Columbia School of Journalism Awarded Kellogg Grant for Better Reporting on Race

NEW YORK

      The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University has been awarded a grant of $194,000 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to train journalists throughout the country to produce better reporting on race and ethnicity.

      The grant helps fund the creation of The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity, a groundbreaking multimedia project, which will teach students, as well as working journalists, the crucial skills and sensibilities needed to develop more accurate and nuanced reporting about race. This teaching tool, a first of its kind, includes a textbook, DVD, Web site and teacher’s guide and is expected to be available in May.

      The Authentic Voice addresses the fundamental truth that too often there have been failures in accuracy and inclusion in reporting on people and communities of color by the mainstream, predominantly White press. However, journalists of any racial or ethnic background can hold inaccurate assumptions about people who are different from them. Such assumptions, when unchecked, can lead to distorted and biased reporting and can engender stereotypes and prejudice in society. The aim of the The Authentic Voice, therefore, is to assist all reporters when covering people different from themselves.

      “The W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant recognizes our commitment, while at the same time it illustrates the commitment of the Kellogg Foundation, to challenging prejudice — whether conscious or unconscious,” said Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Journalism School. “Our goal at the Journalism School is to set a new, higher standard for education regarding the coverage of race and ethnicity. We endeavor to be leaders in the field.”

      Media coverage of race and ethnicity is especially sensitive because news reports can sometimes sway public opinion. For example, the excessive use of images showing Black women when discussing welfare and young Black men when discussing crime leads to inaccurate reporting and harm to communities as well. There is a pressing need for journalists to examine the choices they make about race and ethnicity and to strive for stories with greater depth and accuracy. The Authentic Voice is about journalism with integrity.