PressEthic

In 1978 the American Society of News Paper Editors encouraged editors to strive for parity between the proportion of ethnic journalists in their newsroom and their circulation community. This goal has not been achieved. In fact current trends seem to be heading the opposite direction. A 2005 study by the Knight Foundation reported that, “newsroom diversity is below its peak levels at most daily newspapers in the US”.

Diversity in the newsroom is fundamental to objective and fair reporting. Human beings are ethnocentric. Humans interpret other cultures through their own cultural filters. Racism and stereotyping can unintentionally slip into stories, simply because a reporter does not fully understand the cultural subject matter.

For instance in New Zealand, when a Maori (native New Zealanders) perspective is required for a story, journalists often struggle to find a Maori spokesman who is willing to speak on behalf of all Maori. In Maori culture it is inappropriate to speak on behalf of others, without seeking their opinion and approval. Also the idea of seeking one Maori to summarize an entire cultural perspective is fundamentally ethnocentric. The Maori culture would contain a range of diverse opinions, just as any white population would. Journalists can bring a deeper understanding when they report stories relevant to their own cultural heritage. This leads to a fairer portrayal of the issues at hand.

I also suggest that a reporter, who write stories on their own culture’s issues, bring more credibility to the story for their readership. In a politically correct environment, a journalist who writes on an issue outside their cultural experience, can often be discredited regardless on the accuracy of their story.

For example in his book, ‘Bias A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News’, Bernard Goldberg suggests that certain stories are overlooked or undermined because they are seen as an affront to feminist thought. For instance a man might raise the issue of reverse sexism. The example Goldberg cites is that it is more acceptable in the news media to deride men with slurs and jokes, however it is not acceptable to do the same thing to women. This story could be undermined, as the male writer could be called a chauvinist. However if a female wrote this story, about how in some ways females oppress males, it might give the story more credibility. In other words if a journalist belonging to a certain race, gender of sexual identity confronts their own issues, they are more likely to be given credibility and considered. This is not necessarily an ideal situation, however realizing this could help issues be brought to the fore.

The effort to diversify the newsroom has stagnated across America, despite the advantages. According to the Knight Report, “Only 13 percent of newspapers responding to the survey have reached parity between the newsroom and community.” More of a concern is that, “Among the 200 largest newspapers, 73 percent employ fewer non-whites, as a share of the newsroom jobs, than they did in some earlier year from 1990 to 2004.” So not only have newsrooms not reached target, they have stalled in the process.

The goal of achieving desired levels of diversity in the news room is an intractable issue. In his book, “Hard News”, Seth Mnookin reveals that in the early 1990s the New York Times had a policy of hiring a non-white reporter for every white reporter employed. Mnookin reports that this policy brought little benefit. Firstly white reporters complained of reverse discrimination. Secondly black reporters complained that they were treated with contempt by embittered colleagues. Finally this policy resulted in the hiring of reporters who were not up to New York Times standards.

Education of journalists is the important issue here. Solving the problem of diversity in US newsrooms requires a supply of a significant number of talented and well trained journalists from a range of ethnic backgrounds. In a Race Relations report education and training were one of the four explanations given for a lack of racial diversity in Canadian newsrooms. It is impossible to hire non-white journalists, if they are not graduating from journalism schools.

Today in the Sunday New York Times it was revealed that the new graduate journalism program at the City University of New York has received $4 million from members of the Sulzberger family, to set up 20 scholarships. CUNY ‘intends to attract more minorities and immigrants to journalism’. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Fostering diversity in the news room requires an ethnically diverse range of students graduating from journalism school.

Diversity in newsrooms is essential for reporting that seeks the truth. However to increase the numbers of non-white journalists in newsrooms requires a focus on the education of these students rather than a narrow minded focus on hiring policy.