circulation of 3,337,478 – aboutthe total of USA Today and The New YorkTimes combined.

That all-white list doesn’t include the 486daily newspapers that ignored the annualASNE survey. Of those, 275 papers reportedan all-white newsroom on their latest report

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in a previous year. So the latest evidencefrom 44 percent of all newspapers (621 outof 1,410) showed entirely white newsrooms.

Many of these all-white papers are inrelatively white communities, but not all:What do Greenwood, Miss., and Rocky Ford,Colo., have in common with Plainview, Texas,

Sumter, S.C., and Liberal, Kan.? These fivecommunities have a majority of nonwhitesin the newspapers’ circulation areas, andall their editors reported having an entirelywhite newsroom. Another 40 all-whitenewsrooms serve communities where at leasta quarter of the population is nonwhite.

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Rank Circulation Newspaper, Ownership Staff Weekday Source area State nonwhite circulation for nonwhite percentage circulation percentage area

1 66.2 The Greenwood Commonwealth, Emmerich Newspapers 0.0 7,607 ZIP CodesMississippi (Miss.)

2 59.7 Rocky Ford Daily Gazette, Rocky Ford Publishing 0.0 3,013 Home CityColorado

3 54.9 Plainview Daily Herald, Texas Hearst Newspapers 0.0 6,481 Home (N.Y.) County

4 54.3 The Item, Sumter, S.C. H.D. Osteen Jr. 0.0 21,389 ZIP Codes

5 50.6 Southwest Daily Times, Lancaster family 0.0 4,250 Home Liberal, Kan. County

Rank Weekday Circulation Newspaper, Ownershipcirculation area State

nonwhite percentage

1 47,105 10.8 Billings Gazette, Lee Enterprises Montana (Iowa)

2 47,083 9.5 The Pantagraph, Pulitzer Bloomington, Ill. (Mo.)

3 42,463 8.2 The Macomb Daily, Journal Register Mount Clemens, Mich. (N.J.)

4 33,714 5.1 Observer-Reporter, Northrop family Washington, Pa.

5 32,745 4.0 The Scranton Times Times-Shamrockand The Tribune, (Pa.)Pennsylvania

Here are the top five U.S. daily newspapers reporting no journalists of color, ranked bynonwhite population in their circulation areas:

Nor are all the all-white newsrooms in tiny communities. The all-white newsrooms with thelargest daily circulation are:

WHY THIS REPORT?

Since 1978, the American Society ofNewspaper Editors has urged editors toimprove news coverage by employing atleast enough journalists of color to reflecttheir diverse communities. ASNE askspapers to report the percentage of editors,reporters, copy and layout editors, andphotographers who are black, Hispanic,Asian or Native American. In 2005, ASNEagain reported slow progress in totalnonwhite employment, as a result fallingfurther behind the growing nonwhitepopulation of the nation.

Although ASNE’s report shows each news-paper’s nonwhite employment, it does notdisclose how close that paper is to ASNE’sgoal, nor which papers are moving closerto the goal.

The Knight Foundation report builds on theASNE survey by showing which newspapers,and newspaper chains, are closer to theASNE goal than others. It compares the news-room staffing, as reported to ASNE, withthe circulation area population, usingfigures from the Audit Bureau of Circulationsand the U.S. Census.

The report – on the web athttp://powerreporting.com/knight –includes a separate web page for each of1,410 daily newspapers, showing its historyof nonwhite employment from 1990 to2005; a Diversity Index comparing thenewsroom nonwhite employment with itscirculation area’s population; a company-wide Diversity Index; a role model (anothernewspaper of similar size and circumstancewith a higher Diversity Index) and detailson the race and ethnicity of the circulationarea and the home county. In addition, for the 866 papers that file audited sales

reports by ZIP code, the report shows theracial and ethnic breakdown in each ZIPcode, the household income, and sales perhousehold.

The Knight Foundation report is intended tohelp journalists, newspaper readers and com-munity leaders discuss such questions as:

â In which communities and neighborhoodsdoes our newspaper sell well? Or poorly?

â Are the low-sales neighborhoodsexplained by household incomes? Bycompetition from other papers? Do race,ethnicity and language play a role?

â Does our newspaper have more readersin nonwhite areas than we had thought?Or fewer?

â Is our newspaper missing a businessopportunity? Would having more reportersand editors of color help the paper getmore news of interest to readers of color?Even with the current staff, what stepscan the newspaper take to raise its aware-ness of news of interest to all readers?

â When did our newspaper’s nonwhitestaffing reach its peak? What has hap-pened since? What are the barriers tohiring and retaining journalists of color?

â What explains the persistent number ofall-white newsrooms, even in communitieswith many readers of color?

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http://powerreporting.com/knight

DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. How close are most newspapers toparity with their circulation areas?

The rarities are still the dailies reachingASNE’s goal. Only 13 percent of newspapersresponding to the survey have reached

parity between the newsroom andcommunity, unchanged since the 2004report and up slightly from the 11 percentin 2003.

Only 36 percent of newspapers are evenhalfway to the goal, up from 34 percent2004.

114


Percent of Newspapers reporting Number of Newspapers Reporting

2003 2004 2005 2003 2004 2005

100 percent parity or better 11% 13% 13% 101 123 120

75 to 99 percent 7% 7% 8% 61 61 74

50 to 74 percent 14% 14% 15% 129 132 136

25 to 49 percent 21% 18% 21% 195 169 191

1 to 24 percent 8% 8% 6% 75 73 57

All-white newsrooms 40% 40% 37% 372 374 346

Here’s how newspapers were dispersed by Newsroom Diversity Index, which compares thenewsroom nonwhite percentage with the community nonwhite percentage. (100 = parity.)

2. How many newspapers are at theirhigh-water mark?

For a historical perspective, the study lookedat ASNE surveys from 1990 through 2005.

Of the 200 largest papers, 176 reportedtheir employment figures for the latestyear. Each of these reported at least onenonwhite employee. Of those 176 papers:

â 48 papers (27 percent) were at their peak.â 128 papers (73 percent) were below

their peak.

Of all 1,410 papers, 924 reported theiremployment for the latest year. The picturefor those papers is more complicatedbecause so many had all-white newsrooms,

and many of those had never reported anonwhite employee.

Of those 924 papers:

â 168 papers (18 percent) were at theirpeak, and reported at least onenonwhite journalist.

â 410 papers (44 percent) were belowtheir peak, and reported at least onenonwhite journalist.

â 187 papers (20 percent) had at somepoint employed a nonwhite journalist,but fell back to an all-white newsroomin 2005.

â 159 papers (17 percent) reported anall-white newsroom, and have notreported a nonwhite employee for anyyear since 1990.

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Here are the peak years of nonwhite employment for the 75 largest newspapers, along with their peak nonwhite staff percentage and their latest percentage. The 2005 ASNEreport, issued in April 2005, reflects employment at the end of the previous year.

Rank Peak Newspaper, Community Peak Latest Latest by year of State nonwhite nonwhite nonwhite year size nonwhite population staffing staffing reporting

staffing % (% of staff) (% of staff)

1 1994 USA Today (Va.) 30.9 21.4 17.2 2005

2 2000 The Wall Street Journal 30.9 18.2 16.7 2005(N.Y.)

3 2003 The New York Times 30.9 17.1 16.7 2005 (N.Y.)

4 2000 Los Angeles Times 58.2 20.6 19.0 2005(Calif.)

5 1995 Daily News (N.Y.) 65.0 20.9 17.2 2005

6 2004 The Washington Post (D.C.) 43.2 22.6 21.4 2005

7 1994 New York Post (N.Y.) 40.3 17.3 13.9 2001

8 2005 Chicago Tribune (Ill). 28.5 17.7 17.7 2005

9 2005 Houston Chronicle (Texas) 51.2 21.3 21.3 2005

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10 2004 The Dallas Morning News (Texas)* 40.9 20.2 14.8 2005

11 1998 San Francisco Chronicle (Calif.) 46.8 20.7 16.8 2005

12 2002 Newsday, Long Island (N.Y.) 33.9 26.1 25.7 2005

13 2005 The Boston Globe (Mass.) 16.9 20.0 20.0 2005

14 2005 The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Ariz.) 32.8 24.2 24.2 2005

15 1996 Chicago Sun-Times (Ill.) 50.3 23.0 23.0 1996

16 1998 The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) 36.8 23.4 19.8 2005

17 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Ga.) 38.1 23.0 23.0 2005

18 2001 Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) 14.6 14.6 14.5 2005

19 2004 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pa.) 22.3 18.5 17.2 2005

20 1995 The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 24.5 17.9 14.8 2005

21 2005 Detroit Free Press (Mich.) 28.1 29.2 29.2 2005

22 2005 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) 18.2 18.8 18.8 2005

23 2005 St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) 15.8 16.5 16.5 2005

24 1999 The Miami Herald (Fla.)* 70.1 46.8 29.9 2005

25 2005 The San Diego Union-Tribune (Calif.) 45.5 17.1 17.1 2005

26 2005 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.) 48.8 27.4 27.4 2005

27 2004 The Sacramento Bee (Calif.) 35.0 30.4 29.2 2005

28 2005 St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Mo.) 21.4 16.4 16.4 2005

29 2004 The Kansas City Star (Mo.) 20.4 17.9 17.3 2005

30 2005 The Denver Post (Colo.) 27.5 18.5 18.5 2005

31 2005 Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colo.) 25.0 14.1 14.1 2005

32 1991 The Sun (Baltimore, Md.) 33.9 19.6 15.9 2005

33 2003 San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) 52.6 33.2 32.1 2005

34 1992 Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) 32.0 20.5 18.9 2005

35 2005 The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.) 43.6 17.1 17.1 2005

36 2005 The Indianapolis Star (Ind.) 20.0 14.4 14.4 2005

37 1991 The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) 17.8 5.5 5.5 1991

38 1995 Boston Herald (Mass.) 24.1 11.2 5.5 2003

39 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wis.) 22.5 19.2 19.2 2005

40 1993 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pa.) 13.2 10.8 9.6 2005

41 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) 36.1 28.3 28.3 2005

42 1998 The Seattle Times (Wash.) 24.7 23.6 20.9 2005

*The diversity numbers do not include the journalists working for the newspaper’s separate Spanish-language publication.

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43 2005 The Tampa Tribune (Fla.) 32.4 9.8 9.8 2005

44 2004 San Antonio Express-News (Texas) 57.9 31.2 30.6 2005

45 2001 The Charlotte Observer (N.C.) 27.2 17.1 16.3 2005

46 2005 The Detroit News (Mich.) 21.6 26.2 26.2 2005

47 2004 Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas) 32.8 22.5 21.0 2005

48 2005 The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) 15.7 13.8 13.8 2005

49 2000 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) 39.1 14.0 13.7 2005

50 2005 The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) 24.4 25.5 25.5 2005

51 2003 The Buffalo News (N.Y.) 16.5 12.1 10.9 2005

52 2003 Omaha World-Herald (Neb.) 12.1 6.8 6.5 2005

53 1999 Hartford Courant (Conn.) 21.1 16.3 11.1 2005

54 2002 St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minn.) 13.9 18.0 17.9 2005

55 2005 Richmond Times-Dispatch (Va.) 36.6 12.9 12.9 2005

56 1993 The Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio) 15.6 16.2 11.8 2005

57 2005 The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.) 49.4 25.0 25.0 2005

58 2005 Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.) 39.0 19.9 19.9 2005

59 1991 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) 21.7 14.1 8.5 1992

60 1999 Los Angeles Daily News (Calif.) 52.3 17.8 16.7 2005

61 2005 Austin American-Statesman (Texas) 37.9 23.6 23.6 2005

62 2003 The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) 34.9 16.5 15.5 2005

63 1994 The Tennessean (Nashville, Tenn.) 19.5 20.9 20.2 2005

64 2004 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) 30.9 19.0 17.6 2005

65 1997 The Providence Journal (R.I.) 17.3 9.4 5.4 2001

66 1998 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (N.Y.) 17.9 16.7 15.3 2005

67 1997 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) 29.6 18.8 10.4 2004

68 2005 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) 30.8 21.0 21.0 2005

69 2000 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) 48.1 14.8 10.6 2005

70 1997 Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.) 15.3 13.3 11.2 2005

71 2003 The Fresno Bee (Calif.) 57.6 30.6 25.0 2005

72 1993 Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nev.) 39.3 8.2 8.2 1993

73 2004 The Des Moines Register (Iowa) 8.3 12.5 12.3 2005

74 2005 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.) 22.6 7.7 7.7 2005

75 1995 Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Wash.) 27.0 15.3 14.0 2005


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3. How many newspapers are increasingtheir employment of journalists of color?

More than half of the largest newspapersemployed a higher percentage of journalistsof color in 2005 than a year earlier.

Looking at the raw ASNE figures for thetop 200 newspapers, there were 164reporting employment for those two years.Their trend:

â 57 percent improved, raising newsroomnonwhite percentages in the previous year

â 39 percent declined, lowering nonwhitepercentages

â 4 percent stayed the same

Among newspapers of all sizes, gainers andlosers were about even. There were 777newspapers reporting employment for both2005 and 2004. Their trend:

â 32 percent improved, raising nonwhitejournalist percentages

â 22 percent declined, lowering nonwhitepercentages

â 46 percent stayed the same

Taking a longer view, newspapers can becompared on their trends over one year,three years, five years and 10 years:

Largest 200 daily papersA steady one-third of the large newspapersare not improving, even over 10 years.

