Last Updated: May 20, 1999
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Diversity
The ASNE mission statement on newsroom diversity
While American newsrooms have become more diverse in recent years, newspapers
will fall short of achieving racial parity in newsrooms with the population
by 2000.
ASNE reaffirms its commitment to racial parity in newsrooms and to full
and accurate news coverage of our nation’s diverse communities. The Society
urges everyone in journalism — newsroom professionals, publishers, educators,
journalism associations and others — to join the quest for greater newsroom
diversity.
ASNE has adopted the following mission statement on newsroom diversity:
To cover communities fully, to carry out their role in a democracy,
and to succeed in the marketplace, the nation’s newsrooms must reflect
the racial diversity of American society by 2025 or sooner. At a minimum,
all newspapers should employ journalists of color and every newspaper should
reflect the diversity of its community.
The newsroom must be a place in which all employees contribute their
full potential, regardless of race, ethnicity, color, age, gender, sexual
orientation, physical ability or other defining characteristic.
ASNE will pursue the following strategies, which may be expanded or
amended periodically:
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Conduct an annual census of employment of Asian Americans, blacks, Native
Americans, Hispanics, and women in the newsroom.
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Encourage and assist editors in recruiting, hiring and managing diverse
newsrooms.
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Expand ASNE efforts to foster newsroom diversity.
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Establish three-year benchmarks for measuring progress.
