The Future of Diversity in The News

THE FUTURE OF DIVERSITY IN THE NEWS
The future of diversity in the news

A REPORT to THE FORD FOUNDATION from the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEWS EDITORS
2011-2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Executive Summary
industry was in its financial heyday. In the ensuing four-plus decades, legacy newspapers newsrooms have become decidedly more diverse in both their make-up and their output. Yet, many of the same coverage, accuracy and credibility issues that sparked the initial concerns remain among communities of color. More and more minority journalists are leaving the news businesssome by chance, others by choice. Organizations fear that progress on many fronts is in full retreat. Yesterdays goals, unfortunately, were never reached, and tomorrows are even higher. We must resume the march forward. The vocabulary and the indices of news diversity must progress. Minority staffing, training, retention and advancement remain essential. What is most important in the future, however, is the impact they have on news contentthe principal driver of audience, engagement and the interactive experience of news consumption. In addition, news diversity must be seen to support a business model. That model needs to reflect the ability of relevant content to reach target audiences willing to pay for more effec-
ews diversity is an even bigger challenge now than it was nearly a half-century ago, when its landscape in the United States was mostly black and white, when ink-onpaper held a more dominant role in the delivery of news and when the newspaper

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
tive and essential news and information and a more essential experience. The urgency of the moment favors those who already value diversity over those yet to be convinced. For those who see diversity as a core value, it will require the identification of new resources to fund special efforts, while at the same time making diversitys basics a cost of doing business. Knowledge of diverse communities, including their many nuances, will need to be a core competency in the newsroom, around the business-side tables and in the boardroom as well. There are programs that work to address diversity challenges old and newprograms to knock down silos and make diversity something we talk about and something we do, too. There are ways to develop news managers and leaders of color; and to identify talent early and nurture it well. There are programs that constantly seek to improve the depth and sophistication of news of diverse communities. There are programs on entrepreneurship, as well as how to approach the new media. There even are monitors of diversity in online news. The Old Guard will need to cede some ground. Daily newspaper newsrooms reflect diversity in the news industry less so than they did 30, 40or even five or 10years ago. Nearly all of the larger daily newsrooms (which accounted for most of the diversity in the industry) are downsizing. The growth shows up in smaller digital operations and in niche product start-ups, many of which are aimed expressly at minority communities or even niches within the niches. And

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
diversity is being defined and identified in a plethora of non-ethnic ways. As part of its new role, the legacy daily news industry will do well to turn more to others for lessons in diversity success: to the U.S. military, for whom necessity has proven to be a mother of innovation to cable television networks, which have found ways to reach diverse audiences to management trainers, who have linked impediments to diversity to more for human resources managers; with creative programming; fundamental workplace traits. Younger journalists of color are more entrepreneurial than their predecessors. They exhibit more independence. They are less likely to covet long-term careers with legacy giants. They inhabit the online and social media world. Blacks and Latinos have emerged as the most frequent users of mobile media for news and information. And diversity has taken on a more generic identity, even seen as a way to drive the coveted process of innovation. It can improve the news, the welfare of the community and the business bottom line. News diversity is a 21st-century imperative. Milton Coleman
ASNE PRESIDENT, 2010-11, THE WASHINGTON POST
Diversitys future in the news media

CONTENTS VIDEOS MILTON COLEMAN ALY COLN MEI-MEI CHAN DORI MAYNARD MIKE ORESKES DORIS TRUONG
Introduction A look back at diversity in the newsroom Projects for diversity: A look at success Where we are with diversity Voices from the new media generation Where diversity discussions might be headed Diversity drives innovation. Innovation drives dollars
7 12 16 29 34 36 38 40 46 48 51
CREDITS
6 6 52 52 52 52
Written by ALY COLN Designed by SARA QUINN Photos by KENNY IRBY,

AND ISTOCK MICHAEL LUTZKY, JIM STEM,
CHARTS
Employment at daily papers 15 Mobile device usage by ethnicity 47 Strategies for mobile audiences 47 Chart notes from the conference 53
New business models at work The media, minorities and mobile Recruiting for diversity The future of diversity in the news
Video messages from Milton Coleman and Aly Coln