One-year trend (164 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 2004):

â 57 percent moved higher, increasingtheir nonwhite staffing percentage

â 39 percent moved lower â 4 percent stayed the same

Three-year trend (163 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 2002):

â 69 percent moved higher â 29 percent moved lower â 2 percent stayed the same

Five-year trend (165 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 2000):


Ten-year trend (152 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 1995):


All newspapers Improvement has been slower amongsmaller newspapers, with fewer than halfof all the papers showing gains, even overa decade.

One-year trend (777 papers reporting in2005 and 2004):

â 32 percent increased their nonwhitestaffing percentage

â 22 percent moved lower â 46 percent stayed the same

Three-year trend (730 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 2002):


Five-year trend (715 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 2000):


119


Ten-year trend (691 papers reporting inboth 2005 and 1995):


A final way of examining the pattern is astatistical analysis of the data, which doesoffer evidence that many newspapers aresensitive to building newsrooms that looksomething like the communities theyserve. The analysis shows a moderatelystrong relationship between thepercentage of nonwhite employees in thenewspapers’ circulation areas and thepercentage of nonwhite journalists. Inother words, the greater the nonwhitepercentage of the community, the morelikely a newspaper is to have a largerproportion of nonwhite journalists.

But the analysis shows that the patternacross the industry does not come near theASNE ideal of parity. Of the newspapersthat reported to ASNE, the analysis showsthat every 10-point increase in communitynonwhite percentage is accompanied byonly about a 4 point increase in newsroompercentage. But this is an overall view;there is a great deal of variation fromnewspaper to newspaper. The outliers arethe few newspapers that have reached thegoal of parity and the many others stillstuck at zero nonwhite journalists.

The analysis also shows that about 41 per-cent of the variation in newsroom percentageacross newspapers can be predicted by thecorresponding community percentage, butthat means that other factors figure

heavily as well. Ownership of thenewspaper clearly is one. But some otherfactors that can’t readily be measured playa role, such as desire to meet the goal,desirability of the community as a place tolive, racial change in the community, thereputation of a newspaper, the supply ofnonwhite journalists in that area, and theextent of the newspaper’s recruiting.

4. How many of the largest newspapershave staffs that are as diverse as theircommunities?

As this chart shows, there was someimprovement at the top for the largest 100newspapers in 2005, with three morenewspapers reaching at least 75 percent ofparity, for a total of 28. But more than oneout of every four large newspapersremained below half of parity.

Among the top 100, the NewsroomDiversity Index at these 14 newspapersreached or exceeded parity:

Rank Name NewsroomDiversity

Index(100=parity)

1 The Akron Beacon Journal 1772 The Knoxville News-Sentinel 1603 The Des Moines Register 1484 St. Paul Pioneer Press 1295 The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 1276 The Detroit News 1217 The Boston Globe 1198 The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) 1059 St. Petersburg Times 10410 Detroit Free Press 10411 The Tennessean (Nashville) 10312 The Oregonian (Portland) 10313 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 10214 Lexington Herald-Leader 102


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ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS

Bill Dedman is managing editor for TheTelegraph in Nashua, N.H. He is a formercorrespondent for The Boston Globe, wherehe wrote investigative articles, helped otherreporters and editors, and trained the staffin computer-assisted reporting. While at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he receivedthe 1989 Pulitzer Prize in investigativereporting for “The Color of Money,” a seriesof articles on racial discrimination bymortgage lenders. His Power Reporting siteon the web is used by many journalists as a starting point for research, and he has ledseminars in more than 100 newsrooms. E-mail him at [email protected].

Stephen K. Doig holds the Knight Chair inJournalism, specializing in computer-assistedreporting at Arizona State University. Beforejoining ASU in 1996, he was research editorof The Miami Herald, where he worked for19 years. Various computer-assisted projectson which he worked at The Herald have wonthe Pulitzer Prize for public service, theInvestigative Reporters and Editors Award,the Goldsmith Prize for InvestigativeReporting, and other awards. He is on theboard of directors of Investigative Reportersand Editors. E-mail him [email protected].


Where to find more information

The full report is on the web athttp://powerreporting.com/knight/

http://powerreporting.com/knight/

121

By Bob Papper

SUMMARY

Television news departments are holdingsteady in their employment of minorities,according to a 2005 survey of broadcastjournalists. But radio news is falling behind,the annual survey by the Radio and Tele-vision News Directors Association and BallState University shows.

In television, the minority work forceremained largely unchanged at 21.2 percent,compared with 21.8 percent in the 2004survey.

At non-Hispanic stations, the minoritywork force also remained largely steady at19.5 percent, compared with 19.8 percentthe year before.

After a jump in the 2004 minority radionumbers, the percentage fell for 2005. Theminority work force in radio news came in

at 7.9 percent, compared with 11.8 per-cent the year before. Except for last year,minority numbers in radio news havegenerally slipped since stringent EqualEmployment Opportunity rules wereeliminated in 1998.

The numbers for news directors were mixed,with the percentage of minority TV newsdirectors down slightly to 12 percent (from12.5 percent for 2004), while minorityradio news directors rose substantially to11 percent (from 8 percent).

The bigger picture remains unchanged.Over the past 15 years, the minority workforce in TV news has risen 3.4 percent. Atthe same time, the minority population inthe United States has increased 7.3 percent.Overall, the minority work force in TV hasbeen at 20 percent – plus or minus 3percent – for every year in the past 15.Some years it edges up, sometimes down,but there has been no consistent change.Radio is worse, with the minority percentagein news down from 15 years ago.

APPENDIX II: RADIO-TELEVISION REPORT

Minority Broadcasters: No Progress in TV;Falling Behind in Radio

Minority Population vs. Minority Broadcast Work Force

2005 2004 2000 1995 1990

Minority Population in U.S. 33.2% 32.8% 30.9% 27.9% 25.9%

Minority TV Work Force 21.2 21.8 21.0 17.1 17.8

Minority Radio Work Force 7.9 11.8 10.0 14.7 10.8

Source for population data: U.S. Census Bureau

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The minority TV news work force is downslightly – 21.2 percent for 2005 comparedwith 21.8 percent the year before. AfricanAmericans remained the same, but allother minority groups dropped slightly.Among non-Hispanic stations, the minoritypercentage was essentially unchanged at19.5 percent, down slightly from theprevious year’s 19.8 percent.

The percentage of minorities in radio newsdropped from 11.8 percent to 7.9 percent.That puts the number more in line withpast minority percentages since the

elimination of the strict EEO guidelines.The employment of Hispanics, AsianAmericans and Native Americans in radionews increased over 2004, but African-American employment all but disappeared. Unfortunately, even as the number of radiostations contacted for the survey goes upeach year, the number returning the surveycontinues to fall. That means the radionumbers tend to fluctuate, depending onwhich stations return the surveys andwhere those stations are located. Andradio consolidation makes year-to-yearcomparisons even more difficult.


Broadcast News Work Force

Television 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 78.8% 78.2% 79.0% 82.9%

African American 10.3 10.3 11.0 10.1

Hispanic 8.7 8.9 7.0 4.2

Asian American 1.9 2.2 3.0 2.2

Native American 0.3 0.5 <1.0 0.6

Radio 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 92.1% 88.2% 90.0% 85.3%


Hispanic 6.0 3.9 3.0 7.5


Native American 0.5 0.4 1.0 1.0

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Minority news directors were most likely towork in the biggest markets but were alsomost likely to be in the smallest newsdepartments. CBS affiliates were the mostlikely to have minority news directors, andminorities were most likely to be newsdirectors in the South and West.

In radio, the percentage of minority newsdirectors rose from 8 percent in 2004 to 11percent the next year. Minorities in radiowere a little more likely to be news directorsat noncommercial than commercial stationsand more likely to be in the biggestmarkets and in the Northeast. They wereless likely to be at group-owned stations.

The percentage of minority TV news directorsslid to 12 percent from 12.5 percent in2004, although it’s still the third highestever. The percentage of African-Americannews directors rose and Asian-Americannews directors held steady, but the percent-age of Native American and Hispanic newsdirectors dropped.

At non-Hispanic stations, the minoritypercentage actually rose from 8.1 percentin 2004 to 8.4 percent. Excluding Hispanicstations, Hispanic news directors make up2.8 percent of TV news directors. That’s up0.4 percent from last year. African-AmericanTV news directors rose even more, from 3.2percent to 3.9 percent. Asian-Americannews directors held steady at 1.3 percent,but Native American news directors fellfrom 1.3 percent to 1 percent.


Broadcast News Directors

Television 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 88.0% 87.5% 86.0% 92.1%


Hispanic 5.8 6.7 9.0 3.8


Native American 1.0 1.3 <1.0 1.0

Radio 2005 2004 2000 1995

Caucasian 89.0% 92.0% 94.0% 91.4%


Hispanic 8.8 2.7 2.0 2.4


Native American 2.2 2.7 1.0 0.8

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Major markets are those with one millionor more listeners. Large markets are from250,000 to one million; medium marketsare 50,000 to 250,000; and small marketsare fewer than 50,000 listeners.

The numbers for women in TV news werelittle changed from 2004, although womennews directors dropped for the second yearin a row (from 25.2 percent to 21.3 percentin 2005). On the other hand, women weremost likely to be news directors in the very

largest markets and at the largest newsdepartments. NBC affiliates were the mostlikely to have women news directors, andthey were most likely to be in the Northeast.

Radio news numbers were also littlechanged. Generally, the bigger the market,the greater the likelihood of finding awoman news director and the higher thepercentage of women in the newsdepartment. Women in the radio work forcewere most likely to be in the South and

Women in the Local Broadcast Work Force

TV News News Staffs Women News Women as AverageWith Women Directors Percentage of Number of

Work Force Women on Staff

All Television 99.0% 21.3% 39.3% 14.3

Network affiliates 99.1 20.8 38.9 15.1

Independents 100.0 17.6 39.4 11.9

DMA* 1-25 96.8 39.0 39.0 22.7

DMA 26-50 100.0 19.2 40.0 21.5

DMA 51-100 100.0 18.0 38.0 14.2

DMA 101-150 98.6 17.1 40.7 11.3

DMA151+ 98.2 18.2 39.0 7.3

Staff 51+ 100.0 26.4 40.0 31.5

Staff 31-50 100.0 16.9 37.7 14.9

Staff 21-30 100.0 17.2 38.1 9.6

Staff 11-20 100.0 24.4 42.1 6.7

Staff 1-10 91.2 19.4 47.8 3.3

Radio News News Staffs Women News Women as AverageWith Women Directors Percentage of Number of

Work Force Women on Staff

All Radio 47.6% 24.7% 27.5% 1.1

Major Market 90.0 30.8 33.7 2.9

Large Market 80.0 35.3 32.3 2.0

Medium Market 40.7 25.0 23.8 0.7

Small Market 23.3 16.1 18.6 0.4

*Designated Market Area, the term A.C. Nielsen uses to rank the country’s television markets. The numbers refer to the size of the market,with DMA 1-25, for example, indicating the largest market in the nation.


125

West; women news directors were lesslikely to be in the West.

Minorities were most likely to be found inthe biggest TV markets, with their numbersdropping as market size fell. That has beenthe overall pattern in the past. The smallestnews departments were also the mostlikely to have the highest percentage ofminorities. Minorities were most likely tobe in the South and West, but there wasno difference by network affiliation.

Minorities in the Local Broadcast Work Force

TV News News Staffs Minority News Minorities as AverageWith Minorities Directors Percentage of Number of

Work Force Minorities on Staff

All Television 87.2% 12.0% 21.2% 7.4

Network affiliates 87.2 5.3 20.0 7.7

Independents 96.4 20.0 18.6 5.6

DMA* 1-25 90.3 14.3 29.0 16.9

DMA 26-50 100.0 12.0 22.1 11.9

DMA 51-100 93.0 9.4 18.0 6.7

DMA 101-150 85.7 13.6 17.4 4.8

DMA 151+ 67.3 7.0 14.7 2.7

Staff 51+ 98.2 28.1 21.8 17.2

Staff 31-50 97.8 14.6 19.1 7.5

Staff 21-30 83.3 8.6 16.7 4.2

Staff 11-20 74.5 9.8 22.7 3.6

Staff 1-10 64.7 3.9 33.6 2.3

Radio News News Staffs Minority News Minorities as AverageWith Minorities Directors Percentage of Number of

Work Force Minorities on Staff

All Radio 17.1% 11.0% 7.9% 0.3

Major Market 40.0 7.7 10.5 0.9

Large Market 40.0 11.8 9.7 0.6

Medium Market 7.4 12.9 2.5 0.1

Small Market 6.7 10.0 7.1 0.2

*Designated Market Area, the term A.C. Nielsen uses to rank the country’s television markets. The numbers refer to the size of the market,with DMA 1-25, for example, indicating the largest market in the nation.


There were few consistent trends for minori-ties in radio news, although minorities weregenerally most likely to be in larger markets– a pattern that has been true for years.

126

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The 2005 RTNDA/Ball State UniversityAnnual Survey was conducted in the fourthquarter of 2004 among all 1,624 operating,nonsatellite television stations and arandom sample of 1,509 radio stations.Valid responses came from 1,223 televisionstations (75.3 percent) and 103 radio newsdirectors and general managers representing417 radio stations. Data for women TVnews directors are a complete census andare not projected from a smaller sample.

Bob Papper is professor of telecommuni-cations at Ball State University and hasworked extensively in radio and TV news.Data entry and tabulation were done by theBureau of Business Research at Ball State.This research was supported by theDepartment of Telecommunications at BallState University and the Radio-TelevisionNews Directors Association.


