Minority Journalist Representation Nudges Up Slightly

By: Mark Fitzgerald The percentage of minority journalists working at daily newspapers nudged up by not quite a half of one percentage point in 2003 -- barely moving the industry towards its long-frustrated goal of assembling newsrooms that mirror the racial and ethnic makeup of the American population.

Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans and American Indians account for 12.95% of daily newspaper journalists, according to the 27th annual Newsroom Census of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). That compares with 12.53% identified in last year's survey; 10.25% in 1993; and 5.6% in 1983.

When ASNE first began its census in 1978, it set a goal, quickly seconded by other big newspaper associations, to achieve by the turn of the century a so-called "parity" between the newsroom and general minority. As the fast growth of minorities among the general population -- and slow growth of minorities in the newsroom -- put that goal increasingly out of sight, ASNE championed a new goal of 2025. The percentage of minorities in the U.S. population now is about 31.7%.

In addition to the small percentage gains, the latest ASNE count shows that the actual number of minorities increased to 7,000, during a year when the total number of newsroom professionals declined by about 500 journalists to 54,200.

African-American journalists were the largest minority group in newsrooms, with 2,938 professionals accounting for 5.42% of the workforce. The 2,258 Hispanics accounted for 4.17% of newspaper newsrooms. The 1,507 Asian-American journalists comprised 2.78%, while 313 Native American journalists accounted for 0.58%. All groups showed increases in numbers and percentages.

"The number of minorities in American newspapers continues to grow, which is a good thing," ASNE President Peter Bhatia said in a statement. "But the increase is at a snail's pace, and the overall total is still woefully low. As the economy improves and hiring increases, it is time for all of us in the industry to step up and move this number more quickly towards parity."

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) today called on newspapers to increase the number of Asian Americans in management positions, an area where that racial group lags behind others, according to the ASNE survey. In a statement, AAJA President Mae Cheng said "we need to put more emphasis on making sure that Asian Americans also have a role in making important daily newsroom decisions ranging from the types of stories that get into newspapers to who gets hired at these papers." Cheng is an assistant city editor at Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

And the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) pointed out that the total number of Latino journalists at dailies increased by only 46 -- including those hired for two newly-launched Spanish-language dailies. "We are dismayed and perplexed by the continued lack of significant progress in the overall hiring of Latinos last year," said NAHJ President Juan Gonzalez. "Given all the attention newspaper chains are devoting to new publications geared to the Latino community, we expected a big increase in the numbers of Latinos now more than ever. What happened?"

The number of newspapers that told the survey they employed no minority journalists at all remained the same as last year: 373, or about 40% of all daily newspapers. ASNE said the majority of these papers have circulations of 10,000 or less and serve small communities. The association said nearly two-thirds of all minority journalists work at papers with circulations of more than 100,000.

"We continue to be puzzled about the big number of newspapers that do not have a single person of color in their newsrooms," said Rene Astudillo, executive director of AAJA.

In one sign of parity, newspapers are taking on minorities as interns in numbers mirroring the general population. ASNE found the number of minority interns increased to 852, raising the percentage to 32.2% from 30.6% last year.

After declining for two straight years, the percentage of women journalists in daily newsrooms increased slightly to 37.23%. But the daily newspaper is still a man's world, ASNE found, though the number of men declined 533 over the year to 34,017. The number of male minorities increased to 3,733 from 3,652 in last year's census.

The census was released this morning on the opening day of ASNE's joint convention in Washington with the Newspaper Association of America. ASNE said this year 927 of the nation's 1,417 daily newspapers responded to the survey, representing 65.42% of the industry. Survey results are projected to reflect all dailies in the country, it said.

Full results are available on ASNE's Web site.