Five Ways To a More Diverse Paper

By: William W. Sutton Jr. It's inevitable for a national economic downturn to take a toll on the nation's newspapers. We've been through this cycle time and time again.

One big difference this year is the loss of dot-com advertising, both display and help-wanted classified ads. Another big difference is the lack of attention and priority being given to diversity -- even as the recent U.S. Census shows that we are becoming a more diverse nation.

For too long, diversity has not been one of the most important measurements for publishers and top editors. It's high time to put it on the priority agenda. It's easy to mouth the words, "Diversity is important." It's harder to implement when there are fewer hiring and promotion opportunities. But it is possible.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) has tracked the diversity of many daily-newspaper newsrooms for more than two decades. This year, for the first time in 23 years, ASNE announced the disappointing news that the number of journalists of color had declined in all four categories -- Asian, black, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American.

The erosion is not ASNE's fault. It's the fault of individual publishers and editors. Every publisher should require top editors to fill at least half of all vacancies with journalists of color for true progress this year.

Certainly, editors and managing editors have had more of their income tied to circulation, marketing, readership, and in some cases, advertising, in the last decade or so. Why not tie at least 15 to 40 points to diversity and make them pay attention! They'll find that 50% then.

Every good editor I know takes "risks" with hiring and coverage. Well, take a risk on someone who doesn't look like you, doesn't act like you, doesn't think like you. Take a risk and promote someone not like you who wants a shot at editing. Can't find "excellent" journalists? Were you always excellent? Are you excellent now? Find an average or good journalist of color and help them become good or excellent.

As publishers and editors look at their budgets, we challenge them to:

1. Maintain internships. Use these opportunities for training future journalists and commit to filling 50% to 75% of your internships with students of color. If you're in a market with at least 10% to 20% African Americans, make them at least triple that percentage in your intern pool.

2. Give most internship slots to the skill areas you need most for full-time job candidates, most likely infographic artists, copy editors, designers, and photojournalists of color. Instead of complaining about having so few candidates for these jobs, do your part to create them.

3. Require top editors and department heads to provide diversity goals for next year and beyond. It's simple: When you set advertising and circulation goals, your team either succeeds by meeting or exceeding them or it fails. Apply the same standard to diversity, and watch the success.

4. Go deeper. It's not enough to maintain diversity numbers, even if they are good. Explore the strengths and weaknesses of your diversity -- examine where you have diverse staffs within your newsroom and where you can do more.

5. Celebrate diversity in content, hiring, and promotion. When you're proud of a great story, wonderful photography, strong editing, powerful design, or right-on-point headlines, you celebrate. Do the same with diversity. Don't be ashamed. Be proud. And let the newsroom know it.

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) can do more, too. We must get more young black students interested in journalism, changing our focuses on training and development and funding to accomplish our goals. We must be more externally focused, more chapter-focused, more market-driven.

It's not enough to blame the industry as a whole. We must look -- editor by editor, newspaper by newspaper -- to see who is making a diversity difference and who is not. We must look inside and outside of NABJ.

In April, NABJ sent out a call to editors to work with it to stem the flow of black journalists leaving the industry, to work specifically on retention. We stand ready and willing to establish partnerships with organizations -- as we already have with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Virginia's Hampton University, and, most recently, Bloomberg L.P. They have stepped up to help NABJ identify, recruit, train, develop, and retain black journalists. There are others, but is your organization's name on the list?

Put your money and your energy where it is needed. We need you. You need us. Do the right thing and help, or we won't improve the industry.

Sutton is a deputy managing editor at
The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He began his third stint on the NABJ board of directors as immediate past president when his term as president ended Saturday.