Diversity in the Newsroom

The articles we discussed in class about the diversity in newsrooms really made me think about a couple of my past internships and their lack of diversity.

My first internship after my freshman year at IU was at a weekly paper in Oxford, Ohio. The staff consisted of only one reporter other than the editor -- both white men. The advertising department was run by a white woman, which offered a little bit of diversity in gender.

Until this class, I didn't exactly see how an all-male staff would influence news reporting. Then I began an internship in the marketing communications department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where I now realize all the difference.

My direct supervisors in the publications department at Miami University were all women. Most of the management was, and I felt more at home. I feel as if we worked as more of a group (as we discussed in class) and allowed for more flexibility and creativity. My boss was more than understanding if something came up that changed the schedules for interviews or anything else I needed to do.

However, the one thing that has always seemed to lack is diversity in races. I've never, in all eight of my internships, worked for a direct supervisor who was not white. I remember my time at Miami as needing to be sure pictures published in student publication materials had students of different races and genders and how important it was to stress the campus as multicultural and diverse, even though most of the management was not.

As I look back, I used to wonder why management was so concerned about the issue of diversity in its creative materials, though I understand now both personally and how a business needs it.

This article we read in class really struck my interest. I've seen the push for more diverse newsrooms or work environments on a local level, but I think the Post pushes this limit. I didn't find this as much of a valid argument for hiring a more diverse newsroom. When it comes down to it, the media focuses on the "typical white male" kind of reader. And when you have older white males on the management staff, I think you can be sure news will stick that way.

Even with the lack of diversity I've seen in internships, I do believe the most diverse newsroom I've ever seen would be the Indiana Daily Student. As a reporter and editor there, I was able to interact with people of all races and genders, and I think anyone who has had experience there can consider themselves lucky -- even though they probably won't see this much out in the real world.