The American Society of Newspaper Editors conference drew the industry's gatekeepers - editors from major dailies to small papers - whose concerns ranged from declining circulation to reaching young readers to freedom of information to the future of newspapers.
But the conference included something more significant - the release of the group's annual report that measures how the industry is doing in hiring and keeping minority journalists.
And the bad: Native people were the only group to see a decrease, dropping from 313 to 295 news people.
The report is a tool used to measure industry success at bringing diverse perspectives to the newsroom. The organization first took note of this situation in 1978, when 1,700 minority journalists represented only 3.95 percent of newsroom employees.
Today, 7,300 people of color make up 13.42 percent of those working in the newsroom. Still, 40 percent of newspapers don't have any minorities to edit or assign or photograph or write stories.
Progress has been slow. ASNE has missed its goal of having the percentage of newsroom minorities nationwide equal the percentage of minorities in the country. The group's new goal will give newsrooms until 2025 to reach parity. People of color now make up 31.7 percent of the U.S. population.
Meanwhile, the fluctuating annual number of Natives in the newsroom belies an industry failure to consistently attract and keep Native reporters, photographers, copy editors and editors.
As I attended sessions at the ASNE conference - in between editing student newspaper copy - I never met another Native person during the entire four-day event attended by some 500 people.
My reality? I face the same thing in the newsroom every day.
And I'd likely be in a similar situation at any newspaper in Montana. Here's what the newsroom numbers look like for state newspapers that responded to the ASNE survey: the Billings Gazette, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Montana Standard of Butte, Miles City Star and the Livingston Enterprise - zero minorities. The Great Falls Tribune,
12.8 percent; the Missoulian,
3 percent (that's me).
The numbers are dismal, deplorable and depressing considering minorities make up 10 percent of Montana's population. Show me the parity.
Until then, one is left to wonder about newsroom commitment to diversity.
A typical newspaper is staffed heavily with white people. This was evident during a conference luncheon in which seven past ASNE presidents were recognized for their roles. At the table? Six white men and one white woman.
The more enlightening news is ASNE's outgoing president, Karla Garrett Harshaw, is a black woman. And the incoming president, Rick Rodriguez, is Hispanic.
Their presence verified the slow, steady and sometimes backsliding progress of newsroom diversity. In my experience, newsroom cultures don't change unless the directive comes from the top.
Because newsroom diversity has increased by fractions - last year, the number of minority women increased to
17.2 percent, up from
16.27 percent - it's evident that efforts to make change often amount to cheap chit-chat.
For example, the theme at the ASNE conference was "Connecting With Communities and Cultures." The convention brochure prominently showed a collage of five people, an Asian, a Hispanic and two blacks. My guess is the fifth person in the photo was supposed to be Native.
Yet when Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor for the Washington Post, led a discussion on diversity leadership in one of the largest conference rooms, only about 20 people showed up.
It's not important to have a minority in the newsroom to add visual color; it is important that person bring thoughts and views from their community. We all have an instinctual need to be informed about the world in which we live. And if people don't see themselves reflected in the newspaper, they have no reason to read it.
With that in mind, minority newspaper readers ought to demand more from their newspapers. They have many choices, including not buying the paper. Or they can hold the paper accountable.
The latter can be done by writing letters to the editor, calling reporters or asking for a meeting with senior editors to let them know about news they are missing in communities of color.
Another alternative? Apply for a job at your local newspaper.
Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises. She can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net
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