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Newspapers: A Black & White Issue

Measuring racial diversity in journalism.

In the summer of 1967, racial tension in the US reached a breaking point. Acts of rebellion erupted in more than 150 urban centers throughout the country, leaving thousands injured and many dead. Before the dust had settled, President Johnson appointed a special committee to investigate the causes of the unrest and to provide recommendations for the future.

In short, they found that "our nation [was] moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal." While they suggested several governmental and societal changes to help bridge the gap between these societies, the committee spoke at length about the role that the media played. They stated that:

Along with the country as a whole, the press has too long basked in a white world, looking out of it, if at all, with white men's eyes and a white perspective. That is no longer good enough. ––Kerner Commission, 1968

According to the committee, the field of journalism in particular had been “shockingly backward in seeking out, hiring, training, and promoting” black people, specifically. Ten years after this report was released, the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) challenged newsrooms to reach racial parity with their audience by the year 2000. Though they didn’t quite reach parity by the new millennium, they have since changed the goal to 2025.

With less than 10 years to go, will US newsrooms meet the challenge?

Compared to newsrooms’ audiences, white staff are still over-represented

Methodology Note: The racial diversity of a newsroom was compared to the city they serve, by default. Among newsrooms with over 25 staff members, a larger geography was used when appropriate, such as state, county, or multiple cities. Only newsrooms with more than 25 staff members are shown by default. | Source: ASNE, Census 2011 - 2015, American Time Use Survey.

On average, American newsrooms are still more white than the city, county, or state that they serve. This disparity is most extreme in large, racially diverse cities. For instance, the white populations in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, and Philadelphia are all less than 40% of each city’s total population. But, in the newsrooms that cater to those cities, white journalists exceed 74% of the total team.

Source: ASNE, Census 2011 - 2015, American Time Use Survey.

Alternatively, the Desert Sun, a newspaper in Palm Springs, CA, has nearly reached ASNE’s 2025 goals, eight years ahead of schedule. When comparing the newsroom to the city of Palm Springs (though other geographies, such as neighboring counties could suit as well), we observe that Hispanic staff is just shy of matching Palm Spring’s Hispanic population at 26%, as well as Black staff reflecting more than double the city’s 5% of the population. This publication is one of the many newsrooms closest to achieving racial parity in the US.

Source: ASNE, Census 2011 - 2015, American Time Use Survey.

Are we moving in the right direction?

Although ASNE and newsrooms nationwide did not reach racial parity by 2000, they have continued striving for it. Have newsrooms become more racially diverse since the survey in 2001?

Methodology Note: The racial diversity of a newsroom was compared to the city they serve, by default. Among newsrooms with over 25 staff members, a larger geography was used when appropriate, such as state, county, or multiple cities. Only newsrooms with more than 25 staff members are shown by default. | Source: ASNE, Census 2011 - 2015, American Time Use Survey.

Over the past 16 years, about 45% of newsrooms became more racially diverse. While many are still not quite at ASNE’s racial parity goal, they are moving in the right direction.

However, just over half of the surveyed newsrooms either have maintained their 2001 levels of racial diversity or have become less diverse. Let’s take at what is happening at the widest-reaching national papers.

Source: ASNE, Census 2011 - 2015, American Time Use Survey.

The Washington Post, USA Today, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal are all national publications. Of these four, only the Washington Post substantially increased its racial diversity among staff over the past 16 years. Overall, most newsrooms have some catching up to do if they want to meet the 2025 goal.

How does your local newsroom compare? Check it out below.

Looking for more? The fully interactive versions of these figures allow for more exploration into both gender and racial diversity in US newsrooms. Check them out here.

The data is compiled from the ASNE Diversity Survey (full survey and methodology is available here).

Note (Nov 12, 2017): We also recommend reading AAJA’s research on newsroom diversity, who interviewed organizations and examined the racial makeup of leadership/mastheads.