Where to find more information

The full report is on the web at http://rtndf.org/news/2005/071105.shtml

http://rtndf.org/news/2005/071105.shtml

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By David Weaver and G. Cleveland Wilhoit

This survey continues the series of majornational studies of U.S. journalists begunin 1971 by sociologist John Johnstone andcontinued in 1982 and 1992 by DavidWeaver and G. Cleveland Wilhoit. Much asthe U.S. Census does for the general popu-lation, these studies provide an importantmeasure of the pulse of U.S. journalismevery 10 years.

The latest survey, the fourth, was conductedin 2002 by researchers at Indiana UniversitySchool of Journalism. Here are some oftheir key findings:

WOMEN JOURNALISTS: NO GAIN

Women are still one-third of all full-timejournalists working for the traditional main-stream media, as they have been since

1982, even though more women than everare graduating from journalism school andentering the profession. Among journalistswith fewer than five years of work experi-ence, 54.2 percent are women, outnumberingmen for the first time. Among all journalists,the largest proportion of women work fornewsmagazines (43.5 percent) and thesmallest for the major wire services (20.3percent) and radio (21.9 percent). Womencompose 37.4 percent of television journal-ists, 36.9 percent of weekly newspaperjournalists, and 33 percent of daily news-paper journalists.

Compared to the U.S. civilian work force in 2000, journalists are considerably lesslikely to be women (33 percent vs. 46.5percent) and even less likely when comparedto the overall U.S. managerial and profes-sional work force, which included 49.8percent women in 2000. Retention, then,is an issue.

APPENDIX III: AMERICAN JOURNALIST SURVEY

The American Journalist in the 21st Century

1971 1982-83 1992 2002

Male Female

79.7

%

20.3

%

66.2

%

33.8

%

66.0

%

34.0

%

67.0

%

33.0

%

GenderPercentage of all journalists

1971 1982-83 1992

5.0%

3.9%

8.2%

Journalists of ColorPercentage of all journalists

128

MINORITY PROGRESS IS LOW

Overall, full-time journalists of color workingfor traditional news media have increasedslightly during the past decade. Still, thepercentage of full-time journalists of colorworking for traditional news media is wellbelow the overall percentage of people ofcolor in the U.S. population (30.9 percentaccording to the 2000 U.S. Census). Amore appropriate comparison may be withthe percentage of college degree holderswho are people of color (24 percent accord-ing to the 2000 U.S. Census), consideringthat a four-year bachelor’s degree is nowthe minimum educational requirement forU.S. journalists. Among people of color,Asians are the most likely to hold collegedegrees (43.9 percent), followed by blacks(16.5 percent) and Hispanics (10.6 percent).No separate census figures are reported forNative Americans or Pacific Islanders.

Journalists of color are more likely to bewomen (50 percent) than are white jour-nalists (31.5 percent). Among all journalistswith less than five years experience, 16.9percent are people of color, suggesting thatincreased efforts to hire people of color in

the past few years have made a difference.Television employs the largest percentageof people of color (14.7 percent) andweekly newspapers the lowest (5.6 percent).Daily newspapers are second with 9.6percent, followed by the major wire services(8.7 percent), radio (8.6 percent) and news-magazines (8.2 percent).

JOURNALISTS GROW OLDER

The median age of full-time U.S. journalistsis increasing. In 1992, the average age ofjournalists was 36; in 2002, it was 41. Thetrend, which applies to journalists at dailyand weekly newspapers, radio and television,newsmagazines and wire services, reflectsthe aging of the baby boom generation.During the 1970s, boomers inflated the 25-to 34-year-old age bracket in the AmericanJournalist Survey. In the 1980s, theyinflated the 35- to 44-year-old group. Inthe 1990s, the boomers moved into the45- to 54-year-old age group, whichincreased from 14 percent of all journaliststo 28 percent.

Compared to the 2000 U.S. civilian laborforce, journalists in 2002 are considerably


1971 1982-83 1992 2002

5.0%

3.9%

8.2%

9.5%


1971 1982-83 1992 2002

Male Female

79.7

%

20.3

%

66.2

%

33.8

%

66.0

%

34.0

%

67.0

%

33.0

%

GenderPercentage of all journalists

1971

19711971 1982-83 1992 2002

5.0%

3732

3641

35.5%

AgeMedian for all journalists, in years

Democratic Party A

129

less likely to be younger than 24 years ofage (4.4 percent vs. 16.1 percent), morelikely to be 25 to 34 (29.3 percent vs.22.5 percent), about as likely to be 35 to44 (27.9 percent vs. 26.9 percent), morelikely to be 45 to 54 (28.3 percent vs.21.6 percent), slightly less likely to be 55to 64 (7.8 percent vs. 9.9 percent), andabout as likely to be 65 and older (2.3percent vs. 3 percent).

FEWER JOURNALISTS ARE DEMOCRATS

Compared with 1992, the percentage offull-time journalists who claim to beDemocrats had dropped 7 percentage pointsin 2002 to slightly above 37 percent,moving this figure closer to the overallpopulation percentage of 32 percent,according to a July 29-31, 2002, Gallupnational telephone poll of 1,003 adults.This is the lowest percentage of journalistssaying they are Democrats since 1971.

Slightly more journalists said they wereRepublicans in 2002 (18.6 percent) thanin 1992 (16.3 percent), but the 2002figure is still notably lower than thepercentage of U.S. adults who identified

with the Republican Party (31 percent,according to the Gallup poll mentionedabove). About one-third of all journalists(33.5 percent) said they were Independents,which is very close to the figure for allU.S. adults (32 percent). Journalists in2002 were much more likely than thegeneral public, however, to say that theywere something other than Democrat,Republican or Independent (10.5 percentvs. 1 percent).

The survey at Indiana University School of Journalism was funded by the John S.and James L. Knight Foundation. The authorsare David Weaver, the Roy W. Howardprofessor in journalism and mass commu-nication research; G. Cleveland Wilhoit,professor emeritus of journalism; RandalBeam, associate professor of journalism;Bonnie Brownlee, associate professor ofjournalism; and Paul Voakes, associateprofessor of journalism.

APPENDIX III: AMERICAN JOURNALIST SURVEY

2002

33.0

%

1971 1982-83 1992 2002

1971 1982-83 1992 20022002

5.0%

3.9%

8.2%

9.5%

41

35.5%38.5%

44.1%

37.1%


Median for all journalists, in yearsDemocratic Party Affiliation

Percentage of all journalists

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CHAPTER 1: NEWS IN A NEW AMERICA

1. The Society of Professional Journalistsasks journalists to seek “truth,” not “theTruth” in its ethics policy in the belief thata universal, shared Truth does not exist.How might people have different ideas aboutthe “truth” of an event, situation or idea?To what extent, and with what substantia-tion, can journalists conclude that some-thing is an impartial truth?

2. Does an increase in newsroom staffdiversity always change coverage? Whatelse is necessary for inclusive journalism?

3. Based on trends today, what do youthink the news media will look like in 2020?In 2050? What kind of stories will be impor-tant, and who will report them?

4. Look up the census data on your stateand some of its major cities (See AmericanFactFinder at http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html). Does it meet yourown perceptions of the people who livethere? Why or why not?

5. Do you think that the news media inhomogeneous communities – where peopleare almost all the same race or ethnicity,class, religion or age group – need to coverpeople outside of the prevailing group?Why or why not?

CHAPTER 2: THE HUMAN FACTOR

1. Try going to a neighborhood or commu-nity gathering where people are reallydifferent from you – because of their race,politics, language or disability, for instance.

Afterward, write or discuss how you felt.Was it hard to strike up conversations?

2. Do you think you have biases? What are they? In what ways do they hinder you?Are they useful to you in some way?

3. If your best sources on a general-interest topic all come from the samedemographic group, is it necessary to lookfor more? Are there times when seekingdiverse sources can skew news coverage?

4. Producer Tom Jacobs and media analystHemant Shah assert that the news mediacovers events from a “white” point of view.What do you think? Would we see differenttypes of stories if it did or didn’t? Whatabout an “able-bodied” point of view thatassumes everyone is nondisabled?

5. If The New York Times’ Bill Keller is right,how should large, mainstream newspapersstretch beyond their urban, culturallyliberal orientation?

6. Should journalists think about theunconscious biases or viewpoints that theymight trigger with their reporting, asdocumented by David Domke, Franklin D.Gilliam Jr., Shanto Iyengar and others? Orwould that be another form of introducingbias into stories?

7. What do you think of the term refugeeto describe the evacuees from New Orleans?Based on Mahzarin Banaji’s findings, howdo you think the coverage of HurricaneKatrina might affect nonblack people’s un-conscious perceptions of African Americans?


Study and Discussion Questions

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CHAPTER 3: PRESSURES IN THE NEWSROOM

1. Many newsroom employees feel they dotheir best to make journalists of color,those with disabilities or those who aregay, lesbian or bisexual feel comfortable.What questions would you ask thesereporters and editors to find out if hiddenbiases are at work?

2. Do you think that white people are everstereotyped as racist, or men as sexist?How should they respond in thatsituation? Are there ways for them to askquestions or discuss their thoughts aboutrace, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation orother social categories without offendingothers or seeming biased?

3. Most newsrooms are trying to adddiversity to their staffs by paying attentionto hiring women and people of color.Should they also be working actively tohire gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgenderpeople? What about people with disabilities?Conservatives? Religious people?

4. Look up some of the newsroom staffingdata on newspapers in your region inStephen Doig and Bill Dedman’s database(http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/).Do they meet your expectations? Are theseoutlets’ demographics reflected in coverage?

5. Do you worry about being stereotyped?In what ways? What techniques do you useto influence what you think are otherpeople’s perceptions about you?

6. Erna Smith and Herbert Lowe emphasizethe importance of newsroom culture infostering creativity and openness. How canstudents and professors create an open

culture in the classroom? How can studentpublications create a welcoming environ-ment for all types of people?

CHAPTER 4: REFRAMING DIVERSITY

1. Pick up a copy of a publication writtenfor immigrants, a community of color,homeless people, the older generation,people with disabilities, or gay, lesbian,bisexual or transgender people. Whatdifferences from general circulation newsdo you notice? Thinking as a reporter, didyou get any story ideas?

2. Describe your own background. How doyou think your own personal history – yourrace, class, gender, generation, ideology orthe place you grew up – might limit thestories you see and the ways you reportthem? As a journalist, how might they helpor hurt your reporting? How do you thinkyou might expand your vision?

3. Chapter Four makes the case that stan-dard news values and priorities tilt newscoverage toward a white, male, heterosexualand middle-class world. What do youthink? Are there fresh ways to think aboutnews values and editorial priorities thatmight change this?

4. William McGowan worries about a “diver-sity orthodoxy” in the news media. Is thissomething to be concerned about? Howcould it affect coverage? What factors couldcause it, and what would the risks be?

5. How could Venise Wagner’s white studentshave asked their sources about racewithout having firsthand experience withdiscrimination?

APPENDIX IV: STUDY AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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6. Do you agree with David Domke thatjournalists should stop trying to be fullyobjective? Where would you draw the lineon conflict of interest? How would newscoverage change?

7. Do you think there are important issuesin society today that are not discussedbecause of the way the news media choosesto cover or not cover them?

Thank you to professors Cristina Azocar,Beth Haller, Teresa Moore, Erna Smith andVenise Wagner and to author and inde-pendent journalist Peter Sussman for theirfeedback on these questions.


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There are many excellent resources, from scholarlyto news-based to personal essays, that can broadenjournalists’ understanding of inclusive news coverage.Many of those consulted for this book are listedhere, by chapter.

CHAPTER 1: NEWS IN A NEW AMERICA

American Society of Newspaper Editors. NewsroomCensus. http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5145(2004). This professional association for newspapereditors each year surveys newspapers’ staff countsof journalists of color and women. In 2005, out of54,000 journalists across the country, 12.94 percentwere journalists of color. Only one-third of super-visors, one-third of copy editors and reporters, andone-fourth of photographers were women. ASNE’sweb site also includes information about its diversityinitiatives, including the Time Out for Diversityand Accuracy program.

Asian American Journalists Association.http://www.aaja.org andhttp://www.aaja.org/news/mediawatch/.AAJA’s mission is to encourage Asian Americansand Pacific Islanders to become journalists, to workfor fair and accurate coverage of Asian Americansand Pacific Islanders, and to increase the numbersof Asian American and Pacific Islander newsmanagers. The AAJA web site features news aboutthe organization, community news and reports onnews coverage of Asian Americans. You’ll also finda stylebook for covering Asian Americans and itsMedia Watch page, which offers AAJA perspectivesand action reports on news coverage concerns.

Cole, Yoji. “The Top 10 Companies for Diversity:What Makes Them Exemplary.” Diversity Inc. June-July 2004, 56-76, and other articles. The magazineand web site Diversity Inc. says its editorialmission is “to provide information and clarity onthe business benefits of diversity.” Its readershipincludes senior management at large companiesand smaller companies owned by women andpeople of color. Diversity Inc. has developed a setof benchmarks to help companies measure theirprogress in diversity. In 2005, 203 companiesparticipated in its in-depth diversity survey, whichlaid the foundation for its annual ranking of themost diverse U.S. companies. The magazine also

ranks top companies for recruitment and retentionand other aspects of a diverse work force, explainingtheir tactics for success in its pages.

Davey, Monica. “Decades After First Refugees,Readying for More Hmong.” The New York Times,April 4, 2004. This article details the anticipatedarrival of 15,000 Hmong refugees in St. Paul, Minn.,and cities in California, Wisconsin and NorthCarolina. The Hmong refugees, who had lived foryears in a camp in Thailand after being drivenfrom their homes in the final days of the VietnamWar, hoped to integrate into family and communi-ties established in the United States nearly 30years ago.

