{"id":2161,"date":"2015-12-25T14:42:12","date_gmt":"2015-12-25T22:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/newsroom15\/?p=442"},"modified":"2021-06-22T18:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T22:37:56","slug":"digital-diversity-how-some-newsrooms-are-changing-the-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/2015\/12\/25\/digital-diversity-how-some-newsrooms-are-changing-the-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"How Some Newsrooms are Changing the Narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Attendees<\/a>
Attendees gather for Thursday’s “Black Twitter and Beyond” session to discuss racial issues within newsrooms. (Ciel Chen\/ONA Newsroom)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jessie Gomez<\/strong>
\nONA Newsroom<\/p>\n

Over<\/ins> the years, the American Society of News Editors has reported dismal efforts among newsrooms to recruit and retain minority journalists. That number has remained flat over recent\u00a0years as\u00a0the news industry has contracted. With minorities \u00a0– black, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, and multiracial,<\/ins> reaching<\/ins> nearly<\/ins> 37.4<\/ins> percent of U.S. population,<\/ins> some<\/ins> say<\/ins> the<\/ins> lack<\/ins> of diversity<\/ins> is<\/ins> bad<\/ins>\u00a0for\u00a0business<\/ins>.\u00a0For some digital\u00a0newsrooms the numbers on diversity are even worse.\u00a0<\/ins><\/p>\n

But there are some digital news organizations that have figured out how to find, recruit and retain journalists of color. Robert Hernandez, associate professor of professional practice at USC and co-founder of the Journalism Diversity Project<\/a>, \u00a0says the first step is identifying candidates. Hernandez , who, along with other concerned journalists of color created the the project to help connect\u00a0newsrooms with\u00a0qualified\u00a0journalists of color, said\u00a0the talent is out there but it\u2019s a matter of seeking it.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe excuse of we can\u2019t find a woman of color or a person of color that is digital is unacceptable,\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cSo here\u2019s\u00a0proof that it is; here\u2019s a list of qualified people,\u201d he said of the project.<\/p>\n

According to the ASNE survey, almost 13 percent of employees in daily newspaper newsrooms are members of minority groups, much lower than their percentage\u00a0in society. Some say the\u00a0low numbers prevent\u00a0newsrooms from adequately\u00a0covering\u00a0stories of interest to minority groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven just looking at a database isn\u2019t enough, but that\u2019s an easy way to stop coming up with excuses. It\u2019s 2015,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

LaToya Peterson, deputy editor of Fusion\u2019s Voices section, \u00a0said: “Your institutional framework determines how fairly you treat a racial story.\u201d She added,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s on us, particularly the higher levels, to consistently and constantly challenge you, even if it becomes uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fusion, a joint venture between Univision and Disney\/ABC, a multi-platform media company, focuses on\u00a0a young, diverse audience. \u00a0Fusion’s staff reflects its goals. Most recently Univision acquired The Root, a leading online news, opinion and pop-culture destination for African-Americans, which some say demonstrates the company’s interest in growing a diverse staff.<\/p>\n

At Fusion, Peterson\u00a0says\u00a0that she makes sure to give\u00a0writers the space to write their stories and their own experiences.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of always listening while looking at nontraditional planes,\u201d she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Buzzfeed is another company that seems to have figured out how to find minority journalists. Recently, the National Association of Black Journalists recognized it for its diversity efforts. The\u00a0nontraditional news site uses humor to break the ice on racial and gender issues.\u00a0\u201cBuzzfeed reaches beyond the limit,\u201d Meredith Clark, assistant professor at University of North Texas, said. \u201cThey hire people who are funny and train them to report on diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, \u00a0Sharis Delgadillo, co-founder of Latino Rebels Radio, said\u00a0that verticals within journalism still have to be broken.\u00a0\u201cWe like to diversify our topic coverage but, ultimately, we report on what we feel is important,\u201d she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

Her experience at\u00a0Latino Rebels allowed her to write about a variety of topics important to\u00a0the minority communities, such as #Black Lives Matter and issues concerning the LBGT community. Delgadillo said\u00a0that she wants her writers to cover people no one understands or tries to understand.\u00a0\u201cWho else is going to cover the Puerto Rican crisis if people don\u2019t care to understand it?\u201d Delgadillo said about Puerto Rico’s economic crisis.<\/p>\n

Clark agreed. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have those diverse voices making those discussions, you\u2019re going to have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still Hernandez said, \u201cRetention is a bigger issue and depends on newsroom leadership and ownership.\u201d\u00a0This year, #ONA15 has proven that it is possible to diversify its presenters and attendees. This year, 36 percent of speakers are people of color. And there appears to be more journalists of color attending\u00a0than in years past.<\/p>\n

Such efforts may not be automatic, according to LaToya Peterson. \u201cIt will be uncomfortable, but it will be for pursuit of better journalism.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journalists say yes, there is a right way to diversify your newsroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10560,"featured_media":2024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[668],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"coauthors":[1135],"class_list":{"0":"post-2161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-diversity","8":"tag-ona15"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/09\/5D3_4512-1-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5Q1c-yR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3364,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions\/3364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}