| Diversity benchmarks adopted
Published: November 11, 2000
Last Updated: January 26, 2000
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ASNE on the move
ASNE adopted progressive benchmarks at its fall board meeting to guide
its efforts to reach parity with the minority population in newspaper newsrooms
by 2025.
ASNE approved benchmarks at three-year intervals on:
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increasing overall newsroom minority employment
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increasing the number of minority interns,
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increasing the number of minority supervisors
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reducing the number of newspapers with no minorities on staff, and
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measuring whether newspapers have achieved parity with their communities.
“These benchmarks are designed to show us where we are and how much further
we have to go by 2025. They will tell us if we are falling behind and where,”
said N. Christian Anderson III, ASNE president and publisher and CEO of
The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.
According to the 1999 ASNE Newsroom Employment Census, minorities now
comprise 11.55 percent of the reporters, copy editors, photographers, graphic
artists and supervisors at U.S. daily newspapers. Minorities comprise an
estimated 28.4 percent of the U.S. population, according to the latest
figures from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. By 2025, the minority population
of the United States will grow to an estimated 38 percent.
The Diversity Committee examined and discussed the areas where progress
was lagging and determined specific goals at three-year intervals for the
five target areas. This should help ASNE and others in the newspaper industry
determine where diversity efforts should be concentrated and if the programs
implemented are effective.
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