Dedman, Bill, and Stephen K. Doig.“Newsroom Diversity Has Passed its Peak at MostNewspapers, 1990-2005 Study Shows.” John S. andJames L. Knight Foundation (2005).http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/. Dedman and Doig take the ASNE diversity numbersand compare them to the diversity in the popula-tion that the newspapers serve. The report includesa separate document on each paper, tracing itsstaffing history in relation to community composi-tion. The authors also analyze the track record ofnewspaper companies.

Entman, Robert, and Andrew Rojecki. The BlackImage in the White Mind: Media and Race in America.University of Chicago Press, 2000.http://www.raceandmedia.com/. This influentialbook documents how news and entertainmentbroadcast media both reflect and help create thepublic’s perceptions of race. The authors, scholarsin communications and journalism, found overwhelm-ingly negative portrayals of African Americansacross the media. As the publisher describes theirconclusions: “While the authors find very little inthe media that intentionally promotes racism, theyfind even less that advances racial harmony. Theyreveal instead a subtle pattern of images that,while making room for blacks, implies a racialhierarchy with whites on top and promotes a senseof difference and conflict.”

Frey, William. http://www.frey-demographer.org/usdata.html. Demographer and sociologist WilliamFrey follows international and domestic migration

APPENDIX V: FURTHER READING

Further Reading

http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5145

http://www.aaja.org

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in the United States and its implications. Hisreports include looks at segregation, intermarriage,and the shifting influence of age in the population.His web site features a tool that enables users toget a snapshot of population trends in their chosencity, state or region.

Greenwald, Anthony.http://faculty.washington.edu/agg/bydate.htm.Greenwald, a social psychologist at the Universityof Washington, and one of the inventors of theImplicit Association Test, is an expert in socialcognition, learning, and unconscious attitudes andassociations. The web site lists his many articlesand books.

Howard, Ina. “Power Sources: On Party, Gender,Race and Class, TV News Looks to the Most PowerfulGroups.” Extra (May-June 2002).http://www.fair.org/extra/0205/power_sources.html.In this study written for Extra by Media TenorInternational, an international media analysis firmbased in Germany, researchers reviewed the use ofsources in 18,765 news reports from Jan. 1 to Dec.31, 2001. The scope included 14,632 sources onthree network evening news programs: ABC WorldNews Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC NightlyNews. Researchers looked at political tilt as well asgender and race. Women made up 15 percent ofthe sources and men and women of color made upabout 8 percent.

Kerner Commission. “Report of the NationalAdvisory Commission on Civil Disorders.”Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968.http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php?function=print&id=6553. The American Social History Projecton the web (CUNY and George Mason University)offers a rich resource of American history, fromoriginal documents to course syllabi. In its sectionon the Kerner Commission, the authors explain:“President Lyndon Johnson formed an 11-memberNational Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders inJuly 1967 to explain the riots that plagued citieseach summer since 1964 and to provide recommen-dations for the future. The Commission’s 1968 report,informally known as the Kerner Report, concludedthat the nation was ‘moving toward two societies,one black, one white – separate and unequal.’”

Mattessich, Paul (Wilder Research Center), andKate Parry (St. Paul Pioneer Press). “Speaking forThemselves: A Survey of Hispanic, Hmong, Russianand Somali Immigrants in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.”

2000. http://www.wilder.org/research/reports. This20-page report summarizes the findings of a surveyof 1,119 immigrants from a random sample of morethan 12,000 households in Twin Cities areas knownto have a high portion of immigrants. It offers rareinsight into how and why they came to Minnesota,how they work and play there, and their hopes andfeelings of stress. The survey was part of a seven-week series on immigration that ran in the St. PaulPioneer Press. For the Pioneer Press projects page,which includes several series on immigrants, seehttp://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/special_packages/special_projects/.

McGruder, Robert. Acceptance Speech, HelenThomas Diversity Award. Detroit Free Press (Jan. 26,2002).http://www.freep.com/mcgruder/bgm_thomas.htm.The Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award isgiven annually by Wayne State University to honorleadership in promoting diversity in the newsmedia and coverage of the issues of race in America.Recent winners include former New York Timesmanaging editor Gerald M. Boyd in 2003, retiredDetroit Free Press publisher Heath Meriwether in2004 and Poynter Institute dean Keith Woods in2005. In his speech, McGruder introduced listenersto three strong black women who “taught me whatI know about diversity,” and explained the DetroitFree Press diversity initiatives. In conclusion, hepointed out, “It’s something you have to fight foreach day to be successful.”

Media Tenor. “It’s a Man’s World– Even More in theMedia.” Media Tenor Quarterly 4 (September 2003),36-37. http://www.mediatenor.com. This MediaTenor analysis looked at the portrayal of womenand their use as sources in international broadcastnews. In his summary of the findings, RolandSchatz, chief executive of Media Tenor, concluded,“Female politicians, scientists, entrepreneurs andbishops only appear in one out of six news stories.Thus U.S., British, German and South African newsformats do not even remotely reflect the realpower distribution in their respective parliaments,governments and universities; let alone the questionof the effects that this type of news selection hason the perception of the developments inside andoutside of these countries.”

Mock, Ray. “Gays on TV – Commercially Viable, ButNot Newsworthy?” Media Tenor Quarterly. (October,2003). http://www.mediatenor.com. This study ofgays on television news broadcasts found that


http://faculty.washington.edu/agg/bydate.htm

http://www.fair.org/extra/0205/power_sources.html

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/search.php?function

http://www.wilder.org/research/reports

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/

http://www.freep.com/mcgruder/bgm_thomas.htm

http://www.mediatenor.com

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“before the nomination of the first openly gayEpiscopal bishop in New Hampshire and the same-sex marriage debate, there was no coverage of anyissues surrounding homosexuality on the news atall, neither in the U.S. nor in the U.K.,” Mock wrote.

Morrison, Peter.http://www.rand.org/news/experts/bios/expert_morrison_dr_peter_a.html. Morrison, foundingdirector of RAND Population Research Center, is asociologist who tracks demographic trends andenvisions their consequences. You can find hisresearch and contact information on his web site.The RAND Population Matters Program focuses onpopulation policy issues.http://www.rand.org/labor/popmatters/index.html.

Moy, Patricia, David Domke and Keith Stamm.“The Spiral of Silence and Public Opinion on Affir-mative Action.” Journalism and Mass Communication78:1 (2001). 7–19.http://www.com.washington.edu/Program/Faculty/Faculty/moy.html. Moy, an associate professor ofcommunication at the University of Washington,and her colleagues evaluated attitudes aboutaffirmative action using the “spiral of silence”theory developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann.This theory holds that people are less likely toexpress opinions when they believe themselves tobe in the minority. The team collected surveysfrom Washington state ferry riders to find out theirwillingness to speak on a controversial issue suchas affirmative action, then explored how it wasassociated with their use of the news media. Theteam’s research suggested that by giving peoplethe information necessary to articulate their ideasand answer objections, “the news media have thepotential to encourage more open and widespreadparticipation in political discussion.”

National Association of Black Journalists.http://www.nabj.org. NABJ’s 3,300 members makeit the largest organization for journalists of colorin the United States. NABJ focuses on strengtheningties among black journalists, supporting their workand efforts to climb the newsroom managementladder, and encouraging fairness in newsrooms. TheNABJ web site includes news about the organization,information on workshops and awards, and resourcesincluding an online stylebook and a code of ethics.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists.http://www.nahj.org. With its 2,300 members,NAHJ supports the recognition and professional

advancement of Hispanics in the news media andmedia research. It emphasizes fair treatment in thenews and in newsrooms, including a greater under-standing of Latino journalists’ cultural identity,interests and concerns. Its web site includes organ-ization news, the Network Brownout Reports onLatinos in the news, a resource guide for coveringLatinos and a stylebook for Spanish-languagemedia.

National Center on Disability and Journalism.http://www.ncdj.org. This organization strives toimprove accuracy and fairness in the coverage ofpeople with disabilities. Visit its web site forinformation on its educational resources, internshipprograms and a discussion group for journalistswith disabilities. You’ll find a style guide on thesite and an extensive list of resources related todisability coverage among the links.

National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.http://www.nlgja.org. NLGJA supports gay, lesbian,bisexual and transgender journalists, aiming toenhance opportunities and fairness in the newsroom.The organization also works for fair and accuratetreatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenderpeople in the news, on issues such as same-sexmarriage, parenting and adoption, gays in themilitary, sex education, civil liberties, gay-relatedballot initiatives, gay bashing and anti-gayviolence. The NLGJA web site includes a stylebookon terminology.

Native American Journalists Association.http://www.naja.com. NAJA works to improvecommunication among native people and betweenNative Americans and the nonnative public. It actsand offers programs to enrich journalism and topromote native cultures. Its web site includesassociation news, member news, community linksand the Reading Red reports on news coverage ofNative Americans. “The American Indian and theMedia,” edited by Mark Anthony Rolo, offers back-ground on native issues and coverage concerns.

Papper, Bob. “Running in Place: Minorities andWomen in Television See Little Change, WhileMinorities Fare Worse in Radio.” Communicator(July-August 2005), 26-32.http://www.rtnda.org/news/2005/071105.shtml(news release and link to the report and itsbreakdowns by job category and market size). Eachyear, Bob Papper, professor of communications,leads the Radio and Television News Directors/Ball


http://www.rand.org/news/experts/bios/expert_

http://www.rand.org/labor/popmatters/index.html

http://www.com.washington.edu/Program/Faculty/

http://www.nabj.org

http://www.nahj.org

http://www.ncdj.org

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State University broadcast newsroom survey. In2004, all 1,624 operating, nonsatellite televisionstations and a random sample of 1,509 local radiostations cooperated. He found that journalists ofcolor made up 21.2 percent of television newsrooms,down slightly from 21.8 percent in 2003. Womenmade up 39.3 percent, about the same as 39.1 in2003. In local radio, the portion of journalists ofcolor dropped to 7.9 percent from 11.8 percent in2003. Women in radio rose to 27.5 percent from22.4 percent. (These proportions include theSpanish-language media.)

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press“Media Credibility Declines: News AudiencesIncreasingly Politicized.” (2004). http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=833(overview) and http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=838 (credibility data). This report analyzes where people go for news andhow they feel about the quality of the informationthey are getting. News habits have remained fairlysteady over the past couple of years, althoughmore people are watching cable television newsand consulting the Internet than before. Credibilityis slumping in both broadcast and print outlets.

Society of Professional Journalists. The SPJ Codeof Ethics. http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp. TheRainbow Sourcebook and Diversity Toolbox, a search-able database to make it easier for journalists tobroaden perspectives and voices in the news.http://www.spj.org/rainbowsourcebook. SPJ isdedicated to a free press, open government andhigh journalistic standards in the service ofdemocracy. Diversity in journalism is a coremission, along with professional development,freedom of information and ethics.

U.S. Census Bureau. “Census Bureau ProjectsTripling of Hispanic and Asian Populations in 50Years; Non-Hispanic Whites May Drop to Half ofTotal Population.” Press release. 2004.http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001720.html. The Censusprojects: “Overall, the country’s population wouldcontinue to grow, increasing from 282.1 million in2000 to 419.9 million in 2050. From 2000 to 2050,the non-Hispanic white population would increasefrom 195.7 million to 210.3 million, an increase of14.6 million or 7 percent.” The Census Bureauprovides regular releases on population trends andoffers a useful database that can help you identifywho lives in your area and some of their charac-

teristics. In American FactFinder you can look upfact sheets on communities down to the size of acensus tract, which can range from 1,500 to 8,000people. Details include race, age, gender, languagesspoken, whether people rent or own their houses,how many cars they own and whether they haveplumbing.

Weaver, David, Randal Beam, Bonnie Brownlee,Paul Voakes and G. Cleveland Wilhoit. “Journalistsof Color Are Slowly Increasing.” The AmericanJournalist Survey, Indiana University, 2003.http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=28787. The percentage of journalists of colorremains well below that of the general U.S.population. Among news operations, televisionemploys the most; weekly newspapers the least.Other parts of the study include information ongender, income, education and politicalpersuasion.

CHAPTER 2: THE HUMAN FACTOR

Allport, Gordon. The Nature of Prejudice. NewYork: Perseus Books Group, 1954, 25th anniversaryedition 1979. In this influential book, Harvardsocial psychologist Allport examined the roots ofhostilities, rivalries and hateful ideologies. Heexplained stereotyping, ethnic division, groupbehavior and other core aspects of bias both withinus and in our social environment.

American Association of Medical Colleges.Diversity Initiatives. 2004.http://www.aamc.org/diversity/initiatives.htm.The AAMC says it is working to increase diversityin medical education and advance health careequality through programs for high school andcollege students considering medical school;medical school students; medical school faculty,staff, and administrators and graduates.

American Medical Association. The AMA MinorityHealth Consortium monitors both professionalissues and public health-care issues. Statistics onthe number of female physicians can be found athttp://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12928.html. Statistics on physicians byrace/ethnicity are at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12930.html.

Appiah, Kwame Anthony, and Henry Louis GatesJr., eds. Africana: Civil Rights, an A-Z Reference ofthe Movement that Changed America. Philadelphia:


http://people-press

http://people-press.org/reports/

http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp

http://www.spj.org/rainbowsourcebook

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?

http://www.aamc.org/diversity/initiatives.htm

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Running Press, 2004. A rich reference guide to thepeople, events and places connected to the U.S.civil rights movement.

