Julia Dallas

This weeks post focuses on the lack of diversity in the journalism field. I will be referencing a report by the Columbia Journalism Review that shows there is a predominantly white male population in the newsroom (Arana, 2018). I see it getting better, but everyone in my workplace is mostly white. When taking my diversity in journalism class the University of Washington, my professor said that newsrooms should consider hiring those who may not have all the credentials, but have the life experience to tell great stories. One quote from the article that stuck out to me was:

“Ultimately, the value of diversity to journalism is not about skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or social class. It’s about the stories people can tell” (Arana, 2018).

One of the reasons people don’t trust the media is because they continue to hire certain types of people. The way people view news and what people care about is changing. Newsrooms need to adapt and accept change. By hiring more people of color, they are able to cater to more readers who are POC. Readers trust people who have been through the experiences they report on. A POC writing a story on racial injustice would be completely different than a white person writing it.

Journalism is turning to opinion pieces to engage viewers. How can a white person cover a story, or opinion piece, on racism if they have never experienced it? How can someone believe an outlet if none of the reporters are POC?

Only 17% of newsroom staff is not white even though 37% of the US population is not white (Arana, 2018). How can outlets be covering the United States if they don’t even represent the POC in the newsroom? They can’t. Hiring POC is vital to sustain real, accurate, and trustworthy journalism.

Reference:

Arana, G. (2018). Decades of failure. Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from https://www.cjr.org/special_report/race-ethnicity-newsrooms-data.php.

https://www.cjr.org/special_report/race-ethnicity-newsrooms-data.php