More information on minority hiring
A new analysis of minority hiring at newspapers across the country is here, and it includes breakdowns and historical data from individual newspapers including the News & Record. You can also compare newspapers across the state.
We don't show up too well. It's no surprise to us. Just continued recognition of the challenge before us. Previous posts about this here, here and here.
Comments (4)
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Hey John,
What could be the root cause behind low minority representation? You haven't written about that yet.
-Joe
Posted on June 1, 2005 3:15 PM
The common answer -- and I believe there is truth to it -- is that there is a smaller pool of minority journalists and increased competition to hire them. Because newspapers in larger cities are interested in diversifying their staffs, they often have a leg-up in hiring minorities because of pay, circulation size and the availability of a more attractive life-style.
Our response is that we have to try harder to find and attract minorities. It's easy to use the reasons above to excuse the lack of success. We need to exercise a true commitment.
Posted on June 1, 2005 3:44 PM
Funny, if a business or a school system had the same problem hiring minorities, you would probably feature a story about how it is due to racism, rather than for the reason you stated. You see, you CAN explain these things if you try hard enough.
Posted on June 3, 2005 11:32 AM
Sam, I can't imagine a feature story in which we say as you suggest. I can imagine one, though, in which we give credit to the business or school system attempting to right something that's wrong.
Posted on June 4, 2005 12:11 PM