Astudillo, Rene. “Michelle Kwan Headline Continuesto Haunt Us.” AAJA News Media Watch, 2002. Formore discussions on coverage of Asian Americans,see http://www.aaja.org/news/mediawatch/.Details about AAJA are in the Chapter 1 resources.

Blumrosen, Alfred and Ruth. “Intentional JobDiscrimination in Metropolitan America.” RutgersUniversity Law School, 2002. http://www.eeo1.com/index.htm. This report analyzes EEOC data onemployees’ race, ethnicity and gender to helpemployers, government and others identifyprobable intentional employment discrimination.The Blumrosens, professors at Rutgers UniversityLaw School, found that two million minorities and women were affected by intentional jobdiscrimination, mainly by what they call hard-corediscriminators, while about 75 percent of largeestablishments did not appear to discriminate.

Briggs, Kara, Tom Arviso, Dennis McAuliffe andLori Edmo-Suppah. “The Reading Red Report.Native Americans in the News: A 2002 Report andContent Analysis on Coverage by the Largest News-papers in the United States.” http://www.naja.com.This report reviewed coverage by the nine largestU.S. newspapers from Feb. 1, 1999, through Feb.1, 2002. Most news stories about Native Americansfell into three areas, the authors reported: casinogaming by tribes, mascot team names and storiesdatelined “on the res.”

Cunningham, Dwight. “Media Hurricane isSpinning Out of Control.” National NewspaperPublishers Association, Sept. 7, 2005.http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20050907b. Cunningham, a specialcontributor to the NNPA, begins: “Watching TVnewscasts on Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, I amstruck by the media’s obvious tilt to covering thestory of lawlessness, rather than the bigger storyof people who had little in the way of materialthings before Hurricane Katrina – and who nowhave been reduced to having nothing at all.’’

Devos, Thierry, and Mahzarin R. Banaji.“American = White?” Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology 88 (2005), 447-466. In six studies,the authors tested how closely participantsassociated three primary U.S. ethnic groups (black,

Asian and white) with the category “American.”They asked for people’s conscious beliefs aboutAmerican identity, then checked both implicit andexplicit associations with the word.

Dolhun, Eduardo Peña, Claudia Muñoz and KevinGrumbach. “Cross-cultural Education in U.S.Medical Schools: Development of an AssessmentTool.” Academic Medicine 78:6 (2003), 615-622.The authors asked medical schools to submitcourse materials on cross-cultural medicine andfound considerable variation in teaching andcontent. Most courses emphasized general themes,such as the doctor-patient relationship,socioeconomic status and racism. They alsoprovided specific cultural information about theethnic communities they served.

Domke, David, Kelley McCoy and Marcos Torres.“News Media, Racial Perceptions, and PoliticalCognition.” Communication Research 26:5 (1999),570-607.http://faculty.washington.edu/domke/research.html.The authors write, “News coverage of politicalissues not only influences people’s thinking aboutthe issues but also activates associated stereo-types and influences whether these perceptions areapplied in politically meaningful ways.” To testthese ideas, the authors systematically altered thenews frame of immigration – as either material orethical in nature – within a controlled politicalinformation environment to see how peopleprocess, interpret and use news information whenforming political judgments.

Domke, David. “Racial Cues and Political Ideology:An Examination of Associative Priming.’’Communication Research 28:6 (2001), 772-801.http://faculty.washington.edu/domke/research.html.Domke studies the racial cues – references that callup images tied to particular racial and ethnicgroups – in political coverage and political state-ments. In this experiment, he altered the descriptionof crime in a controlled set of news stories tosometimes include these cues and sometimes notin order to examine how they may influencepolitical judgments.

Jack Dovidio. http://dovidio.socialpsychology.org/.Dovidio studies prejudice, stereotyping andintergroup behavior. His books include On theNature of Prejudice: Fifty Years after Allport (editedwith Peter Glick and Laurie Rudman, 2005),Reducing Intergroup Bias (with Samuel Gaertner,


http://www.aaja.org/news/mediawatch/

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http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/

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2000) and The Social Psychology of Helping andAltruism (with David A. Schroeder, Louis A. Pennerand Jane A. Piliavin, 1995).

Entman, Robert. “The American Media and RaceRelations in an Interdependent World: A report onthe Shorenstein Center Conference on Race and the Press,” Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press,Politics and Public Policy. (June 28, 2001).http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/Research_Publications/Reports/Entman.pdf. Entman summarizesa thought-provoking discussion on key issues suchas how well the news media covers a progressivelymore diverse society; if there are deficiencies, howcan they be fixed; and if race and ethnicity shouldbe taken into account when choosing and reportingthe news.

Fiske, Susan, Amy J.C. Cuddy, Peter Glick andJun Xu. “A Model of (Often Mixed) StereotypeContent: Competence and Warmth RespectivelyFollow From Perceived Status and Competition.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82:6(2002), 878–902. http://fiske.socialpsychology.org/.Susan Fiske, social psychologist at PrincetonUniversity, studies the ways people categorizeeach other based on perceived warmth and compe-tence, then react accordingly. Fiske has found thatreporters follow predictable patterns of groupcategorization in their writing. In a study of 200news articles in 35 publications over two years,feminists and black professionals were routinelydepicted as stereotypically competent, but cold.This was accomplished through descriptions thatemphasized ambition, confidence and independence,but also illustrated insincerity, aggression orintolerance. Portrayals of housewives and elderlypeople cast them as warm but not competent.Word choices in their case highlighted a lack ofcompetition, ambition, independence or confidence,but also underlined the subjects’ sincerity, goodnature, altruism or family ties.

Gandy, Oscar H., Jr., and Jonathan Baron.“Inequality: It’s All in the Way You Look at It.”Communication Research 25:5 (1998), 505-527.This paper looks at the differences in the waysblack people and white people perceive inequalities,including their severity and what causes them. Theauthors performed a secondary analysis of phonesurvey data on attitudes about race collected byThe Washington Post, the Henry J. KaiserFoundation and Harvard University. They foundthat exposure to news stories on race and

affirmative action had a significant effect onsocial comparisons, and led to both groups beingless likely to blame African Americans for thehardships they endure. Gandy is author of theinfluential Communication and Race: A StructuralPerspective. The book explores race by analyzingmedia institutions and how they operate;symbolism, coverage themes and story lines; andsocial constructions. In it, Gandy appliesbehavioral science, political economy and culturalstudies to information media.

Gilliam, Franklin D., Jr., and Shanto Iyengar.“Prime Suspects: The Influence of Local TelevisionNews on the Viewing Public.’’ American Journal ofPolitical Science 44:3 (2000), 560–573. Theauthors assessed the impact of the “crime script’’on viewers of television news. When racialelements were included in the crime report, white(but not black) viewers expressed more support forpunitive approaches to crime and heightenednegative attitudes about African Americans.

Global Language Monitor.http://www.languagemonitor.com/. Founded byformer high-tech marketer Paul JJ Payack, thisorganization analyzes word use in media, politicsand workplaces around the world. The site offerstimely updates on buzzwords and a place to reportin to the “language police.”

Graham, Sandra, and Brian Lowery. “PrimingUnconscious Racial Stereotypes About AdolescentOffenders.” Law and Human Behavior 28:5,(2004)483–504. In two studies, one with policeofficers and one with juvenile-probation officers,researchers tested how racial “priming” mightinfluence decisions about punishment. As hypoth-esized, officers who had been unconsciouslyalerted to race with words such as Harlem, homeboyand dreadlocks were more likely to make judgmentsabout negative traits such as hostility, find greaterculpability and expect repeat offenses. Theyendorsed harsher punishment than did officers whohadn’t been given racial cues. The effects wereunrelated to consciously held attitudes.

Kaiser Family Foundation. “AIDS at 21: MediaCoverage of the HIV Epidemic, 1981-2002.” (2004)http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7025.cfm. Thisreport, conducted with Princeton Survey ResearchAssociates, examines aspects of media coverage,including key events, domestic versus internationalfocus, the portrayal of affected populations, story


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topics and tone, story length and placement, andconsumer education components.

Kaiser Family Foundation and Robert WoodJohnson Foundation. “Why the Difference?”(2002). http://www.kff.org/whythedifference/.Recent research and news on disparities in cardiaccare with an eye toward educating physicians.

Longmore, Paul. Why I Burned My Book and OtherEssays on Disability. Temple University Press, 2003.Longmore breaks down the social, political andhistorical place of disability in U.S. society forreaders, revealing both hidden bias and structuraldiscrimination. One essay addresses stereotypes in television and movie imagery, and the discussionthroughout exposes the limitations created byframing disability solely as a medical issue. Longmoredirects the Institute on Disability Studies at SanFrancisco State University.

Maass, Anne, Roberta Ceccarelli and SamanthaRudin. “Linguistic Intergroup Bias: Evidence forIn-Group-Protective Motivation.” Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology 71:3 (1996),512-526. Linguistic intergroup bias refers to ourtendency to describe positive behavior in our owngroup – but negative behavior in a group of“outsiders” – with more abstract terms. Badbehavior in our own group, but good behavior byan outsider, gets more concrete language. As aresult, positive actions by someone in one’s owngroup seem a part of their nature, but negativeactions seem unusual. The authors tested thistendency among hunters and environmentalists inItaly. When members of one group were presentedwith hostile statements from the other, the effectintensified. The results were comparable in testswith northern and southern Italians. The authorsconcluded that when a group felt its identitythreatened, their use of biased language thatfavored their own kind increased.

Mankiller, Wilma, Vine Deloria Jr., BarbaraDeloria, Kristen Foehner and Sam Scinta, eds.Spirit and Reason: The Vine Deloria Jr. Reader.Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Publishing, 1999. Deloriawrote many classics on American Indian law,history, politics and spirituality. This book, a seriesof informative and thought-provoking essays, is anexcellent way to introduce yourself to his thinkingon philosophy, education, Indian affairs, religionand science.

Media and Disability Resources.http://saber.towson.edu/%7Ebhalle/disable.html.A project of the Media & Disability Interest Groupof the Association for Education in Journalism andMass Communication, this web site includes anextensive bibliography and a page of mass mediaand disability links, including accessibility resources,disability-oriented news outlets, publications bydisability organizations and research groups.Compiled by Beth Haller, associate professor ofjournalism at Towson University.

Media Tenor International. “Coverage of ethnicand racial groups in U.S. Media: 01/02 - 8/04.”2004. http://www.mediatenor.com/index1.html.Media Tenor, an independent media analysisinstitute, analyzed all news reports in five majoroutlets between January 2002 and August 2004 inwhich a member of a selected number of ethnicand racial groups was the main protagonist of thestory. The survey included Time, Newsweek, TheWall Street Journal, and the NBC, ABC and CBSnightly news shows. The authors reported thatcoverage of ethnic and racial groups in leadingU.S. media presents trends that, more thanrepresenting various groups of the society, mayhelp feed stereotypes.

Mosley, Letha J. “Negotiation of SociopoliticalIssues in Medical Education Program Planning ThatAddresses Racial and Ethnic Disparities.”Unpublished dissertation, University of Georgia,2005. Mosley studied the qualities of successfuldiversity programs in medical schools and theirmost challenging – and often hidden – roadblocks.

The New York Times Credibility Group.“Preserving Our Reader’s Trust.” The New York Times,2005. http://www.nytco.com/pdf/siegal-report050205.pdf. This 16-page report to the executiveeditor focuses mainly on developing a dialoguewith readers, limiting the use of unidentifiedsources and reducing factual errors. In a section on the news-opinion divide, the committeerecommends holding strong to diversity goals ingender, race and ethnicity, as well as pursuingdiversity in other dimensions of life to ensure abroad range of viewpoints.

Nieman Foundation for Journalism at HarvardUniversity. “Covering Indian Country.” NiemanReports 59:3 (Fall 2005), 5-41.http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/. A collection of14 articles and essays that challenge stereotypes,


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offer practical tips, and introduce journalists offthe reservation to the tribal press.

Nosek, Brian A., Mahzarin R. Banaji andAnthony G. Greenwald. “Harvesting Implicit GroupAttitudes and Beliefs From a Demonstration WebSite.” Group Dynamics 6:1 (2002), 101-115. Theresearchers tabulated responses by users of theirImplicit Association Test Internet site. Over thestudy period from October 1998 to April 2000,users completed more than 600,000 tasks tomeasure their attitudes toward social groups andthe stereotypes they hold. The researchers breakdown the data to learn more about the operationsof attitudes and stereotypes, including thestrength of unconscious attitudes, the associationbetween conscious and unconscious attitudes orthe lack thereof, and the effects of feeling part ofa particular group.

Noveck, Jocelyn. “Use of Word ‘Refugee’ Stirs RaceDebate.” Associated Press. Sept. 7, 2005.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050906/ap_on_re_us/katrina_refugees__hk4. The Associated Pressexplains its position on the use of the word refugeein the context of Hurricane Katrina.

Olsson, Andreas, Jeffrey P. Ebert, Mahzarin R.Banaji and Elizabeth A. Phelps. “The Role ofSocial Groups in the Persistence of Learned Fear.”Science 309:5735 (July 29, 2005), 785-787.http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/309/5735/785. The authors looked at fearconditioning and how it may apply when humanslearn to associate social in-group and out-groupmembers with a fearful event. They concluded,“Our results indicate that individuals from a racialgroup other than one’s own are more readilyassociated with an aversive stimulus than individualsof one’s own race, among both white and blackAmericans. This prepared fear response might bereduced by close, positive interracial contact.”

