Published Friday, April 6, 2001
Why the exodus? NABJ members give views
BY JEWEL GOPWANI
ASNE Reporter
Excerpts from “Voices of Anger, Cries of Concern: Some NABJ Views of the Retention Problem – And Some Solutions.”
“With just two years and two months in this business, I’m struggling to decide whether to stay at the Courant, even though my whole family lives here. Pay is not the main reason why I might leave. It’s the subtle racism and hostile co-workers I face in the newsroom, where I’m the only black person in my bureau. For a year I got hardly any feedback from my editors despite my constant asking. Despite their lack of support, I recently won a national award for a story one of my editors said ‘I wasn’t sophisticated enough to do.’ Would you believe that even after the award, they, my four white editors, didn’t utter the word ‘congratulations’”?
– Ann-Marie Adams, suburban education reporter, the Hartford Courant, and president, Connecticut Association of Black Communicators
“A major problem I see is that the excellent journalists of color are being driven out of the field because the field seems to view them as only a minority.”
– Louise Reid Ritchie, director, Black College Communication Association, Florida A&M University
“ASNE needs to show that its members welcome diversity in decision-making positions. The best way to send that message is to show that mangers at newspapers reflect the diversity of their communities, not just the overall staff. This is the most effective way of retaining African Americans in journalism. Period.”
– Michael Rollins, team leader, The Oregonian, Portland
“I haven’t even graduated from college yet and I have already questioned if I should remain in J-school and the journalism business because of an awful experience on The Daily [Northwestern]. My freshman year I was eager to work for one of the nation’s premiere collegiate newspapers. That excitement waned after my first month on staff because I realized how the cliquish white newsroom environment shunned me and other journalists of color.”
– Rodney G. Thrash, Medill School of Journalism, class of 2002
“It’s difficult attracting minorities to smaller papers because of excuse Number One: Money.”
– Gregory Lee, sports assignment editor, The Washington Post, and NABJ secretary
“We’re covering an American mosaic, not a melting pot. We’ll be jeopardizing our franchises if we don’t include all the human ingredients and, moreover, foster an environment to include more folks.’
– Wayne Dawkins, editorial writer/columnist, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