LEADERSHIP IN DIVERSITY COORDINATING COMMITTEE
RONNIE AGNEW, Mississippi Public Broadcasting; Co-Chair, ASNE Diversity Committee BOBBI BOWMAN, ASNE KAREN MAGNUSON, Co-Chair, ASNE Diversity Committee DORI MAYNARD, The Maynard Institute ARLENE MORGAN, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism MICHAEL ORESKES, The Associated Press MICHELE SALCEDO, National Association of Hispanic Journalists VIRGIL SMITH, Gannett Company ERNEST SOTOMAYOR, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism WALT SWANSTON, ASNE HOLLIS TOWNS, Associated Press Managing Editors DORIS TRUONG, Asian American Journalists Association
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MILTON COLEMAN and the MILTON COLEMAN (CLICK ON IMAGE)
DANA CANEDY, The New York Times MEI-MEI CHAN, The News Press, Ft. Myers, FL MAE CHENG, am NewYork, NY MILTON COLEMAN, President, ASNE ALY COLN, ASNE
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ALY COLN (CLICK ON IMAGE)
DESIREE DANCY, The New York Times JEANNE FOX-ALSTON, NAA Foundation JOANNA HERNANDEZ, Unity: Journalists of Color KENNY IRBY, The Poynter Institute
The future of diversity in the news

may manifest itself increasingly in new and varied ways: A website. A blog. A tweet. A Facebook update. Mobile phone access. And in outlets and media emerging and not yet known. These opportunities presented themselves during diversity conferences held under the auspices of the American Society of News Editors in 2011. They represent new options for pursuing an old goal that the news media began pursuing more intently toward the end of the 20th century to diversify their staffs, and by extension, their coverage.
The promise these new tools offer is a shift in approach to the diversity discussion, as well as how it takes place and what it involves. This shift may open more paths for those who seek novel opportunities for journalists of color and for those who desire creative options for connecting with diverse communities. What it signifies about how the future of diversity in the news may be framed became apparent during a conversation between Milton Coleman and Aly Coln in July, 2011. The conversation occurred at a place with its own diversity elements and suggested by Coleman, a senior editor at The Washington Post, a past president of ASNE, and the current president
ALY COLN, REPORT AUTHOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST, ASNE CONSULTANT MILTON COLEMAN, ASNE PRESIDENT, 2010-11, THE WASHINGTON POST
Milton Coleman notes signs of changing diversity in the news

Newspapers wont occupy the same position of power and influence they once did Newsrooms are not as large as they once were. Newswhere it emanates from, who produces it, and who receives itis more democratized New jobs are emerging and being handled by a smaller newsroom The atomization move
of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). We met at the Mio restaurant, which specializes in diverse Latin American urban cuisine in Washington. D.C. and is managed by a Puerto Rican. During that lunch meeting, we talked about what Coleman wanted from the group of journalists he had assembled to put on two diversity conferences. Funding for the conferences and other work associated with them came from the McCormick Foundation, the Philip L. Graham Fund, Gannett Foundation and The New York Times. Our discussion that day focused on how we wanted to shape the report being financed by the Ford Foundation that would draw upon these conferences and industry interviews and research. We agreed we needed to document the outcome of ASNEs goal to increase minority representation in daily newspapers, an effort that began in 1978. We also wanted to highlight diversity programs that worked. And we reflected on what had changed with regard to diversity in the news media, why it changed and the impact. Diversity, as we knew it, is over, Coleman said. What has also become clear is that while the size of the legacy medias newsrooms diminish, the digital side keeps growing. But unlike the growth of minority representation that had taken place in traditional newsrooms in the past, once reaching almost 13 percent, minorities make up less than 2 percent of the digital staff. And traditional newsrooms began experiencing a decline in diversity that has been documented by the annual census of newsrooms surveyed by ASNE. While there was progress over the past three decades, the progress doesnt match the
Michael Lutzky/Washington Post
Diversity, as we knew it, is over.
MILTON COLEMAN
U.S. population as a whole, said Karen Magnuson, editor and vice president/news of the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., and co-director of ASNEs diversity committee. In fact the newspaper industry is now losing ground, she added. This year, minorities in newsrooms accounted for 12.7 percent, a decline of .47 percent. And this marks the third year in a row of declines. The focus on increasing minority representation in newsrooms may no longer carry the same imperative it once did. It may require a change in the way we frame future discussions. We need to try to change the newsroom argument, Coleman said. We need to move it away from numbers to content. That content can now be created and distributed in distinct ways that have emerged with new technological tools, increasing the number of outlets accessible to individuals and organizations. These new communication tools make it possible for minorities and non-minorities, for legacy media and new media, to zero in on diverse communities and inform them about news and information that matters to them. When you consider that the U.S. Census shows that minorities made up almost half of this countrys births in 2009, and minorities will become the majority population within the next four decades, the business imperative for diversity becomes even more appealing. We need to find the diverse audiences that will make money, said Coleman, who worked with others dedicated to diversifying the news to bring together professionals from news, diversity and social media to talk about where wed been and where we needed to go. Two conferences took place this year under Colemans leadership, focusing on New
This year minorities in newsrooms accounted for 12.79 percent, a decline of .47 percent. And this marks the third year in a row of declines.
KAREN MAGNUSON , Editor,
Vice President of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and co-chair of ASNEs Diversity committee
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Models for Growing Audiences, Talent and Revenue. Walt Swanston, the former director of diversity at NPR and an ASNE consultant on diversity, and Mei-Mei Chan, president and publisher of The News-Press Media Group in southwest Florida, helped direct and coordinate a group of journalism volunteers representing a variety of news organizations and social media representatives. A June conference in Orlando, Fla held in conjunction with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference, explored where diversity in the news media stood, what needed to be done to cover todays diverse communities and what new models might be considered.
TONJA BROWN , CNN
senior
Diversity is not a consideration but an expectation, said Hollis Towns, executive editor and vice president of news at, The Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. We need to keep diversity top of mind, especially when the publisher calls and asks to meet numbers. Someone took a chance on me, Towns said, making it possible for him to succeed. Diversity is the business of what we do. In September, a conference in New York City sought to reframe the diversity discussion. It dealt with the organizational, business and technological benefits for those who want more thats different, rather than more of the same. Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of The New York Times and chairman of The New York Times Company, welcomed participants to the Times conference center. We must see our audiences and know them. But how do we reach them? he said. The timing is right.
editor for strategic integration talks with SWEET-JOY

