Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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The American Editor
Diversity
‘Beyond 2000’ goal prompts deliberation
Former president’s report contains cogent arguments;
some think the Year 2000 Goal should continue as is, others say it should
be tied to the percentage of minorities in a paper’s area
By Loren Ghiglione
With fewer than 800 days until 2000, ASNE is asking if and how its Year
2000 Goal should be revised for the 21st century.
Some editors argue that the goal — newsroom diversity roughly equivalent
to the diversity of the general U.S. population — should not be changed.
Gene Patterson, editor emeritus of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, says:
"[W]e started in 1978 at 4 percent. We’ve tripled that in just 20 years.
Double the present 12 percent over the next 10 years and we’re there. I
hope the Society will set that as the new goal by 2010."
But other editors contend U.S. newspapers should move away from a numerical
target. A goal for the 21st century might read: "ASNE will commit a significant
portion of its energy and resources to eliminating discrimination and fostering
the employment, retention and promotion of African Americans, Asian Americans,
Hispanics and Native Americans."
Even those editors who say a move from a numerical goal would be an
admission of defeat also question the current goal’s wording. Some say
it would be more realistic to focus on the percentage of college-educated
people of color, the pool from which most news organizations hire, not
on the percentage of minorities in the general population.
Others ask whether the Year 2000 Goal should continue to be based on
U.S. population percentages. Virginia Dodge Fielder, Knight-Ridder’s vice
president of research, says the current goal based on the national percentage
of people of color, "while laudable, isn’t connected with reality." She
argues for a goal tied to the composition of newspapers’ communities: "The
real goal should be to reflect the diversity in an individual market."
In a report to the Society’s upcoming convention, I hope to re-examine
ASNE’s diversity goals, some almost a generation old. The report’s first
two sections will state the importance of the diversity efforts to ASNE’s
mission and review their history.
The third will report on foundation and industry funding, past and present,
and anticipate what money will be available for future diversity efforts.
The fourth section will explore what ASNE has done to work cooperatively
with other organizations. A preliminary survey suggests possibilities for
partnering will need to be more effectively exploited in the 21st century.
The fifth section, the heart of the report, will examine the diversity
goals themselves. Will the 21st century require new goals? What old goals
deserve more emphasis? Two goals have been emphasized by editors who have
written to me already: retention and promotion, and attention to the state
of education, including journalism education, at junior and senior high
school levels.
William Ketter, editor of The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass., (and another
former ASNE president) writes: "To truly make progress, ASNE and like-minded
industry groups need to develop more effective programs for management
training. ... The (Asian American Journalist Association) program for leadership
training is a good model. ASNE should look into starting something similar
for all minorities."
Robert Mong, executive vice president of the parent company of A.H.
Belo Corp., writes: "There is a huge need to build better relationships
with high school counselors, many of whom are convinced we are a dying
industry and are steering talented young people away from us. This is a
fact, and too few ASNE members realize it is happening."
If ever there ever was a time for all ASNE members to present their
ideas about diversity it is now. The increasing hostility of segments of
the public to affirmative action, the growing attention in newsrooms to
circulation and other issues, the sense of defeat surrounding the Year
2000 Goal — all encourage a critical, candid look at ASNE’s diversity efforts.
Please let me hear from you.
Loren Ghiglione, Director, Journalism Program, Room S414 Callaway
Center, Emory University, Atlanta GA 30322; fax 404/727-2370; e-mail lghigli@emory.edu.
Ghiglione, a past president of ASNE, is the director of the journalism
program at Emory University in Atlanta.
