Last Updated: August 13, 1999
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Time Out
As errors go, I suppose the timing couldn’t have been better. m
mIn the days leading up to the Time Out our paper co-sponsored a prayer
breakfast to coincide with the National Day of Prayer. This was no small
endeavor. Northwestern Alabama is, after all, one of the most well-worn
notches on the Bible Belt.
Event organizers took great care to ensure inclusiveness. The reporter
covering the breakfast took great care to fashion a story that reflected
each faith represented. And here is the lead, as it appeared in the paper:
A melting pot of Christian believers broke bread together Thursday
with a promise to seek God’s guidance in all areas of life.
The word Christian had been edited in to the story and passed through
two more copy editors. To exacerbate the problem, Christian was used as
the key word in the jump line.
Everyone was stunned. Sponsors, organizers and speakers. The reporter,
of course. And so was, I’m pretty sure, the rabbi who had offered a moving
prayer of peace the previous morning.
It gave our newsroom an early start on discussing matters of sensitivity
— and reinforced the realization that black and white issues of diversity
go well beyond race.
During the Time Out week, each section of our newsroom participated
in discussions primarily based upon two things: our own content audit and
the talking points from the Time Out kit. Our audit was simple. We took
a week’s worth of section fronts and highlighted men, women, whites and
non-whites in staff-written stories.
The audit, while not surprising, was visually striking.
According to the most recent census numbers, our community is 88 percent
white, and the audit certainly backed up those numbers. We write about,
and quote, mostly white men.
There was universal support for the premise that diversity is a core
value related to accuracy.
Another overriding theme emerged: accountability that rests upon the
shoulders of reporters and senior editors. There was strong support for
the idea that diversity should be measured during performance evaluations.
Several discussion groups charged that management’s dedication to diverse
hiring and coverage practices, like the Tennessee River that runs through
Florence, ebbs and flows. Staffers called on managers to:
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Educate, lead and to follow through on projects agreed on in the heat of
the moment.
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Design exercises, programs, or field trips to educate the staff about communities.
Likewise, reporters were challenged to go beyond different story angles,
but to a different mindset. Some thoughts:
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They cover the same things over and over. It’s all just shades of the same
thing. That kind of perspective is ‘anti-diversity.’
-
They ought to leave the office more often to gather news, get involved
one-on-one with members of the community. Coverage is too institutional
and “leader”-driven.
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They should “stop using the same token members of any group — race, gender,
political leanings, religion, liberal, conservative, etc.” — as the groups’
only representatives.
Finally, staffers committed to change declared: “We commit to getting past
resistance (and there will be resistance) or reluctant and/or stubborn
staffers.”
The exercise was a positive one. The audit and discussions brought all
the requisite feelings to the surface: People were defensive and defiant,
emotional and enlightened. It also generated real ideas and potential solutions.
Nash is managing editor of the TimesDaily of Florence, Ala.