HACHUELA at ASNE
the September
Leadership in Diversity
Session at The New York Times.
We must see our audiences and know them. But how do we reach them?
ARTHUR SULZBERGER, JR.
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These days we have the ability to know more about them than ever before. We use Facebook to know who they are, location-based apps like Foursquare to know where they are and Twitter to know what they are saying. We must embrace diversity. Magnuson made her own appeal. When it comes to the industrys survival, it becomes an issue of accuracy and credibility, first and foremost, but we need to make urgent progress in serving minority communities with better and more targeted journalism, she said. As the discussion of diversity took on new ideas and different frameworks, one thing stood out. What happens next on advancing the concept of diversity in the news media cannot be dependent on legacy institutions alone. They find themselves struggling to redesign, reorient and revive themselves. Instead, diversitys future must now embrace: Those individuals who believe diversity matters to their success Those individuals who see opportunities in the technological frontier where new tools allow communication to take place with diverse communities Those individuals who want to connect with diverse communities where they are And those individuals who seek ways to provide news in a manner that diverse audiences want to receive it. Diversitys future in the news media must be built upon its past successes, its present efforts and its future innovation.
While the size of legacy medias newsrooms diminishes, the digital side keeps growing. Less than two percent of the digital staff, however, includes people from different races.
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Key reports on newsroom diversity done in 1968 and 1978 show significant trends over time, with a current downward turn in employment over recent years. Photos above give a glimpse of the past, in the newsrooms of The New York Times and the front page of the Topeka State Journal. Photos from the Library of Congress.
A look back at diversity in the newsroom

To appreciate what the future holds regarding diversity, it may help to see what ignited the issue in the 20th century. Racial issues, conflicts and riots erupted in the U.S. during the 1960s and brought a spotlight to the news medias role in its coverage of them. The Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission report, delved into the news medias coverage of the 1967 summer riots. While the Kerner Commission concluded that the news media tried to provide a balanced, factual account of the 1967 disorders, it also asserted that it failed to report adequately on the causes and consequences of civil disorders and on the underlying problems of race relations. Among its recommendations, the commission urged that reporters familiar with urban and racial issues be assigned to the black communities. It also suggested more recruitment of blacks into newsroom ranks. A decade later, ASNE began an annual census of newspaper minority employment. It did so to offer a reliable baseline against which future progress can be judged, wrote Jay T. Harris, then assistant dean of Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He introduced a summary of the report in the spring of 1978. The study reported that in the 10 years since the Kerner Commission report the percent-
Racial issues, conflicts and riots during the 1960s brought a spotlight to the news medias role in its coverage of them.
age of daily newspapers with a minority journalist had only risen to 32 percent from 20 percent. It also noted that minority journalists accounted for only 3.95 percent of the staff, compared with minorities totaling 17 percent of the population. Minorities are underutilized and underrepresented in newspaper management, the study said, totaling only 1 percent. The report also noted some other key findings: The best minority employment records occurred at newspapers that set objectives and strove strongly to meet them Minority coverage excelled when integrated with total community coverage The lack of jobs among minorities in cities turned out to be the biggest nonreported story about minorities of the decade The ASNE committee issuing the report cited guidelines for newspapers seeking how to recruit, train and retain minority employees. The committee urged newspapers to keep the pressure on, develop personal relationships and make sure minority candidates have an opportunity to succeed. It pushed for the creation of appropriate standards, and for training on basic requirements and sharing expertise. The passion for change involving diversity became especially apparent when the committee worked with the staff associated with the staff of the Summer Program for Minority Journalists at the Institute for Journalism Education, which began as the Michele Clark Summer Program for Minority Journalists at the Graduate School of Journalism of Colum-
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Early reports on diversity made strong recommendations 1967 The Kerner Commision Report advocated that reporters familiar with urban and racial issues be assigned to the black communities. It also suggested more recuitment of blacks into its ranks. 1978 The ASNE annual census of newspaper minority employment pushed for the creation of appropriate standards and training.
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More than 6,000 journalists gathered in Atlanta in 1994 for the first Unity convention.
bia University and which would later become the Maynard Institute. Robert Maynard, a director with the program spoke frankly to committee members. The committee members reported that Maynard has also suggested that if the news business does not further desegregate newsrooms on its own initiative, there are those determined to use the full force of law to attempt to bring it about. When it released the study, ASNE set several goals for minority employment, including urging the industry to aim for newsrooms that mirrored minorities percentage of the population as a whole. The ASNE annual census became an annual snapshot of minority employment in newspapers. It captured successes and setbacks. The percentage of minorities inched up incrementally, from 3.95 percent in 1978, to 4.22 percent in 1979 to 4.89 percent in 1980, to 5.27 in 1981. By 1982, the rate of growth began slowing, reaching only 5.51 percent. In 1983, it ground to a near halt, the study reported, topping out at 5.60 percent. The next year it began growing again, making modest gains that continued until about 2007. The urge to diversify the American newsroom manifested itself in a variety of ways. Newspapers created diversity committees. A number of news organizations made a concerted effort to seek out, recruit, train and promote minority journalists. Groups including the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Associations, and the Native Ameri-
The ASNE workplace census began in 1978
At a peak in both 2006 and 2007, the percentage of minorities employed in U.S. newsrooms was estimated at 7,400.
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Minority employment at daily newspapers

