TV newsroom diversity goals remain unmet
by Charles Hallman
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 11/18/2009
Alleged good intentions have not yet shown results
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has long advocated for more diverse newsrooms. However, their latest annual newsroom census seems to show that many television stations are in fact becoming less and less diverse.
During its annual convention in August, NABJ reported its findings from the 2009 television newsroom management diversity census. It looked at seven media companies: CBS, Fox, ABC, NBC, Hearst Argyle, Media General and Tribune, which between them own 111 TV stations nationwide. The census found that only 65 of 548 news managers (nearly 12 percent) are people of color. Among these managers are 44 Blacks, 15 Hispanics, six Asians and no Native Americans.
A 2008 NABJ census, which only focused on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, found only 61 managers of color, or 16.6 percent of their total management personnel.
The study also found that the economy was cited as a major reason for cutbacks to newsroom positions, but NABJ Broadcast Vice-President Bob Butler strongly disagreed with that explanation. “This is not about the economy costing Black journalists their jobs,” he insisted. “When you have 111 stations, and in those stations you have 65 managers of color, that’s not because of the economy. That tells you that there weren’t many there to begin with.”
Among the key newsroom decision-makers are news directors, assistant news directors, executive producers, managing editors and general managers — these were the key positions NABJ studied. They set the daily news agenda and decide which stories are covered and in what form they are broadcast. The news director and the general manager usually are involved in hiring decisions as well.
Furthermore, if local stations are encouraged to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, how well is this being accomplished? MSR recently contacted CBS-owned WCCO-TV and Fox-owned KMSP-TV — the only Twin Cities stations mentioned in the NABJ study — and asked two main questions: how many managers of color are in their newsrooms, and what are the station’s past, present and future newsroom diversity goals.
Our requests were forwarded to the respective New York headquarters offices; by press time, Fox had yet to respond to our inquiries. However, the 2009 NABJ study showed that KMSP (Channel 9) has no persons of color in its top seven management positions. In total, only eight Blacks, three Latinos and one Asian American comprise the managers of color among the 101-person management staff at the 18 stations Fox owns.
CBS also has no persons of color as general managers and news directors at the 15 news stations the network owns, including WCCO-TV (Channel 4). When asked about this, CBS Senior Vice President for Diversity Josie Thomas says her employers are well aware of this, but she insists that a strong commitment to diversity does exist.
“We definitely recognize that it is important to have diverse voices behind the scenes in all parts of the industry,” Thomas, the daughter of longtime local educator Josie Johnson, explains. “Diverse voices can mean a number of different things: people with different or unique perspectives…across the board. We are actively engaged in creating the opportunities for diverse voices in the newsroom as well as the entertainment industry.”
When asked specifically about WCCO, Thomas says, “We are pleased that our GM [general manager] is a woman [Susan Adams Loyd].
Thomas joined the legal department at CBS 20 years ago and has been in her present role as diversity vice president for 10 years. She says that during her tenure she has seen progress in her network’s diversity efforts, but she adds that it continues to be a challenge.
“I can absolutely say I have seen enormous improvement in terms of the level of discussion, the commitment, the understanding of the fact that [diversity] makes good business sense.” Diversity is more than a social responsibility or “doing the right thing,” continues Thomas. “[CBS] now recognizes that…this is an industry that is focused on the bottom line, and they recognize that [diversity] is a bottom-line issue.”
The other five companies featured in the NABJ census did not present better numbers. ABC has no diversity among its general managers or news directors at the 10 stations it owns, but it has one Black male as an assistant news director and four Black males, three Black females, an Asian male and an Asian female serving as executive producers.
Of Hearst Argyle’s 119 managers, seven are people of color. It owns 26 stations.
Seven people of color, including a Black female news director and two Black executive producers, one male and one female, are among the 57 managers at Media General’s 17 owned and operated stations.
NBC owns 10 stations. It has 11 Blacks among its 59 managers; 27 percent are non-White.
Tribune, which owns 15 stations, has only two Black executive producers among its 62 managers.
Without making comparisons with the other media companies, Thomas claims that
CBS is a leader in diversity, but she believes the entire industry sees it as important. “I work with my counterparts at the other networks on a regular basis because we do see this as an industry effort,” she says.
Nonetheless, both this year’s NABJ study and the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) newsroom employment census released this past April have reached two key conclusions: Parity between the nation’s newsrooms and the communities they serve still is needed, and the number of Blacks and persons of color continues to lag far behind in key decision-making roles at many television stations across the country.
Diversity “is a primary goal and a focus for [CBS] as a whole,” says Thomas. “I don’t care what division we are talking about — it is across the board.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-re corder.com.
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