Diversity in the Newsroom Essay -- Journalism Ethics

Ethics in Journalism: Diversity in newsrooms not a trend in the new millennium My interest in the lack of diversity in newsrooms across the United States began while I was enrolled in an ethics course in the journalism department, this semester. I hadn’t realized until this semester that diversity was integral to good, accurate, and fair reporting, and that it is also widely lacking in newsrooms. While the subject of diversity was only discussed over a few class sessions, it became a noticeably important issue for me, especially as I am an aspiring journalist. As a top editor at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, a student-run newspaper at the University of Massachusetts that has almost no minority representation in the newsroom, I’m realizing that the problem is increasingly important, yet increasingly ignored. Diversity in the newsroom is an important issue in corporate-owned newspapers, private-owned newspapers, and at university and college newspapers. Statistics show that diversity in newsrooms is especially low for the years proceeding 2006, and, in some cases, is declining. Similarly, while many editors endorse diversity and believe that a representative newsroom provides fair and accurate reporting, statistics show that diversity is not an important priority for newsrooms. Though many newspapers are working towards diversity goals, the minimal progress that is being made in some places is especially slow, and not enough newspapers are taking part. The percentage of diversity representation in the newsroom has an effect on credibility. Without a significant representation of reporters who come from diverse backgrounds equal to the percentage of minority readers, information and content have a Page 2 2... ... Nov 2006. (copied in ethics class course pack). Heyboer, Kelly. â€Å"Losing Ground.† American Journalism Review. 2001 June. p. 43 (copied in ethics class course pack). â€Å"The Lackluster Racial Record of University Student Newspapers.† Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. No. 2 (Winter 1993), p. 28. JSTOR. 28 Nov 2006. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=10773711%28199324%2F199424%290%3A2%3C28% 3ATLRROU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1> Hold the Presses! Blacks Now Making Gains on Editorial Boards of Student Newspapers. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 18 (Winter, 1997-1998), pp. 33-34. JSTOR. 29 Nov 2006. 3711%28199724%2F199824%290%3A18%3C33%3AHTPBNM%3E2.0.CO%3B2- 8> Tobar, Hector. â€Å"Attempting to Bridge the Divide.† Nieman Reports. Fall 2006. Diversity in the Newsroom Essay -- Journalism Ethics Ethics in Journalism: Diversity in newsrooms not a trend in the new millennium My interest in the lack of diversity in newsrooms across the United States began while I was enrolled in an ethics course in the journalism department, this semester. I hadn’t realized until this semester that diversity was integral to good, accurate, and fair reporting, and that it is also widely lacking in newsrooms. While the subject of diversity was only discussed over a few class sessions, it became a noticeably important issue for me, especially as I am an aspiring journalist. As a top editor at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, a student-run newspaper at the University of Massachusetts that has almost no minority representation in the newsroom, I’m realizing that the problem is increasingly important, yet increasingly ignored. Diversity in the newsroom is an important issue in corporate-owned newspapers, private-owned newspapers, and at university and college newspapers. Statistics show that diversity in newsrooms is especially low for the years proceeding 2006, and, in some cases, is declining. Similarly, while many editors endorse diversity and believe that a representative newsroom provides fair and accurate reporting, statistics show that diversity is not an important priority for newsrooms. Though many newspapers are working towards diversity goals, the minimal progress that is being made in some places is especially slow, and not enough newspapers are taking part. The percentage of diversity representation in the newsroom has an effect on credibility. Without a significant representation of reporters who come from diverse backgrounds equal to the percentage of minority readers, information and content have a Page 2 2... ... Nov 2006. (copied in ethics class course pack). Heyboer, Kelly. â€Å"Losing Ground.† American Journalism Review. 2001 June. p. 43 (copied in ethics class course pack). â€Å"The Lackluster Racial Record of University Student Newspapers.† Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. No. 2 (Winter 1993), p. 28. JSTOR. 28 Nov 2006. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=10773711%28199324%2F199424%290%3A2%3C28% 3ATLRROU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1> Hold the Presses! Blacks Now Making Gains on Editorial Boards of Student Newspapers. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 18 (Winter, 1997-1998), pp. 33-34. JSTOR. 29 Nov 2006. 3711%28199724%2F199824%290%3A18%3C33%3AHTPBNM%3E2.0.CO%3B2- 8> Tobar, Hector. â€Å"Attempting to Bridge the Divide.† Nieman Reports. Fall 2006.