Solving the Lack of Diversity in the Newsroom

Professional journalism is and has historically been a cultural institution that legitimizes and strengthens normative Whiteness: news produced by predominantly White journalists, tailored to White communities and audiences, defines professional journalism.

Previously excluded from mainstream networks, the Black Press emerged as a counter-public where intellectuals and academics could share research and findings with a broader and more diverse audience. This counter-public allowed for the exposure of biased and racist news narratives and provided a space to counter and correct these perspectives. The postwar decline of the Black press and the rise of “universal objectivity” at the expense of racially specific news by and for people of color has led to a stagnation in equitable news production and consumption.

The majority of journalists remain disproportionately White: the lack of diverse viewpoints and equitable agenda-setting provides a risk to Schudson’s ideals of information, analysis, public forums, and social empathy. Generating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive news environment is crucial for the state of American democracy and for the deconstruction of institutional and structural racism.

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