Plous, Scott, ed. Understanding Prejudice andDiscrimination. New York: McGraw-Hill HigherEducation, 2003.http://www.understandingprejudice.org. A compila-tion of readings from a broad range of scholarlydisciplines. The web site includes interactive exer-cises and demonstrations, streaming video clipsand other resources.

Ragged Edge Magazine.http://www.raggededgemagazine.com and

http://www.mediacircus.org. Blogs, libraries andpolitical commentary from a disability rightsperspective. Visit the “Language and Usage Guidefor Reporters and Editors” in the Media Circussection.

Shah, Hemant. http://www.journalism.wisc.edu/faculty/shahhbio.html. Shah is a professor ofcommunication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He specializes in global media and culturalidentity, development theory and history, and massmedia representation of race and ethnicity.

Smedley, Brian, Adrienne Stith and Alan Nelson.Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and EthnicDisparities in Health Care. Washington: NationalAcademies Press. 2003.http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=4475 andhttp://www4.nationalacademies.org/onpi/webextra.nsf/web/minority?OpenDocument. Racial and ethnicminorities tend to receive a lower quality healthcare than nonminorities, even when access-relatedfactors, such as insurance and income, arecontrolled.

Smedley, Brian.http://www.opportunityagenda.com. Smedley isnow research director of The Opportunity Agenda,a policy think tank that describes itself as“devoted to expanding opportunity and humanrights in the United States.” Its first projects willconcentrate on criminal justice and access tohealth care.

Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History ofMulticultural America. Reissue edition. New York:Back Bay Books, 1994. This important andengaging book takes readers through the story ofAmerica from the perspectives of all the peopleswho have been part of this country’s history.Packed with the authentic voices of the Indian,African American, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese,Irish and Jewish people of America, it’s an essentialcontribution to every journalist’s bookshelf. Takakiis a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley.

Watson, Brendan. “Stalemate, Xenophobia and theFraming of the Immigration Debate.” Associationfor Education in Journalism and Mass Communication,Aug. 10-13, 2005, San Antonio, Texas.http://www.aejmc.org. This content analysisreviewed newspaper coverage of Hispanic immi-gration from Jan. 7, 2004, to May 14, 2004. Thesearch identified 166 articles, and then reviewed

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news frames, reporter ethnicity, story and sourcetone, and source affiliation. The author foundsignificant differences in the ways Hispanics andnon-Hispanics report on immigration topics.

Westin, Av. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught:Racist Encoding in Television Newsrooms.” NiemanReports. 1:55 (Spring 2001), 63.http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/contents.html.Based on 120 interviews with broadcast newsroomstaffers, Westin’s report concluded that whileblatantly racial bigotry was absent, news decisionswere guided by an understanding about race thatplayed a role in story selection and content, theeditorial point of view and who served as expertsources.

CHAPTER 2 CLOSE-UP

Barlow, Andrew. Between Fear and Hope:Globalization and Race in the United States.Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. In thisbook Barlow examines race from a structural andhistorical perspective, exploring how market global-ization both reinforces and challenges existingsocial stratification.

Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism Without Racists:Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of RacialInequality in the United States. Lanham, Md.:Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Bonilla-Silvachallenges many people’s assumptions that racismhas been eliminated from U.S. society. He detailssubtle forms of discrimination that work tomaintain white privilege and calls for change.

Brown, Michael, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie,Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer, Marjorie M.Shultz and David Wellman. Whitewashing Race:The Myth of a Colorblind Society. Berkeley:University of California Press, 2003. This book alsoattacks the idea that racial discrimination andracist ideologies are things of the past. The authors– sociologists, political scientists, economists,criminologists and legal scholars – detail inequitiesthat persist in wages, income, access to housing,health care and the like and describe the waysthese have been built into the structure of U.S.society. They close by offering ways to renewAmerica’s commitment to social equality.

Hacker, Andrew. Two Nations Black and White:Separate, Hostile and Unequal. New York:Ballantine Books, 1992. Hacker tackles the reasons

why racial disparities, interracial tensions andsegregation continue to exist. He describes therealities of income, employment, education, familylife and other aspects of life that separate racialgroups and forecasts their ongoing impact.

Thernstrom, Stephen, and Abigail Thernstrom.America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible.New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997. This study ofrace in the United States takes a historicalperspective to make the argument that the UnitedStates is becoming a more just and cohesivesociety. The authors argue against affirmativeaction and comparable policies that they sayheighten racial consciousness and division.

CHAPTER 3: PRESSURES IN THE NEWSROOM

Alwood, Edward. Straight News: Gays, Lesbians andthe News Media. New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 1996. http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5145.Former CNN correspondent Alwood brings a news-man’s perspective to the history of coverage of gaysand lesbians from World War II to the ’90s. Heintroduces readers to battles both inside and out-side the newsroom as the news media struggledwith its own fears and assumptions when represent-ing LGBT issues and lives.

American Society of Newspaper Editors.“Newsroom Employment Drops Again; DiversityGains.” Press release, 2004. See Chapter 1 resourcelist for full description.

Andrews, Peter. “Virtual Teaming: You Don’t KnowMe, But … Executive Technology Report.” NewYork: IBM Advanced Business Institute, 2004.http://www-1.ibm.com/services/us/index.wss/mp/imc/xt/a1001285/1?cntxtId=a1000401. A reporton building teams effectively.

Arnold, Mary, Marlene Lozada Hendrickson andCynthia C. Linton. “Women in Newspapers 2003:Challenging the Status Quo.” Media ManagementCenter, Northwestern University, 2004. http://www. mediamanagementcenter.org/publications/win2003.asp. The 57-page report profiles sixwomen executives, detailing how they benefitedfrom mentors and broke the glass ceiling. Itincludes an essay on women’s leadership styles.

Branch, Gregory, and Claudia Pryor. “Race Plays aDecisive Role in News Content.” Nieman Reports,55:1 (Spring 2001), 65.

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http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/contents.htmlThe story behind Network Refugees, the nonprofitfilm and documentary production companydedicated to telling stories about people of colorand the issues that affect them.

Carney, Susan. “Battling Bias in the Factory:Automakers Struggle to Stem Harassment.” TheDetroit News, 2002.http://www.detnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0210/09/a01-605292.htm. Allegations of harassmentremain a fact of life in car and truck assemblyplants, The Detroit News reports. About 500complaints of racial or sexual harassment anddiscrimination were filed to government regulatorseach year between 1992 and 2001.

Carstarphen, Meta. “Can We Talk? Racial Discourseas a Community-Building Paradigm forJournalists.” Paper for the Association forEducation in Journalism and Communication,Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 2, 2003.http://web2.unt.edu/news/print.cfm?story=7291.Carstarphen was a Poynter Research Fellow in1997-98 and is the author of Writing PR: A Multi-media Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2004.

Demchak, Teresa. More information on TeresaDemchak’s civil rights and employment discrimina-tion cases can be found on the web site of her lawfirm, Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian.Civil rights: http://www.gdblegal.com/whatwedo.php?menuItem=32.Employment: http://www.gdblegal.com/whatwedo.php?menuItem=33.Media reports: http://www.gdblegal.com/press.php.

Dedman, Bill, and Stephen K. Doig. “Does YourNewspaper Reflect its Community?” John S. andJames L. Knight Foundation (April 2003 and May2004).http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/2003/.See the web site for newspaper editors’ estimatesof the diversity in their communities. For Dedmanand Doig’s data on The Greenwood (Miss.)Commonwealth, go tohttp://www.powerreporting.com/knight/ms_the_greenwood_commonwealth.html. For a descriptionof the project, see the Chapter 1 resource list.

Dovidio, Jack. http://dovidio.socialpsychology.org/.Dovidio studies prejudice, stereotyping and inter-group behavior. See Chapter 2 resource list for moreinformation.

Fiske, Susan, Amy J.C. Cuddy, Peter Glick andJun Xu. “A Model of (Often Mixed) StereotypeContent: Competence and Warmth RespectivelyFollow from Perceived Status and Competition.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82:6(2002), 878–902. http://fiske.socialpsychology.org/.Susan Fiske, social psychologist at PrincetonUniversity, studies the ways people categorizeeach other based on perceived warmth andcompetence, then react accordingly. For moredescription, see Chapter 2 resource list.

Glick, Peter, and Susan Fiske. “An AmbivalentAlliance: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism asComplementary Justifications for GenderInequality.” American Psychologist 56 (2001),109-118. Fiske and Glick review research on sexismthat is manifested as hostility toward women, andsexism that idealizes women. The article showshow paternalistic attitudes, which are sometimesembraced by women themselves, help enforceinequality and conventional gender roles.

The Greenwood (Miss.) Commonwealth.http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1838.

Grutter v. Bollinger, U.S. Supreme Court (2003).3M, et al (Fortune 500 Corporations): Brief forAmici Curiae.http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/legal/gru_amicus. Amicus briefs for these parallel casesinvolving affirmative action in law school andundergraduate admissions at the University ofMichigan. For an overview of Grutter v. Bollingerand Gratz v. Bollinger, court filings and supportingresearch, seehttp://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions.

Haiman, Robert. “Best Practices for NewspaperJournalists,” Freedom Forum (2000).http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=12828. A guide to journalisticfairness for reporters, editors and others; part ofthe Free Press/Fair Press Project.

Hammonds, Keith. “Difference is Power.” FastCompany (July 2000), 258. A profile of Ted Childs,IBM’s vice president of global workforce diversity,who explains why diversity is good business.

Jensen, Ray. An outline of Ford Motor Co.’s work-force diversity programs.http://www.ford.com/en/company/about/corporateCitizenship/report/principlesRelationshipsDiversity.htm.


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http://www.gdblegal.com/whatwedo.php?menuItem=33

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http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/ms_the_

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http://fiske.socialpsychology.org/

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For an interesting history of diversity programs atFord, starting with its hiring of immigrants in1913, see Charles E. Ramirez, “Ford Motor PioneersDiversity.” The Detroit News (June 9, 2003).http://www.detnews.com/2003/specialreport/0306/09/f18-187024.htm.

Jones, Charisse, and Kumea Shorter-Gooden.Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women inAmerica. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.http://www.harpercollins.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060090553.This book is based on the African American Women’sVoices Project, an interview and questionnairestudy of 400 women across the United States. USAToday staff writer Charisse Jones and psychologistKumea Shorter-Gooden document the ways blackwomen change inwardly and outwardly as theyrespond to race and gender expectations. The pricecan include anxiety, low self-esteem and even self-hatred, the authors say.

Larson, Christine. “2003 Salary Survey: Behindthe Numbers.” NAFE Magazine (2003).http://www.nafe.com/ef_fall.shtml. While theoverall gender gap in wages is 76 cents on thedollar, it’s wider in some industries.

Lawrence, David. Robert G. McGruder Lecture andAward. Kent State University. 2004.http://imagine.kent.edu/media/content/press.asp?id=373. Kent State makes this award to those whoshare McGruder’s passion and commitment todiversity in the news media. While Lawrence waspublisher at The Miami Herald, the paper won fivePulitzer Prizes. Before that, he was publisher atthe Detroit Free Press. He has won several nationalhonors for his achievements in the diversity area.Lawrence retired in 1999 and began working onearly childhood development initiatives.

McGill, Lawrence. “What Research Tells Us AboutRetaining Newspaper Journalists of Color: A meta-analysis of 13 studies conducted from 1989 to2000.” ASNE and Freedom Forum (2001).http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=1477. McGillwrites, “Across different surveys, between one-fifthand one-third of journalists of color interviewedhave indicated that they do not expect to remainin journalism over the long term.” Their biggestdisappointments are lack of professional challengeand lack of opportunities for advancement.

National Association of Female Executives.http://nafe.com/. The largest women’s professionalassociation and the largest women businessowners’ organization in the United States. Ownedby Working Mother Media, it provides resources,networking opportunities and public advocacy formembers, publishes magazines and runs aconference division.

Papper, Bob. (2005). See the Chapter 1 resource list.

Pease, Edward, Erna Smith and Federico Subervi.“The News and Race Models of Excellence Project –Overview Connecting Newsroom Attitudes TowardEthnicity and News Content.” (2001).http://www.maynardije.org/resources/industry_studies/. This 46-page report examines the linkbetween news content and newsroom attitudestoward race and ethnicity. Background on EdwardPease can be found athttp://www.usu.edu/communic/faculty/pease/tpease.html. For a Q&A with Erna Smith as part ofa Stockholm University project, seehttp://jolo.jmk.su.se/students/global04/other/plural/ernasmithquestions.htm. Her San FranciscoState University faculty web page ishttp://www.journalism.sfsu.edu/departmentinfo/e_smith.htm. Federico Subervi runs the Latinos andMedia Project, which features a database of newsmedia articles on Latinos, research articles, web-site links and other information.http://www.latinosandmedia.org/contact.html.

Rendall, Steve and Will Creeley. “White Noise:Voices of Color Scarce on Urban Public Radio.”Extra! (September-October 2002).http://www.fair.org/extra/0209/white-noise.html.According to this 2002 survey, the voices on publicradio in seven major urban markets are overwhelm-ingly white and male.

Simmons, Debra Adams. “It’s a Great Time to Be a Woman Editor.” The American Editor (March 2005).http://www.asne.org/kiosk/editor/tae.htm.Simmons tells her story in a special issue of TheAmerican Editor about women editors. The ASNEmagazine also includes stories about “being theonly woman in the room,” and “the thrill and thenightmare” of being a publisher. The Akron (Ohio)Beacon Journal has an outstanding track record indiversity. Its publisher, Jim Crutchfield, and editor,Simmons, are African American. Under the guidanceof former publisher John Dotson Jr., the paper wona Pulitzer Gold Medal for meritorious public service

http://www.detnews.com/2003/specialreport/0306/

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in 1994 for its broad examination of local racialattitudes and its effort to promote improved andongoing communication about race.

