APME report finds mirror-opposite answers: Many minority journalists don't think whites have to work as hard while their white counterparts believe the same of minorities

By Gilbert Bailon

The 1996 APME Newsroom Diversity Study, which MORI Research of Minnesota conducted, concluded that "America's newsrooms are two different worlds." On questions ranging from job satisfaction to hiring and promotion opportunities, responses from whites and minorities differed starkly more often than they shared opinions.

"Minorities thought they had to work harder to get positions they weren't able to get," said Dino Chiecchi, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. "Whites thought that minorities worked less and were less deserving of the positions they received and didn't have to work hard to keep them. I found that staggering."

The nationwide study was done in cooperation with Unity '99, a consortium of four national minority journalist associations - NAHJ, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association.

Of 531 people polled, 202 were white, 115 African-American, 105 Asian American, 92 Hispanic and 17 Native American.

Many questions provoked mirror-opposite answers. For example, minorities believed they were less likely to be promoted, while whites - especially regarding African-Americans - felt that minorities were more likely to be promoted.

"While diversity has been a much ballyhooed concept in recent years and caused much angst among rank-and-file whites, it has had virtually no impact at the senior/hiring-firing/purse-string level," which remains white and male, an African-American journalist wrote.

But a white journalist wrote: "Our paper has bent over backwards to hire blacks and women for high-profile jobs at the expense of equally or more qualified white males. ... We don't look for the best people any more but the best blacks or women. That, to me, destroys credibility as much as not seeking diversity."

All minorities - especially African-Americans - said their everyday performance standards were higher than for whites. Whites felt standards were lower for minorities.

About two-thirds of the whites said their newspapers did a good job covering minority issues. Minorities, on the other hand, felt that newspapers do an inadequate job.

Questions about the future painted an ominous picture without intervention.

About half of the African-Americans said they plan to leave their current job or the media business in the next five years. About 40 percent of the Hispanics said they plan to stay at their newspapers but they want to be in a different position within five years. By contrast, almost 60 percent of Hispanics were pessimistic about their promotion chances.

More encouraging, though minorities were generally pessimistic about the overall status of minority journalists, many said they were more optimistic about their own careers and believed that they receive fair personal evaluations.

All journalist strongly agreed with these two statements: "A news staff should reflect society in terms of racial and ethnic makeup," and "Employing a diverse newsroom staff strengthens news coverage and credibility."

White women were the only group surveyed that was optimistic about chances for advancement at their newspaper or within the industry. Black women, however, were the least likely to feel respected or to feel appreciated.

Stuart Wilk, an APME board member and 1996 diversity committee chair, urged editors to use the study to open a discussion with their newsrooms.

"While diversity is discussed frequently in our newsroom, I don't hear discussions concerning some of the survey results. For instance, I don't hear much from white males who feel they are the least likely people in the newsroom to be promoted. I don't hear the debate about whether whites or minorities spend more time in entry-level jobs.

"Doubtless these topics are being discussed, but I think mostly in some private corner of the newsroom among like-minded colleagues," said Wilk, managing editor of the Dallas Morning News. "These discussions are fine for venting a spleen, but they don't help bring people together. There's likely no one present to challenge the set up assumptions being brought into the discussion."

To obtain a copy of the survey, write to Stuart Wilk, Managing Editor, Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265 or fax a request to 214/977-8164

Bailon is deputy managing editor of the Dallas Morning News.