Retention issues fuel decline in newspaper newsroom diversity
Analysis
By Beverly Kees
freedomforum.org
04.07.01
Printer-friendly page
The American Society of Newspaper Editors released this week its annual survey, showing that the percentage of minority journalists working at daily newspapers declined in the past year.
The reason: retention.
More journalists of color quit last year than were hired.
That's particularly troublesome because the number of first-time minority professionals hired in 2000 — 596 — was the highest in any of the past 10 years.
But at the same time, 698 minority journalists left the industry.
"The ASNE survey proves that retention of minorities is a growing problem," Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive office of The Freedom Forum, told editors gathered for their annual convention. "We know that this has compounded the problem of diversity in staffing at smaller papers. We suspect that there is a retention problem at larger papers, too."
The decline in the percentage of minority journalists working at daily newspapers was the first decline in the 23 years that ASNE has conducted the annual census. The percentage of minority journalists slid from 11.85% to 11.64% — from some 6,665 people to 6,563 in an overall workforce of 56,393.
"At the very moment our nation's census shows our country becoming more diverse, our newsroom census shows some of our newspapers becoming less so," Overby said.
"This is a formula for failure. If newspapers are to thrive, they must reflect that diversity in content and staffing."
The retention rate for minority journalists was 90%, a drop from 96% last year. The retention rate for white journalists was 95%, down slightly from 96% the year before.
"We've got to continue working on the pipeline, but now we need to further examine retention," said Rich Oppel, ASNE president. "Where did they go? Why did they leave? What did they feel at the time?"
To address this issue, ASNE's board on April 2 approved a plan to immediately begin quantitative and qualitative research and pilot programs on retention in a multi-year initiative.
Oppel said the initiative would attempt "to arm editors with better facts and strategies to improve retention."
"We've got to be careful not to assume that newsrooms are hostile places that drive off people," said Oppel, editor of the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman. "My sense is that people have migrated up from smaller to larger papers. But what's happening at the larger papers?"
Overby noted that 44% of daily newspapers have no minorities on staff, an increase of 5 percentage points over last year and an increase after years of decline. (See chart: figures represent percentages of minority journalists on staff.)
Although the overall news from the survey was not good, Overby said there was reason to hope. "It's important to note that many newspapers increased their minority staffing in 2000. Their progress should not be overlooked."
A Freedom Forum analysis of the data showed that 248 newspapers reported an increase in the percentage of minorities on staff from 2000-2001.
At the same time, however, the percentage of minorities on staff declined at 266 newspapers. In California, for instance, a state the U.S. Census says now has a minority majority, 21 newspapers increased their percentage of minorities on staff, but 26 newspapers saw their percentages decline.
The percentage stayed the same at 313 newspapers across the country.
The decline in the percentage of minority staffing reflected a Freedom Forum survey reported last year in "Newsroom Diversity: Meeting the Challenge" by Lawrence T. McGill. McGill wrote that the survey "confirmed that journalists of color were more likely than white journalists to say they might leave the newspaper business at some point. More than half (55%) of newspaper journalists of color said they were considering leaving the field, while just one in three white newspaper journalists (32%) said they might change careers."
McGill identified the major factors, in descending order, as: interest in another field of work; lack of opportunities for advancement; burnout; financial reasons; family considerations; not being able to cover the stories that interest them; working conditions and stress on the job.
The new ASNE report also noted that 9% of newsroom supervisors are minorities, the same number as last year. Yet 19% of minority journalists are supervisors.
The report "shows exactly why increasing diversity among newspaper newsrooms staffs is one of The Freedom Forum's top priorities," Overby said. "Our society is changing dramatically, but newspapers aren't keeping pace, especially smaller papers, where newsrooms staffs are least diverse.
"The Freedom Forum has committed more than $6 million this year alone to recruit new people of color to America's newspaper newsrooms," Overby said. "The biggest problem rests with smaller newspapers. That is why our partnership with ASNE to encourage more minorities to work at small newspapers is so important.
"In addition to our programs to increase the number of journalists of color, we will be increasing our efforts to retain those journalists as well."
The ASNE census showed that retention is an especially critical issue for newspapers with circulation of less than 50,000. "The major loss of minorities came at newspapers from 5,000 to 50,000 circulation," the report said.
About two-thirds of all minority journalists work at newspapers with circulation greater than 100,000.
Said Charlotte Hall, managing editor of Newsday and immediate past chair of the ASNE diversity committee, "Now we must direct our energies to making newsrooms places where journalists of color can flourish, where they feel welcome, where they can build rewarding careers."
The percentage of newsroom staffs by minority group was:
|
2001
|
2000
|
| Asian-Americans |
2.3%
|
2.35%
|
| African-Americans |
5.23%
|
5.31%
|
| Hispanics |
3.66%
|
3.68%
|
| Native Americans |
.44%
|
.52%
|
ASNE also measures the employment of women in journalism. The percentage of women in newsrooms rose slightly, from 37.12 to 37.35. The percentage of female supervisors remained 34.
More reaction to ASNE diversity statistics:
Related
Latinos woefully underrepresented in U.S. media, panelists say
Hispanic stereotyping on TV shows, scarce presence in news shows doesn't help national consciousness.
10.08.01