Smith, Anna Deavere. “Performance puts diversitycenter stage at retreat.” Stanford Report (Feb. 2,2005). http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/february2/med-retreat-020205.html. Playwright andactress Anna Deveare Smith interviewed 14 facultymembers, alumni and students at the StanfordUniversity School of Medicine on the subject ofdiversity. She portrayed her findings through aperformance of their words, speech patterns andgestures at the school’s strategic planning retreat.Medical school dean Philip Pizzo said the idea wasto generate questions and discussion, to start aheartfelt conversation about race and class. Formore on Smith, see http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~cybers/smith2.html

Steele, Claude. “A Threat in the Air: HowStereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity andPerformance.” American Psychologist 52:6 (June1997), 613-629. Stanford University social andexperimental psychologist Steele developed theconcept of stereotype threat, which is now widelyaccepted. The term captures the powerful effectsof feeling judged negatively, even when the onlyreason is membership in a group. Steele is nowstudying how social identity can influence individ-ual choices such as education and career. An over-view of Steele’s work in the context of standardizedtesting and affirmative action can be found in hisexpert report for Grutter v. Bollinger: http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/research/expert/steele.html. Steele directs the Center for AdvancedStudy in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.

Steele, Claude, and J. Aronson. “StereotypeThreat and the Intellectual Test Performance ofAfrican Americans.” Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology 69:5 (1995), 797-811. For moreon African American achievement in schools, seeYoung, Gifted and Black: Promoting HighAchievement Among African American Students byTheresa Perry, Claude Steele and Asa Hilliard III.Boston: Beacon Press, 2003.

Truby, Mark. “New Bias Lawsuit Hits Ford,Visteon.” The Detroit News (April 14, 2003).http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0304/14/a01-136079.htm. Details of an age discrimina-tion suit against Ford Motor Co. in which employeessay that educational requirements blocked older

workers from promotion.

U.S. Census Bureau. “Census Bureau ProjectsTripling of Hispanic and Asian Populations in 50Years; Non-Hispanic Whites May Drop to Half ofTotal Population.” Press release (2003).http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001720.html. (See Chapter 1resource list.)

U.S. Census Bureau. “Hispanics and AsiansIncreasing Faster than Overall Population.” Pressrelease (2004). http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/race/001839.html(See Chapter 1 resource list.)

Visconti, Luke.http://www.diversityinc.com/public/main.cfm.Visconti, a former Fortune magazine sales represen-tative, co-founded Diversity Inc. to track diversityin corporations, including news developments,lawsuits and benchmark measures. Diversity Inc.publishes a web site and magazine. (See Chapter 1resource list.)

Wallace, Linda. “Reaching Cultural Competency.”Columbia Journalism Review (July-August 2003).http://archives.cjr.org/year/03/4/wallace.asp.The author of this piece on newsroom diversity is a cultural coach and consultant; she spoke on“Cultural Competency” at the 2004 “Let’s Do itBetter!” Workshop at Columbia University.

Weaver, David, Randal Beam, Bonnie Brownlee,Paul Voakes and G. Cleveland Wilhoit.“Journalists of Color Are Slowly Increasing.” TheAmerican Journalist Survey, Indiana University(2003). http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=28787. The percentage of journalistsof color remains well below that of the generalU.S. population. Among news operations, televisionemploys the most; weekly newspapers the least.See Chapter 1 section of this list.

Westin, Av. “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught:Racist Encoding in Television Newsrooms.” NiemanReports 1:55 (Spring 2001), 63. (See Chapter 2resource list.)


http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/

http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/research/expert/

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosinsider/0304/

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Dayton Daily News.http://www.daytondailynews.com/.

Poynter Institute for Media Studies.http://www.poynter.org. The Poynter Institute is aschool for journalists, future journalists andjournalism teachers. Poynter offers seminars inmultiple subjects within broadcast/online,education, ethics and diversity, leadership andmanagement, reporting, writing and editing, andvisual journalism. The web site features articlesand essays to help journalists do a better job.

Society of Professional Journalists.http://www.spj.org.(See Chapter 1 resource list.)

Tulsa World. http://www.tulsaworld.com/.

Vinita (Okla.) Public Library.http://www.vinitapl.okpls.org/. The library hasinformation and links to resources such as theCherokee Nation web site, the Will Rogers MemorialRodeo, the library genealogy department and theEastern Trails museum.

CHAPTER 4: REFRAMING DIVERSITY

ABC News and The Washington Post. “BeneathBroad Support for War Are Sharp Divisions inIntensity.” Press release for War Update IV – April 7,2003, ABC News Poll Vault. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/PollVault/PollVault.html. This telephonepoll of more than 1,000 adults found that generalsupport for the war remained high, at 77 percent.Fifty-seven percent said they supported the war“strongly.”

ABC News and The Washington Post. “BothConfidence and Concerns Greet the Sudden Fall ofBaghdad.” Press release for The Fall of Baghdad –April 9, 2003. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/PollVault/PollVault.html. Nearly two-thirds of the509 adults polled by telephone said they thoughtthe war would produce a more stable Middle East.Public support for the war was 80 percent.

Associated Press. “New Scholarship Created forWhites Only.” (April 18, 2004) http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/15/whites.only.ap/. TheCollege Republicans at Roger Williams University inRhode Island created this $250 scholarship to

protest affirmative action. Applicants had to writean essay about their pride in their white heritageand enclose a recent picture.

Bendixen & Associates, New California Mediaand the University of Southern California.“First Multilingual Poll of Immigrant Opinions onWar in Iraq. New California Media and University ofSouthern California Survey.” (2003).http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e2fe7ad5d135b75aa6835f3ebf6f7020. This survey of 1,000 immigrants included U.S.residents who were born in Asia (China, Vietnam,Korea, the Philippines and India), the Middle Eastand Latin America. Sponsors included NCM, anational association of ethnic news organizations,USC Annenberg School for Communication’sInstitute for Justice and Journalism and the ChineseAmerican Voter Education Committee. Each commu-nity was found to have distinct opinions about the war and its effects. “Immigrants living in theUnited States worry that the war in Iraq willheighten the threat of terrorism and lead toincreased economic instability and governmentharassment,” the multilingual poll concludes.

Bendixen & Associates, New California Mediaand the University of Southern California. “First-Ever Quantitative Study on the Reach, Impact andPotential of Ethnic Media.”http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=796. This survey of 2,000 Asian,Hispanic and African Americans, conducted in 12languages over five months ending in March 2002,tried to quantify the reach, impact and potentialof media targeted to the three largest ethnicminority groups in California.

Bendixen & Associates and New California Media.“Ethnic Media in America: The Giant Hidden in PlainSight.” (2005). http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0443821787ac0210cbecebe8b1f576a3. This poll surveyed 1,895African American, Hispanic, Asian American, ArabAmerican and Native American adults in the UnitedStates on their news media habits. Interviews tookplace in 10 languages. The researchers concluded,“the ethnic media reach 51 million ethnic Americans– almost a quarter of all (or one in four) Americanadults. Of these media consumers, 29 millionethnic American adults, or 13 percent of all adultAmericans, not only use ethnic media regularly butprefer ethnic media to its mainstream mediacounterparts.” Survey sponsors included The Center


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for American Progress and the LeadershipConference on Civil Rights Education Fund.

Browning, Rufus, and Holley Shafer, John Rogersand Renatta DeFever. “News Ghettos, Threats toDemocracy and Other Myths about the Ethnic Media:Lessons from the Bay Area News Media Survey,”San Francisco State University Public ResearchInstitute (June 2003),118-119. http://pri.sfsu.edu/ethnicmedia.html. This report is based on a phonesurvey of 1,600 adults of Chinese, Hispanic, Africanand European origin in Cantonese, Mandarin,Spanish and English. The authors estimate theaudience and assess the role of ethnic media,including its political and social impact. Funded by the Ford Foundation.

Chuang, Angie. Columbia Workshop on Journalism,Race, and Ethnicity. Columbia University (June 10-12, 2004). http://www.oregonian.com/.Chuang, a reporter at The Oregonian, outlined tipsfor successful beat reporting on minoritycommunities.

Close, Sandy. New America Media.http://www.newamericamedia.org. Close directsNew America Media (formerly New California Media)and Pacific News Service in San Francisco. For anoverview of her contributions to journalism andher philosophy, see a profile by the NationalAssociation of Minority Media Executives, whichawarded her the Lawrence Young BreakthroughAward. http://www.namme.org/programs/awards/award-winners/2004_close/.

Columbia Workshop on Race, Journalism andEthnicity. http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/race/mission.asp. These workshops, directed by ArleneNotoro Morgan, associate dean of prizes andprograms, highlight excellent and courageouscoverage of race and ethnicity and provide a forumfor journalists to discuss and learn from eachother. The web site includes excellent resources on“growing your own,” “growing your (newsroom)culture,” and “growing your content.” PoynterInstitute Dean of Faculty Keith Woods, who ishighly regarded for his training and analysis oncoverage of race, contributed the in-depth “StatusReport on Race and Ethnicity.”

Dedman, Bill, and Stephen K. Doig. “Does YourNewspaper Reflect its Community?” John S. andJames L. Knight Foundation (2003).http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/2003/.

This annual report on newsroom minority employ-ment compares editor assessments of the percentageof minorities in their primary circulation area toU.S. Census Bureau data for those ZIP code areas.

Dingle, Derek. “Essence of the Deal.” Black Enterprise (March 2005), 69.http://www.blackenterprise.com/. Dingle analyzesthe takeover by Time Inc. of an enduring blackinstitution and one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses.

Do, Anh, and Teri Sforza, with photography byCindy Yamanaka. “The Boy Monk.” The OrangeCounty Register (2003). http://www.ocregister.com/features/monk/index.shtml. “There was somethingvery different about Donald Pham,” said theintroduction to this four-part, multimedia series.“Even as a child, he seemed strangely wise. Hisparents came to believe that he was a monk in hisprevious life and should study in India. We followhis arduous path as a Tibetan Buddhist monk.”

Domke, David. http://www.com.washington.edu/Program/Faculty/Faculty/domke.html. Domke is anassociate professor at the University of Washington,Seattle. He specializes in political elites and thenews media, individual values and cognition, andsocial change.

Fine, Lauren Rich. “State of the Industry: AnInvestment Year.” Journalism & Business Valuessection, Poynter Online (2004).http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=61400. In an excerpt of her annual industryforecast, Fine reviews the loss of ad share andcirculation by newspapers and notes the launch oftargeted publications to Hispanic and youthmarkets as one popular response. These nicheoutlets may not be as profitable as mass marketnewspapers, but they could attract new readersinto the fold, she says. Fine is an advertising/publishing industry analyst at Merrill Lynch.http://askmerrill.ml.com/res_profile/0,,3704,00.html.

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.http://www.glaad.org. Most reporters know GLAADfrom the organization’s activist missives or mediaawards. But true to its tagline, “Fair, Accurate andInclusive Representation,” GLAAD also offers anextensive array of media tools to help journalistsunderstand and cover gay, lesbian, bisexual andtransgender issues more accurately. Its MediaReference Guide provides a glossary of terms,


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http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/events/race/

http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/2003/

http://www.blackenterprise.com/

http://www.ocregister.com/

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including those the organization recommends andthe ones it views as offensive or defamatory. Thesite features tip sheets on topics such as sports,crime, and “conversion therapy,” and resource kitson LGBT communities of color, inclusive holidaysand hot news topics.

Glasser, Theodore. (2004). “Make the Call: ShouldTwo Gay Journalists Who Marry Be Allowed ToCover The Same-Sex Marriage Story?” Grade theNews (2004). http://www.gradethenews.org/feat/makethecall/gaymarriage.htm. San FranciscoChronicle Public Editor Dick Rogers says reporterslose credibility when they are participants in adeveloping story. But Stanford University journalismprofessor Ted Glasser argues that objectivity is apretense. He says the photographers’ interest ingay and lesbian rights didn’t materialize with theirwedding. In fact, Glasser says, the diversitymovement is important precisely because it bringsjournalists with a variety of backgrounds andinterests into the newsroom. The argue their caseon Grade the News, a media research project andweb site that aims to be a Consumer Reports forSan Francisco Bay Area news.

Heider, Don. White News: Why Local News ProgramsDon’t Cover People of Color. New Jersey: LawrenceErlbaum Associates, 2000. Former television news-man Heider was floored when he visited Hawaiiand saw only “pink” people on the local televisionnews, in contrast to the diverse population on thestreets. His shock led to studies of local coverageby two newsrooms in Honolulu and Albuquerque.This book discusses the news production practicesand decisions that Heider concluded lead to asystematic exclusion of certain groups of people.

Independent Press Association.The Independent Press Association offers supportto independent publications, including the ethnicmedia. IPA-NY (http://indypressny.org) providesassistance to the ethnic and community press inthe New York region, while IPA-Chicago(http://indypress.org/site/chicago/index.html) does the same in its area, also offering a guide to more than 200 publications in Chicago. For acompilation of news by member publicationstranslated into English, see Voices That Must BeHeard at the IPA web site.

Indian Country Today. http://indiancountry.com/.This 22-year-old newspaper, the largest of its kind,covers American Indians from a national perspective,

with attention to local issues and events as well.

