Situation Definition
In an article commentary by Greg Toppo posted to Poytner, he discusses the lack of diversity in news organizations when it comes to covering education. He reports that just twenty-two percent of full-time journalists that report on education are people of color. In a country with far more diversity than twenty-two percent, that means there’s perspectives of education being missed by not having a more diverse reporting core.
Analysis
In Newsroom Diversity: Truth vs Fictionby Bryan Monroe, he discusses the problems of a lack of diversity within the newsroom: “Too many newspapers still cannot fully cover the richness and complexity of their communities because their staffs come from a limited perspective. We are unable to regularly listen to those in the shadows and too often incapable of hearing voices different from our own. We, therefore, are telling our readers an incomplete, inaccurate story.”
Not being able to give the readers a complete accurate story should ethically be seen as an issue for journalists. A journalist’s goal according to the SPJ code of ethics states a journalist should “boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience.” By only have a reporting core that has an overwhelming majority of white reporters limits the amount of diversity reporting in effect.
Education is the arguably the core of every country’s success. It has been a hot topic of debate across the political aisle on how education should be handled. I know personally with my mother being a second-grade teacher, that the general public does not fully understand how education works or how the day-to-day works within a classroom. Each student has their own story and accurate reporting could help minimize the misunderstanding of education across the country.
Where my mom teaches, a large percentage of the student population is Hispanic. However, in our county, a large percentage of people don’t understand the lives of the Hispanic community and there are hostile feelings between both sides. My family has gotten to deal with both sides through my mom, giving us a better understanding of what their lives are like.
Conclusion
When news organizations cover education in our area, the focus is more on how the tax money is being used or when a positive story comes out of the school. More stories should be run on student life and the hard work that goes in to a school day and the education of the children. Having a more diverse news core that covers this subject, I believe, will help better that reporting. A more diverse news core will have a better understanding of different student life, and bring new thoughts and opinions to the news that aren’t normally heard in today’s education news.
References:
Monroe, B. (2003). Newsroom diversity: Truth vs. fiction. Nieman Reports, 57(3), 29-31.
Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/216751085?accountid=13158
SPJ Code of Ethics (2014, September 6). In Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved
November 9, 2018, from https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Toppo, G. (2018, February 16). Guest column: The diversity gap in education reporting must close. In Poynter. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from
https://www.poynter.org/news/guest-column-diversity-gap-education-reporting-must-close