Situation Definition:
When most people think about the word diversity, they mainly think of race, and that is a big and important topic, but what I think of, as someone who has wanted to be a journalist for the majority of my life, is gender. I want to get involved in sports journalism, and that area is ruled mainly by men, so gender diversity is something that is widely important there.
Analysis:
In a study done by Stephanie Craft and Wayne Wanta, they found that newspapers with a higher percentage of female editors are more likely to be non-biased when it comes to assigning stories whereas men are more likely to be biased when they’re assigning stories. That’s an ethical problem because every journalist should have their own chance to get picked for what stories they get to write. They also found that when it comes to delivering news, when the editor is male, the news tends to be more negative.
Women have been working hard to get respect in the workplace, and the inequality is still very present in the newsrooms. In this day in age, because of the rise in women empowerment, women are probably more likely to reader publications that are gender equal, or that are ran by women.
Another ethical diversity problem is the case of race. On an article on poynter.org they state that, “U.S. history is filled with stories journalists got wrong because they excluded the perspectives of anyone who wasn’t a white male.” Which shows that journalists used to have a tendency to be not diverse when it came to race. In an article in the New York Times, they quote a case study was that done saying, “The study, which is part of a special edition on race and reporting, quotes Nikole Hannah-Jones, who covers racial injustice for the Times Magazine. “We’ve been hearing the same thing for decades,” she complains — quite rightly. “Newsrooms have not really changed.”” So, this shows that racial diversity is just as big of a problem now then it was back then.
Conclusion:
After conducting the research that I have, I’m now more fueled than ever to get into the world of news reporting in order to break the gender diversity that is happening in the newsroom. I also have learned that journalism is still trying to get to being as diverse and equal as it needs to be, but it still has a long way to go.
Refrences:
Sullivan, M. (2015, June 17). Newsroom Diversity: Why We Should Care. Retrieved from https://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/newsroom-diversity-why-we-should-care/
Craft, S., & Wanta, W. (2004). Women in the Newsroom: Influences of Female Editors and Reporters on the News Agenda. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(1), 124–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900408100109
Deggans, E. (2017, March 02). Why ethics and diversity matter: The case of Trayvon Martin coverage. Retrieved from https://www.poynter.org/news/why-ethics-and-diversity-matter-case-trayvon-martin-coverage