Johnson, Troy. American Indian Studies.http://e.experience.uces.csulb.edu/AmericanIndianStudies/index.html. This web reference page com-piled by California State University Long Beach pro-fessor Troy Johnson features a wealth of web siteswith news, history and background information byand about American Indians. Includes tribal andnation homepages, as well as other online, print,video, visual and audio references. Go to “TroyJohnson” under “Activities” to find the reference list.

Kaplan, Martin (Norman Lear Center), KenGoldstein (University of Madison-Wisconsin)Matthew Hale (Seton Hall University) andRoberto Suro (Pew Hispanic Center). “SpanishLanguage TV Coverage of the 2004 Campaigns.”http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=38. This study monitored and analyzed 29 days of nightly half-hour network news on Telemundo,Univision, ABC, CBS and NBC leading up to theNov. 2, 2004, election. It also documented andcompared local evening news from 5 to 11:30 p.m.on affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo andUnivision in three markets. The Spanish-languagenetworks carried nearly as much campaign news astheir English-language counterparts and more worldnews, but focused less coverage on the Iraq War.

Kerner Commission. “Report of the NationalAdvisory Commission on Civil Disorders”(Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office,1968). President Lyndon Johnson created theNational Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders tostudy the reasons behind the uprisings that hadupset major U.S. cities each summer since 1964.In its report, the commission chastised the mediafor its failure to report on the lives of AfricanAmericans and for helping to deepen the racialdivide. (See Chapter 1 resource list.)

Kilgannon, Corey. “Thousands Bid Farewell to OssieDavis.” The New York Times (Feb. 13, 2005), 44.http://www.nytimes.com. The Times ran a 1,700-word obituary on Feb. 5 and covered the Harlempublic viewing with about 800 words on Saturday,Feb. 12. The funeral itself, with eulogies by HarryBelafonte, Maya Angelou, Alan Alda and Bill Clinton,among others, received 414 words on p. 44.

Leonardo, Zeus. “The Color of Supremacy: Beyondthe discourse of ‘white privilege.’” EducationalPhilosophy and Theory, 36:2 (2004), 137-151. This


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article, written for educators, introduces ideasabout white privilege, then goes beyond to showhow the active participation of white people inaccumulating unearned advantages amounts towhite supremacy. Leonardo challenges the ways inwhich discussions about race often tiptoe aroundthe matter of white responsibility.

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me:Everything Your American History Textbook GotWrong. New York: The New Press (distributed byW.W. Norton), 1995. This critique of high schooltextbooks details the omissions and distortionstaught in school that may have led to journalists’own misunderstandings about Native Americans –and at the same time, provides a helpful retellingof a more accurate American history.

Malveaux, Suzanne. “Bush to Declare End ofCombat in Iraq: President Will Address NationThursday.” CNN.com (May 1, 2003).http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/30/sprj.irq.bush.combat/. News report on the end ofmajor combat in Iraq.

Mangan, Katherine S. “Horse Sense or Nonsense?’’Chronicle of Higher Education 48:43 (2002), A8.http://chronicle.com/. Mangan focuses on themovement to teach medical students’ communica-tion skills so they can interact more skillfully withpatients, including those from a different culturalbackground. Describes various curriculum initiativesunder way.

Maynard, Dori J. http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dorimaynard/. Maynard, president andchief executive of the Robert C. Maynard Institutefor Journalism Education, heads the Fault LinesProject and is a well-known advocate for diversity.

Robert C. Maynard Institute for JournalismEducation. http://www.maynardije.org. Founded in 1977, the institute is dedicated to trainingjournalists of color and to increasing diversity innews staffing, content and business operations. Its web site has a wealth of diversity news,analysis and resources, including Richard Prince’s“Journal-isms” column.

Meier, Barry. “A Primary Source OutsideMainstream.” New York Newsday (April 13, 1988), 26.http://www.newsday.com.

Mencher, Melvin. News Writing and Reporting. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2002.http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072564970A popular text for basic journalism courses.

Morgan, Arlene Notoro, Alice Pifer and KeithWoods. The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting onRace and Ethnicity. New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 2005. The first of its kind, this multimediatextbook of case studies offers a practical teachingtool on covering race and ethnicity for both printand broadcast. The book, developed by three out-standing trainers in inclusive coverage, includesexamples of excellent work, essays by the reportersinvolved, a DVD with interviews of the writers,correspondents and producers, discussion questions,links to related material and a web site offeringadditional work and a teacher’s guide.

Moss, Mitchell. “The Structure of Media in NewYork City,” Dual City: Restructuring New York. JohnHull Mollenkopf and Manuel Castells, eds. NewYork: Russell Sage Foundation, 1991.http://www.mitchellmoss.com/books/nycmedia.html.Describes the complex print, radio and televisionmedia infrastructure that has arisen to serve NewYork City’s ethnically and culturally diverse popula-tion. Reviews the differing images of New Yorkconveyed by various media and the populationsthey serve.

New America Media. A nationwide consortium ofover 700 ethnic media. For regular news summariesfrom member publications, see the NAM EditorialExchange: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/.

Patterson, Gregory. “Heart and Soul.” MinneapolisStar-Tribune (Feb. 6, 2003). An essay on theculinary legacy of soul food from a personal andhistorical perspective, with recipes.

Peabody Awards Archives. http://www.peabody.uga.edu/archives/.For summaries of “POV Flag Wars” and “POV TwoTowns of Jasper,” search by year for 2003.

Poynter Institute for Media Studies.http://www.poynter.org/subject.asp?id=5. ThePoynter Institute is a school for journalists, futurejournalists and journalism teachers. Poynter offersexcellent tip sheets, discussions, resources anddiversity reports on its web site, along with infor-mation about its diversity seminars.


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Program on International Policy Attitudes.“Public Impatient with Iraq Reconstruction: 7 in10 Now Say UN Should Take Lead.” Press releasefor a PIPA/Knowledge Networks poll of 712 people(Dec. 3, 2003). http://www.pipa.org/online_reports.html. Respondents said the processes ofcreating a government and developing a policeforce to maintain security were going too slowly.Only 43 percent said that the U.S. presence in Iraqwould improve the prospects for democracythroughout the Middle East.

Project for Excellence in Journalism.http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/index.asp.An in-depth annual report on eight forms of newsmedia and their content, audience, businessoutlook, ownership and other essential factors.Also includes a survey of journalists.

Radio and Television News DirectorsAssociation. http://rtnda.org/asfi/awards/murrowshow2004.asp (June 24, 2004). Univisionwon a national award in the news series categoryfor Mis padres, mis verdugos (My Parents, MyTormentors) and in videography for En busca de unmilagro (In Search of a Miracle). A full list of theawards is on web site.

Shah, H., and M. Thornton. Newspaper Coverage ofInterethnic Conflict: Competing Visions of America.Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2003.http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=9723. Astudy on general circulation and ethnic minoritymedia coverage of interethnic conflict in Miami,Washington and Los Angeles. The authors investi-gate the roles of these media in defining, construct-ing and challenging racial ideology and race relations.

Sing Tao Daily. “Patriot Act devastates Chinatownbanking,” translated from Chinese by XiaoqingRong (Sept. 26, 2003). Voices that Must be Heard:The Best of New York’s Immigrant and Ethnic Press.http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=1073. Most of Abacus Federal Savings Bank’s60,000 clients are undocumented Chinese immi-grants, who now must provide official U.S. photoidentification to open an account. Sing Tao USA:http://www.singtaousa.com/.

Smith, Geri. “Can Televisa Conquer the U.S.?”Business Week 3902 (Oct. 4, 2004), 70. An overviewof the ambitions of the world’s largest media empire,Grupo Televisa. The Mexican company supplies most

of Univision Communications Inc.’s programming.Televisa’s web site is http://www.esmas.com/televisahome/ and Univision’s is http://www.univision.net/corp/intro.jsp.

Srivastava, S. “Outsourcing God: Mass in Kerala.”Siliconeer (July 20, 2004).http://www.siliconeer.com/. Roman Catholicparishes in India receive instructions by e-mail and payment from dioceses in the United States to offer Masses or prayers in someone’s or some-thing’s honor.

Tapaoan, Emelyn. “Strict new guidelines affectundocumented Filipinos.” Filipino Express (Nov. 24,2002). http://www.filipinoexpress.com/Coverage on the new bank regulations from theperspective of Filipinos in New York.

Turner, Beauty, Mary C. Johns and Brian J. Rogal.“Deadly Moves: A Special Report on Chicago’sMurder Rate by Residents’ Journal and The ChicagoReporter.” (2004). http://chicagoreporter.com/2004/8-2004/8-2004toc.htm andhttp://www.wethepeoplemedia.org/Backgrounder/Special.htm. As the mainbar of the story summarizes:“In a joint investigation, Residents’ Journal andThe Chicago Reporter found … that the murderrate in (Chicago Housing Authority) developmentshas nearly doubled since 1999, the year before thecity launched its Plan for Transformation, a 10-year, $1.5 billion redevelopment effort, in whichthe CHA moves nearly 25,000 families.’’ For theResidents’ Journal story on the award, seehttp://www.wethepeoplemedia.org/Index.htmland for the SPJ press release, http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=459.

Wagner, Venise. http://www.journalism.sfsu.edu/departmentinfo/wagner.htm. Wagner is an assistantprofessor at San Francisco State University and aformer reporter at several newspapers. Shespecializes in civic journalism and coverage of adiverse community.

WTNH.com. http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3011372 (2005). News Channel 8 inNew Haven, Conn., goes to a New England prepschool to talk with students and their math teacherabout Harvard president Lawrence Summers’remarks about women and their capabilities formath and science.


http://www.pipa.org/online_

http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/index.asp

http://rtnda.org/asfi/awards/

http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=9723

http://www.indypressny.org/article.php3?ArticleID=

http://www.singtaousa.com/

http://www.esmas.com/

http://www.univision

http://www.siliconeer.com/

http://www.filipinoexpress.com/

http://chicagoreporter.com/

http://www.wethepeoplemedia.org/Backgrounder/

http://www.wethepeoplemedia.org/Index.html

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Accrediting Council on Education in Journalismand Mass Communication. Diversity: Best Practices.Lawrence, Kansas: Accrediting Council on Educationin Journalism and Mass Communications, 2003.http://www.ku.edu/~acejmc/index.html. Providesan explanation of the diversity standard, thereasons for it and compliance history. Tabulatesthe best practices in creating a faculty, studentpopulation and campus environment supportive ofdiversity.

Becker, Lee, with Aswin Punathambekar andJisu Huh. “Evaluating the Outcomes of Diversifi-cation Initiatives: Stability and Change in Journalism& Mass Communication Faculties, 1989-1998.”James M. Cox Jr. Center for International MassCommunication Training and Research, Grady Collegeof Journalism and Mass Communication, Universityof Georgia (2001). http://www.grady.uga.edu/annualsurveys/. A report on and analysis of datafrom the Cox Center’s Annual Survey of Journalism& Mass Communication Enrollments. The authorsconclude that if journalism programs do notchange their practices, the faculty will not be asdiverse as today’s student population until the year2035. The situation is likely to become far worse,however, because the student body is likely togrow more diverse.

De Uriarte, Mercedes Lynn, with CristinaBodinger-de Uriarte and José Luis Benavide.Diversity Disconnects: From Class Room to NewsRoom. New York: Ford Foundation, 2003.http://journalism.utexas.edu/faculty/deuriarte/diversity.html. A study of diversity in both classroomsand newsrooms, including analysis on the historicaland institutional reasons for resistance and failureto meet goals.

Hines, Barbara Bealor. “Into the 21st Century: TheChallenges of Journalism and Mass CommunicationEducation.” Journalism and Mass CommunicationEducation: 2001 and Beyond, (March 2001), 29-50.http://www.aejmc.org/pubs/2001.html. This reportfrom the Subcommittee on Inclusivity, Associationfor Education in Journalism and Mass Communica-tion, provides an analysis of the status of diversityon the faculty and in the curriculum, followed byan extensive list of resources.

Mass Communicating: The Forum on MediaDiversity. http://www.masscommunicating.lsu.edu/about (2005). Offers resources and programming toenhance media diversity education at the collegelevel. The web site aims to be a principal source ofinformation about scholarship on diversity in highereducation, journalism and mass communication.

Medsger, B. Winds of Change: ChallengesConfronting Journalism Education. Arlington, Va.:The Freedom Forum, 1996. A study of journalismeducation and how well it prepares journalists tomeet newsroom challenges and cover a multiculturalsociety. Includes informative surveys of educators,newsroom recruiters and supervisors, and newjournalists.

Reznet. www.reznetnews.org. An online newspaperfor Native American students to share their viewsand report news about tribal communities andcolleges.

Student Press Law Center. http://www.splc.org.The Tartan at Carnegie Mellon University shut downvoluntarily after complaints about a raciallycharged cartoon and poems about rape andmutilation, while administrators at the Universityof Scranton closed The Aquinas for a parody of themovie, The Passion of the Christ. The Student PressLaw Center advocates free speech for studentpublications and provides free advice, informationand legal support.

Wickham, K. “An examination of diversity issuesat Southeast Journalism Conference Newspapers.”Newspaper Research Journal 25:3 (2004), 103-109.A study on attention to staffing demographics andguidelines that call for a commitment to diversity.Wickham found that student newspapers areoverwhelmingly white and female, and that thereare few stated guidelines about the need fordiversity. Presented at Association for Education inJournalism and Mass Communication convention inKansas City, Mo., in 2003. http://www.aejmc.org.


http://www.ku.edu/~acejmc/index.html

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