Media Matters

Veteran journalists weigh in on everything from the threats to diversity to the future of how the news is delivered.

Diverse asked five veteran journalists to reflect on the current and future state of journalism. Despite almost daily reports of media consolidation and newspaper layoffs, these journalists sound a cautionary but optimistic tone about the industry. The need will always be there for content and for diverse perspectives contributing to news coverage, but journalists and the industry must make substantial changes.

The Many Sides of Media Consolidation
Media consolidations in recent years have threatened the diversity of the journalism profession, which, despite expanded opportunities during four decades of uneven efforts, had already fallen well short of racial/ethnic parity in newspaper and broadcast newsrooms.

There are many cross-currents whipping across metropolitan dailies, broadcast networks and local stations, though. Some of these currents dim — others brighten — the future prospects of journalists of color. It may take a while for the picture to clear.

The sales and mergers of newspaper groups, largely the result of financial pressures in a mature industry, have contributed to a slight decline in diversity.

An annual survey conducted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, released in March, pegged the overall loss in the previous year at .25 percent. ASNE found minorities made up 13.6 percent of journalists, compared to 33 percent of the nation’s population.
It was only the second drop reported since ASNE started tracking minority employment in 1978. The first was in 2001.

Senior journalists of color may have taken a bigger hit. “It is true that as the number of journalism jobs is reduced, many managers of color are losing their jobs,” says Richard Prince, who writes a thrice-weekly online column, “Journal-isms,” for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.