The resilience of journalists of color in newsroom management

Abstract

Recent industry figures show that newsrooms are far from parity goals set, and re-set with a 25-year delay, for the total percentage of journalists employed in the news business to match that of the percentage of minorities in the country. Minorities comprise about 15 percent of the news industry while the nation's population is about 40 percent made of minorities. The figures, compiled annually by the American Society of News Editors, are even lower for journalists of color in newsroom management, as they comprise about 10 percent of all supervisor jobs. This analysis examines the resiliency of journalists of color who are still working in the newsroom and in management, or recently were since the Great Recession, and examines what they attributed their lasting power amid an industry dramatically altered since the turn of the century. Interviews were conducted with 13 journalists working throughout the nation from different races, intersected at times with gender and sexual orientation.