The percentage of minority journalists working in US daily newsrooms declined slightly to 13.62 percent this year, according an annual newsroom census.
According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), this year the associaiton counted full-time journalists working online for the first time to reflect the industry emphasis on expanding its Web presence. Including online-only journalists helped the minority numbers. This year’s annual census found nearly 2,000 full-time journalists working only on their newspapers’ websites. Of those, nearly 16 per cent are minorities.
“The good news in the online operations doesn’t outweigh the bad news in these numbers,” said Dave Zeeck, ASNE president. “And the fact that the only two years diversity numbers have gone down were also the two toughest economic years for newspapers in recent memory only means we need to redouble our efforts.
“We have to remember that diversity isn’t just about numbers, it’s about making our news reports better. Diverse staffs lead to better journalism.”
Increasing diversity in US newspaper newsrooms has been a primary ASNE mission since 1978. ASNE is an industry leader in helping newspapers better reflect their communities. It provides career information to aspiring journalists. ASNE sponsors and coordinates a variety of initiatives and projects, including job fairs directed at young journalists of color and seminars for editors on the changing demographics of the US. It is the only major mainstream journalism organisation with a full-time diversity director.
“The drop in the percentage of minorities in newsrooms is very disappointing when you realize how the demographics of so many local communities — and of the nation — are changing so dramatically,” said ASNE Diversity Committee chair Phil Currie.
The ASNE census found that nearly 57,000 full-time journalists now work in daily newsrooms in the US. The number of minority journalists increased by about 200 to nearly 7,800. Although the number of minorities increased, their percentage decreased from 13.87 per cent. This is the second time since ASNE started the annual survey in 1978 that the percentage of minorities has declined. The first decline occurred in 2001. The census also found 115 full-time journalists working on websites whose staffs are totally separate from their print newsroom.
“This year ASNE is recognising newspapers that are leaders in building diversity on their staffs. We hope the Diversity Pacesetter Award winners will provide both examples to show it can be done and advice that will help other newspapers advance,” Currie said. “That is essential to our community responsibility and our long-term business success.”
The survey also found that minorities account for 10.9 per cent of all supervisors in newsrooms which brings this percentage down to its level two years ago. Of all minorities, 20 per cent are supervisors.
There were 392 newspapers which had no minorities on their full-time staff. This is an increase from last year when 377 daily newspapers had no full-time minority journalists. The majority of these newspapers have circulations of 10,000 or less.
The percentage of minorities working at newspapers with more than 500,000 circulation is 17 per cent; 250,001 to 500,000 circulation, 22 per cent; 100,001 to 250,000 circulation now account for 27 per cent, the survey found.
Women working full-time in daily newspapers now total 21,400. The percentage of women decreased slightly from 37.70 per cent to 37.56 per cent. Minority women accounted for 17.37 per cent of female newsroom staffers. Men now total nearly 35,600 up slightly from nearly 34,200. Minority men accounted for 11.3 per cent of male newsroom staffers last year.
ASNE’s initial survey in 1978 revealed that minority journalists comprised 3.95 percent of the total newsroom workforce (1,700 out of 43,000). The survey is a tool ASNE uses to measure the success of its goal of having the percentage of minorities working in newsrooms nationwide equal to the percentage of minorities in the nation’s population by 2025. Currently minorities make up 33 percent of the U.S. population.
For the 2007 ASNE newsroom employment census, 932 of the 1,415 daily newspapers responded to the survey, representing 65.87 per cent of all US dailies. The census is based on employment data reported by daily newspapers.
The survey data are projected to reflect all daily newspapers in the US. Editors participating in the survey agree to publish the percentage of newsroom employees who are minorities. Last year, the ASNE board also agreed to list the percentage for each minority group at each newspaper.
The data from newspapers that returned the survey are used to project the numbers for nonresponding newspapers in the same circulation range. An ASNE follow-up test of nonresponding newspapers found their employment of minorities closely resembles newspapers in their circulation categories that respond to the survey. The survey figures reported are weighted in this way to reflect all daily newspapers.
