Survey Records Increase in Latinos, Asians
“The percentage of minorities in TV news rose a full point in the past year. At 22.2 percent, it’s the highest level we’ve ever recorded in the survey,” (PDF) Bob Papper wrote today as the Radio-Television News Directors Association released its annual RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey.
[Added July 7: On Friday, RTNDA issued this correction: “The percentage of minorities working in local television news last year is the second-highest level ever recorded in the RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey, not the highest, as stated in a July 6 news release about the survey. The highest level was 24.6 percent in 2001.”]
The survey covers women and journalists of color in local television news, but not the networks.
“The growth came almost entirely from an increase in Hispanics (up 0.9 percent) and Asian Americans (up 0.8 percent). Native Americans edged up by 0.2 percent, and all of those increases more than offset a 0.8 percent drop in African Americans.”
However, the survey said, “The percentage of minorities in radio news dropped to its lowest level ever recorded in the survey: 6.4 percent. Blacks and Asian Americans actually recorded gains, but Native Americans fell, and Hispanics plummeted.”
In other findings:
- “At 13.2 percent, the share of minority TV news directors is the second highest ever – behind 14 percent in 2000 – but 1.2 percent ahead of last year,” Papper wrote. “All groups rose, except Asian Americans, which edged down by 0.1 percent.
- “The percentage of minority radio news directors ties for the lowest we’ve ever recorded. The smaller the market, the less likely the station had a minority news director, but even at its peak – in the biggest markets – the percentage was just 5.9 percent.”
- In television, “The bigger the market, the more likely the station to have minorities on the TV news staff and the higher the percentage of minority staffers – reaching a peak of 32.9 percent in the top 25 markets.
- “The percentage of minority general managers at TV stations that run local news was virtually unchanged in the past year, edging up from 6.8 to 7.1 percent. Only 5 percent of non-Hispanic stations had minority general managers.
- “The 2006 survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors found that minority journalists make up 13.87 percent of newsroom employees at daily newspapers, up from last year’s 13.42 percent. In contrast, minority journalists make up 22.2 percent of television newsrooms. . . . If we look just at English-language TV news operations, the minority population is 20.4 percent.”
- The percentage of women in the television news workforce was 40 percent, up from 39.3 percent in 2004. The percentage of women news directors was 25.2 percent, up from 21.3 percent in 2004.
- The percentage of women in radio news fell to 24.8 percent from 27.5 percent in 2004, while the percentage of women radio news directors dropped from 24.7 percent to 20.4 percent.
This year’s survey stands in contrast to last year’s, when Janice Gin, RTNDA diversity chairman and associate news director at KTVU-TV in Oakland, Calif., said, “‘The survey suggests that we may have hit a plateau.”
This year, Barbara Cochran, RTNDA president, said, “The gains for minorities on local television news staffs should help stations better serve their increasingly diverse communities. RTNDA is committed to assisting electronic newsrooms as they seek to reflect the communities they serve.”
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Unity Concerned About Figures for Radio News
“UNITY: Journalists of Color is encouraged at the small growth in diversity in television stations but remains extremely concerned about the continuing erosion in the percentage of people of color in radio news,” the coalition of journalist of color associations said late today.
“Apparently, the nation’s radio stations just don’t get it,” said Unity President Mae Cheng. “As our country grows more diverse, so should the staffs which bring Americans their news. While diversity increased slightly in local television, these numbers show the broadcast industry still has a long way to go before it reflects the diversity of its consumers.”
“It is imperative that news [organizations’] staffing levels mirror their communities,” said Mike Kellogg, president of the Native American Journalists Association. “This way of conducting business is the right thing to do and good for business. The survey highlights what is an on-going problem, Native Americans are dismissed from any sort of meaningful dialogue. Drive a Cherokee, OK; hire a Cherokee, well. . .”
“We are concerned that the glass ceiling is becoming even more difficult to crack for Latinos,” said Rafael Olmeda, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. “The immigration protests that took place across the country in recent months demonstrated how out of touch many English-language media companies were with the Latino community. The lack of Latinos in decision-making positions continues to remain a major reason why this disconnect exists.”
Olmeda added, “The decline of Latinos working in radio is further discouraging because radio remains a vital medium for the Latino community as witnessed by recent protests.”
“While it is good to see steady improvement in minorities overall, the industry still has a ways to go to reach parity,” said Bryan Monroe, Unity vice president and president of the National Association of Black Journalists. “However, the decline in the percentage of blacks in television news is disturbing.”
For Asian Americans in television news, this year’s figures reverse a three-year decline, the Unity statement noted. Esther Wu, president of the Asian American Journalists Association, said that while she was pleased to see that the survey showed an increase of Asian Americans in television news, the numbers still do not reflect the Asian American population in this country. “As journalists, we have a responsibility to reflect the communities that we serve. The latest census shows that this country’s population is increasingly becoming more diverse. Until our newsrooms reflect that growing diversity, we risk our stories not being told and our voices not being heard.”
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Frank Burgos Leaving Philly for Bergen Record
Frank Burgos, editor of the editorial page at the Philadelphia Daily News, was named managing editor of the Record in Hackensack, Bergen County, N.J., it was announced today.
“Frank came to the Daily News almost 10 years ago and has headed our editorial pages since 1998,” Daily News editor Michael Days said in a memo to the staff. “In that time he has distinguished himself in a number of ways, including shepherding in 2002 a series of editorials on Fairmount Park that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Earlier in his tenure he was able to get more than 5,000 gun locks into the hands of our readers. In addition, under his leadership we became the first metropolitan newspaper in the country to launch a podcast, and now podcasting has become an integral part of our online offerings.”
In 2002, the News’ series on deplorable conditions in Fairmount Park and other city parks “led to public hearings and a $1.5 million grant to the Fairmount Park Conservancy, the private group formed in 2000 to raise funds to achieve the park’s potential,” the News wrote then.
In 1998, the editorial page announced its gun-lock campaign, declaring, “To the first 1,000 people who mail back the coupon that appears on today’s editorial page . . . the newspaper will provide a free gunlock.” Burgos, 46, originated the idea. He was then associate editorial page editor.
The Record claims a circulation of about 200,000 on Sunday and 160,000 daily.
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Services Friday for Indianapolis Photographer
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“A memorial observance for Indianapolis Star photographer Mpozi Mshale Tolbert will be at 3 p.m. Friday at the Murphy Art Center, 1043 Virginia Ave., with remarks to begin at 5:30 p.m., the Indianapolis Star reported today.
“Tolbert, 34, died Monday after collapsing at work. His photos are on display at the Murphy Art Center. Calling will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at Stuart Mortuary, 2201 N. Illinois St.
“Tolbert’s family said he was not big on flowers and asked that people bring only themselves and their thoughts. Services also are planned at a later date in Philadelphia, Tolbert’s hometown.”
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- Mpozi Tolbert, 34, photographer (Philadelphia Daily News)
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