So what’s so different about the news media?

April 13, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Newsrooms shrink; minority percentage increases slightly

The number of full-time journalists working at America’s daily newspapers shrank by 4.4 percent in the past year, the largest decrease in the past 30 years according to the annual census conducted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The percent of minority journalists working at daily newspapers grew minimally to 13.52 percent from 13.43 percent of all journalists, according to ASNE. ASNE marks the 30th anniversary of the survey in 2008. The annual survey was a direct outgrowth of the March 1, 1968, findings of the Kerner Commission report. The commission, created to study the causes of devastating riots in Newark and Detroit, was highly critical of the lack of coverage of black communities and the lack of minority journalists at mainstream newspapers and broadcast stations. The commission said that newspapers and TV stations shared some of the responsibility for the civil unrest because of their failure to adequately and fairly cover black communities over the years. ASNE created the annual Newsroom Employment Census in 1978 as a tool to measure the industry’s success toward its goal of having the percentage of minorities working in newsrooms nationwide equal to the percentage of minorities in the nation’s population. 

The 1978 census found an estimated 43,000 full-time journalists working as editors,

reporters, copy editors and photographers of which 3.95 percent were minorities. The 2008

census found 52,600 full-time journalists of which 13.52 are minorities. ASNE President Gilbert Bailon said, “The numbers represent a dual reality: It’s mildly encouraging that the minority percentage held steady despite difficult economic times that are causing many cutbacks. On the other hand, the total number of minority journalists employed at daily newspapers declined by nearly 300 people, which follows the pattern for the overall newsroom workforce. Such a trend will not help newspapers in their quest to reach parity with the minority population by 2025.”