Saluting the Diversity Pacesetters

New ASNE Award recognizes newspapers’ outstanding efforts in newsrooms at a time of increasing diversity across the nation

Building diverse newsrooms and maintaining them are challenges for editors across America.
 
But with the population growing ever more diverse — in the North and in the South, on the borders and in the heartland, in big cities and in smaller communities — diversity in the newsroom also is much more of a necessity.
 
As a community’s diversity increases, a more diverse newsroom enhances a newspaper’s ability to cover and connect with all segments of that community.
 
The sensitivity to issues, the understanding of nuances, the awareness of changes and the identification of significant stories all are improved by a diverse workforce. Accuracy is more certain with an attention and alertness to diversity.
 
And, with the changing communities, it is a decidedly good business decision to provide more content that will make more readers feel the newspaper (in print and online) cares about them and the people around them. A diverse staff helps send that message.
 
With a full understanding of the value of diversity in the newsrooms, the American Society of Newspaper Editors since 1978 has conducted a national survey tracking multiple aspects of newsroom employment and diversity. While many newsrooms still are not at high levels of minority staffing, others are leading the way in making diversity a priority. And still others, even if not at the staffing levels they ultimately hope for, have made great strides in a single year to increase staffing of people of color.
 
To recognize the best efforts and to encourage further progress, the ASNE Board of Directors and the ASNE Diversity Committee this year are instituting a special award — the ASNE Diversity Pacesetter Award.
 
The award recognizes pacesetting diversity work of newspapers based on the 2006 ASNE newsroom census. The award focuses on three critical areas: Diversity Index (comparing percentage of minorities on staff to percentage of minorities in the community), Percentage of Minorities on Staff and Percentage Increase in Minority Staffing.
 
The top overall winner in each of the three categories receives a $3,000 cash award provided by the Gannett Foundation.
 
To make these achievements relevant to newspapers of all circulation sizes, the Pacesetter Awards have been divided into seven circulation groups. On this Web site and in a companion publication we are noting not only the No. 1 newspaper but also four others in each circulation group. This lets editors better compare their newspapers to those of their peers and allows editors to see what it takes to come out on top.
 
As for “what it takes,” this Web site and its companion publication focus precisely on that.
 
We have asked 21 editors at the Diversity Pacesetter newspapers to reply to a series of questions. The answers show how the newspapers approach diversity in ways that make them pacesetters. The responses also underscore why they do it.
 
Through the answers, we hope others will both learn and be inspired to move ahead to better reflect our ever more diverse communities and nation.
 
We salute the Diversity Pacesetters, and we encourage all editors to work fervently to join their ranks in the years ahead.