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Updated:
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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Contact:
NABJ Communications
(866) 479-NABJ
NABJ to Newsroom Leaders: You Must Do Better
Black journalists see little progress in adding reporters, editors of color
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 2008— The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) urges newsroom leaders to take new initiatives to offer staffs that reflect the diversity of our nation.
Staffing in the nation’s newsrooms declined for the fourth consecutive year and efforts to bring diversity to reporting and editing teams remained a challenge according to the annual census released Sunday by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) at their annual gathering in the nation’s capital.
The number of newsroom employees in 2007 dropped by 2,400 jobs or 4.4 percent when compared with the previous year. Journalists of color left 300 positions, falling to 7,100, according to the 2008 census released at ASNE’s annual convention in Washington, D.C.
But because of layoffs and hiring freezes, the percentage of journalists of color in daily newsrooms actually grew by a tiny margin, to 13.52% from 13.43% of all journalists.
Blacks make up the largest number and percentage of journalists of color with 2,790 or 5.3 percent of the workforce, according to the survey.
That figure has remained near 13 percent for the last four years, illustrating that as the nation’s minority population continues to rise at 36 percent, its newsrooms continue to fail that pace of diversity.
NABJ and ASNE have a shared goal of having the nation’s newsrooms reflect the diversity of the general population. ASNE hoped to reach that goal eight years ago and later adjusted the timeline to 2025.
"The newspaper industry must stop treating diversity as just an effort, but a vital business imperative,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “These veiled attempts to convince journalists of colors otherwise fall on deaf ears as hundreds of our colleagues are forced out, leaving little to no opportunity for advancement. While we applaud the few newsrooms that are making a difference, more action and less promises need to be made”
“We have to find a way to equate diversity with excellence in our newsrooms,” NABJ Secretary Deirdre M. Childress said in Washington following the release. “While we applaud newspapers and newsroom managers who make efforts in this area, we also need to look at new ways to prepare journalists of color for multi-media information centers and to keep them in journalism.”
For the second year, ASNE applauded newsrooms that embraced diversity. Honored as Pacesetters will be The Grand Forks Herald because of newsroom parity with their community percentage; The El Paso Times for its overall increase in minority staffers; and the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group (West Covina, Calif.) for the largest increase in minority staffing in one year.
At the same time, ASNE reported 423 newspapers responded that they had no journalists of color.
The ASNE figures are reported by newspapers, which show a workforce of 52,598, consisting of 45,485 whites. The journalists of color include 2,790 blacks, 2,346 Hispanics, 1,692 Asian Americans and 284 Native Americans, all of whom will be partnering with NABJ from July 23-27 for UNITY: Journalists of Color in Chicago.
An advocacy group established in 1975 in Washington, D.C., NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation, with more than 4,100 members, and provides educational, career development and support to black journalists worldwide.
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