Newspapers Falling Below Benchmarks for Progress
The number of journalists of color in newspaper newsrooms grew slightly last year, with the greatest growth among Hispanics and Asian Americans, the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported today.
But “the industry is falling further behind benchmark targets set by ASNE six years ago to chart performance toward a goal of newsroom parity with the U.S. minority population by 2025,” the organization said in releasing its annual census, based on self-reporting by newspapers. “Every three years, the editors report the progress toward achieving this goal.”
The percentage of African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans working in newsrooms crept up from 13.42 to 13.87 percent, it said.
The number of blacks rose from 2,985 to 3,050; Hispanics went from 2,323 to 2,475; Asians from 1,664 to 1,768. Native Americans rose from 295 to 309. There were also more black, Hispanic and Asian American supervisors than in the 2005 census.
The number of interns of color fell from 948 in the 2005 survey to 861 in this year’s survey, reflecting the general belt-tightening in the newspaper industry, ASNE said.
“While it’s encouraging that the number of minority staffers in American newsrooms is up, the increase — .45 percent — is almost imperceptible” said ASNE Diversity Chair Sharon Rosenhause, managing editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale. “The most troubling aspect of the census is the benchmark categories; none are even close.”
“This year’s report card shows that newsrooms have failed to meet the five benchmark categories:
- “The benchmark for percentage of minorities working in newsrooms by this year is 18.55. The actual percentage: 13.87.
- “The goal for minority interns is 36.35 percent of the total pool. The actual number: 30.8 percent.
- “The goal for minority supervisors is 16 percent. The actual number: 11.2 percent
- “The target for the number of newspapers with no minority staffers was to reduce them to 275. The actual number: 377.
- “The benchmark for the number of newspapers that have reached parity with their community is 348. The actual number: 145.”
“The survey data are projected to reflect all daily newspapers in the country,” ASNE said. “Editors participating in the survey agree to publish the percentage of newsroom employees who are minorities. Beginning this year, the ASNE board also agreed to list the percentage for each minority group at each newspaper.” The organization is meeting in Seattle.
- Karen Johnson, ASNE Reporter: Even in tough times, diversity issue remains
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Journalist Associations Comment on ASNE Figures
“Diversity had been a buzz word in the industry some ten or more years ago. Now it has since been replaced by concerns over revenues and margins,” Mae Cheng, president of Unity: Journalists of Color, said today in reacting to the figures from the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
“At UNITY, we believe they are all one and the same. Planning for the financial growth of a newspaper needs to go hand-in-hand with strategizing on increasing diversity in the newsroom.”
The partner organizations comprising Unity also commented in Unity’s news release:
“We are pleased with the gain in the percentage of Asians in the newsroom, however the numbers are still not where they need to be in order to reach parity,” said Esther Wu, president of the Asian American Journalists Association. “The U.S. census indicates that the Asians are the fastest growing race in the United States. Now more than ever, it is important for us to look at the number of Asian Americans in the newsroom if we are to reflect the communities we serve.”
“AAJA challenges all editors to set a personal goal of increasing the number of journalists of color in his or her newsroom to help ASNE meets its goal of achieving parity by 2025,” Wu said.
“Once again, the newspaper industry has failed to step up to the plate,” said Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists and assistant vice president/news at Knight Ridder. “If they are to be graded not on their intentions but their results, they would get an F.
“At the rate the industry is going – about half a percentage point gain each year – it would take more than 40 years to reach their goal of parity with the U.S. population, Monroe said. “And that’s assuming the population stays the same, which we all know it won’t. By 2050, America will have passed the newspaper industry by, and it will have been our fault.”
“Many native people are invisible in mainstream media. This is from a number of sources, but mostly from media outlets not serving their entire community,” said Mike Kellogg, president of the Native American Journalists Association.
“Our community continues to change dramatically, and the industry’s failure to keep up with these changes adds to the major threats facing the long-term future of journalism,” said Rafael Olmeda, vice president for print of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “We need to get even more aggressive about achieving these goals, making the case everywhere from high school classrooms to publishers’ offices.”
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Broadcasters Urged to Reach Out to Latinos
“‘Want to improve your ratings? Reach out to the Latino audience. That was the message today from Jorge Ramos, anchor for Univision, at the RTNDA/NAB ‘Super Session’ titled ‘The Shape of Things to Come,'” according to Simon Marks, blogging from Las Vegas at the joint convention of the Radio Television News Directors Association and the National Association of Broadcasters.
“‘We see the white population as a percentage of the total population declining,’ said Ramo[s]. ‘So is the African-American population. But at the same time, the Latino population is growing . . . it’s right in front of you. You want more audience? The Hispanic community is growing so much. We are paying attention to them and our ratings are going up.’
“Ramos claims some non-Hispanic local news directors have told him that the Nielsen numbers they’re facing must be wrong. He tells them: ‘What’s wrong is that you are not paying attention to the segment of the population that is truly growing, and that’s Latinos.'”