The following was excerpted from “Winds of Change,” a recent report from the Freedom Forum
New journalists are 17% ethnic minority and 83% white. (The 1996. survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported that daily newspaper newsroom staffs are 11.02% ethnic minority. Television newsroom staffs are 17.1% ethnic minority, while radio newsroom staffs are 14.7% ethnic minority, according to an annual study by the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Ball State University.)
The 17% of new journalists Who are minorities and the 83% of new journalists who are white are represented in the work forces of news organizations, as follows:
2% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 16% of all white new journalists are at weeklies (3% of all new journalists at weeklies are ethnic minorities).
7% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 26% of all white new journalists are at small dailies (5% of all new journalists at small dailies are ethnic minorities).
24% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 18% of all white new journalists are at medium-size dailies (22% of all new journalists at medium-size dailies are ethnic minorities).
29% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 10% of all white new journalists are at large dailies (37% of all new journalists at large dailies are ethnic minorities). * 7% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 6% of all white new journalists are at magazines (20% of all new journalists at magazines are ethnic minorities).
1% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 2% of all white new journalists are at wire services (4% of all new journalists at wire services are ethnic minorities).
7% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 9% of all white new journalists are in radio journalism (14% of all new journalists in radio journalism are ethnic minorities).
19% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 11% of all white new journalists are in television journalism (25% of all new journalists in television journalism are ethnic minorities).
1% of all ethnic-minority new journalists and 1% of all white new journalists are in on-line journalism (20% of all new journalists in on-line journalism are ethnic minorities).
While ethnic minorities account for 17% of all new journalists, they make Lip 14% of new journalist managers, compared with 86% for whites. (ASNE reported that 18% of all newspaper managers are ethnic minorities).
The accrediting standard that requires journalism education units to demonstrate that they have tried to increase ethnic minority enrollments, which traditionally have been very low, apparently has had an impact:
Among those who have undergraduate degrees in journalism, 88% of whites and 94% of ethnic minorities graduated from accredited programs.
At the master’s level, the difference is even greater — 73% of white new journalists graduated from accredited programs and 95% of ethnic minorities did so.
Baccalaureate Degrees Conferred in
Communications (1993-94)
TOTAL
DEGREES PERCENTAGE
All 51,164 100.0
White 41,677 81.4
Black 4,048 7.9
Hispanic 1,907 3.7
Asian/Pacific Islander 1,278 2.4
American Indian 219 .4
Non-resident alien 1,122 2.1
Race/ethnicity unknown 913 1.7
Specialities Among Baccalaureate
Degrees in Communications
TOTAL
DEGREES PERCENTAGE
Journalism 10,214 19.9
Broadcast Journalism 630 1.2
Journalism & Mass
Communications, Other 401 .7
Communications, General 24,496 47.8
Advertising 2,773 5.4
Mass Communications 1,863 3.6
Public Relations &
Organizational Communications 2,393 4.6
Radio/TV Broadcasting 5,883 11.4
Other Communication 2,511 4.9
Master's Degrees Conferred in
Communications (1993-94)
TOTAL
DEGREES PERCENTAGE
All 5,005 100.0
White 3,446 68.8
Black 327 6.5
Hispanic 103 2.0
Asian/Pacific Islander 129 2.5
American Indian 20 .3
Non-resident alien 788 15.7
Race/ethnicity unknown 183 3.6
COPYRIGHT 1996 Cox, Matthews & Associates
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