The last few years in American society have resulted in significant conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially in the entertainment business. We know that the country is becoming more diverse and have heard how representation is important and meaningful for those who are not in the majority. Yet we continue to struggle with accurately representing women and people of color in many industries—particularly because those industries are dominated by white men.
One such industry where this is the case is media and journalism. Though it may seem to some as if we have come a long way in society when it comes to race and gender, a new report offers a look into the state of women of color in journalism. Its findings demonstrate that we have a long way to go in achieving equity in U.S. newsrooms.
The Women’s Media Center [WMC] report, “The Status of Women of Color in the U.S. News Media 2018,” offers a rare look at where women journalists of color are — and aren’t — in legacy print, radio, TV and digital news. It is an important extension and extrapolation of data previously published in the Women’s Media Center’s annual “The Status of Women in the U.S. Media” study, and includes data about minority journalists released after the most recent version of that report that was produced in 2017.
Women of color represent just 7.95 percent of U.S. print newsroom staff, 12.6 percent of local TV news staff, and 6.2 percent of local radio staff, according to industry research that is based on news organizations’ replies to professional association queries.
The report draws upon direct experiences from prominent women of color journalists around the country, such as Soledad O’Brien, Ann Curry, Joy Reid, Maria Hinojosa, and Nikole Hannah-Jones. Though they represent different types of media (TV, print, cable news, radio) and have different ethnic backgrounds, much of their stories are similar in terms of experiencing systemic racism and gender discrimination. Again, this is largely because of who is in charge of doing the hiring and mentoring in the industry.
“Many, many talented women of color are rising through the ranks, as they have since the late ’60s and ’70s,” said [Ann] Curry, executive producer, reporter, host, "We’ll Meet Again" on PBS. “One of the most significant reasons they fail is that men tend to groom men.”
This is actually a significant challenge for women, and one that is well-documented. Many business and mentoring relationships happen outside of traditional work hours. Women may not have access to mentors in male-dominated fields for various reasons—sometimes because old-boys club networks can be hard to penetrate for women, and other times because gender dynamics and concerns about sexual harassment can get in the way.
Kim Elsesser, who is a professor of psychology and gender at UCLA, explains this in an August 2017 interview with The Atlantic:
If a woman asks a male coworker to go out for a beer, the male coworker could wonder, “Is she interested in me? What is my staff going to think if I go out with her? Will I somehow be accused of sexual harassment?” Those issues don’t necessarily come up when coworkers of the same sex go out together. This is problematic because that kind of experience—going out for a beer—is often how mentoring relationships start. [...]
Over time, men get to know other men much better and women get to know other women much better. Men run most of our companies, and therefore they tend to be the most valuable mentors. When a promotion or a new job opportunity comes up, the man chooses the person that he knows slightly better—the person he had that beer with. Over time, this can have major repercussions.
Just as with other kinds of systemic inequalities, discrimination in the workplace is not necessarily about a specific intent to discriminate (although that happens, too) but a set of conditions that work to disadvantage women—and women of color in particular. So at the end of the day, what’s the value of being more inclusive in journalism and specifically recruiting, hiring, and mentoring women of color? This is a question worth pondering since there are so many people in this country who think we should remain colorblind in hiring and that if we just hire “the best person for the job,” equity will naturally happen.
Here’s why that approach won’t work. Equity is about making sure that everyone has access to opportunities—while at the same time recognizing that barriers and advantages exist. We don’t all come to the starting line equally. From past studies of the workplace, we know that candidates with “white sounding names,” like Emily and Greg, are 50 percent more likely to receive interview callbacks than candidates with “black sounding names” like Lakisha and Jamal. Likewise, we know that women are paid less than men for the same work. Though this is the type of inequality that happens during hiring processes, it extends to all aspects of the workplace—mentoring, promotions, retention, etc. So we cannot achieve true fairness and inclusion without intentionally creating processes and practices that are geared toward them. Ignoring diversity and just hoping it will happen is a sure way to guarantee that it won’t.
But there’s one other really important reason that improving the numbers of women of color in the journalism field is so important. Here’s what Gloria Steinem says on the subject:
News staffs that reflect our nation’s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity are intrinsic to creating a credible media and to the nation’s democracy, said Gloria Steinem, WMC co-founder.
“Missing women of color in the newsrooms of this country is an injustice in itself, and an injustice to every American reader and viewer who is deprived of great stories and a full range of facts,” Steinem said. “Inclusiveness in the newsroom means inclusiveness in the news. Racism and sexism put blinders on everyone.”
To read the entire “Status of Women of Color in the U.S. News Media 2018” report, click here.