To steal a line from Gloria Steinem, the truth about journalism will set you free. But first it will piss you off.
Earlier this spring, the American Society of Newspaper Editors held its annual meeting in Washington, DC and released its latest annual report on diversity. Under the soft-ball headline “Decline in newsroom jobs slows,” the organization revealed that the number of minority newspaper journalists in America decreased by 0.15 percent in 2009. That may not sound like much, but it leaves minority newsroom participation at 13.26 percent. By contrast, one-third of the United States population is Latino, African-American, Asian-American or Native American. According to the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the corresponding figures are 8.9 percent minority employment in radio newsrooms; and 21.8 percent in television. (Those are also both down from last year, and the ASNE diversity numbers are down two years in a row.) Read More »