Projections based on responses to annual employment census (numbers rounded)
TOTAL NEWSROOM WORKFORCE MINORITY NEWSROOM WORKFORCE
1990
56,900 4,500
2006
2007
1978
43,000 1,700
53,600 7,400
55,000
7,400
2011
5,300
41,600
YEAR
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
02
04
06
08
10
SOURCE: ASNE
can Journalists Association sought to help their members receive training and invited news organizations to their annual conventions. In the mid-1990s, NABJ, NAHJ, AAJA and NAJA banded together to hold the first of their periodic Unity Conventions. The minority associations began projects that sought to increase opportunities for their membership to move into leadership positions and partner with news organizations to improve diversity. AAJAs executive leadership program and NAHJs Parity Project were just two examples. The Maynard Institute, the Freedom Forums Diversity Institute, ASNEs Diversity Leadership Institutes and the Poynter Institute were among those offering opportunities to educate and train journalists and news organizations about diversity.
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Projects for diversity and how they work

The latter part of the 20th century and the early part of the 21st century saw a number of organizations engaging in projects aimed at improving diversity in the news media. Here is a sampling of them, as articulated by those most familiar with how they worked.
Mei-Mei Chan, President and Publisher, The News-Press Media Group, Fort Myers, FL
I brought together nearly 60 individuals across departments in a strategic planning process last summer. This included line employees up to department heads.
MEI-MEI CHAN, THE NEWSPRESS MEDIA GROUP
Some had never worked with or even spoken to folks in other departments. Most had not been involved in strategic development. The objectives and outcomes included: Gaining diverse perspectives to help develop our strategic plans. Educating staff about our organization in its broad scope. Breaking down silos and building new relationships. Energizing staff with a strategic vision and a call to innovation. More substantive results because of our inclusive process, helping inform a
more robust strategic roadmap
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Joanna Hernandez, President, Unity, Journalists of Color
New U: News Entrepreneurs Working Through UNITY is a competitive program for journalists of color who want to become news entrepreneurs. Founded in 2010 with a grant from The Ford Foundation, New U has helped increase the number of innovative thinkers and product developers who are of color, providing them with a forum in which to develop and express innovative ideas. In addition to offering a unique formula based in training and one-on-one mentoring, New U includes a competition for start-up funding to assist media entrepreneurs in realizing their ideas. It is a project with tremendous energy, driven by committed volunteer mentors and speakers and motivated competitive applicants. Earlier this year, The Ford Foundation renewed its commitment to the program with a grant to run the program for an additional two years. This enables selected journalists of color to participate in a 2.5-day boot camp and includes a competition for start-up funding to assist news entrepreneurs in realizing their ideas. The winning entrepreneurs are awarded seed money to help fund their business ideas; four news entrepreneurs were awarded $5,000 each in 2010; the start-up fund for the class of 2011 is $10,000 each. New U is implemented out of the UNITY: Journalists of Colors headquarters in collaboration with UNITYs alliance partners.
JOANNA HERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT OF UNITY
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Rhonda LeValdo-Gayton, President, Native American Journalist Association.
The Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) hosted a program called New Media in Indian Country last spring 2011 at the University of Oklahoma (where our offices are). The program was to introduce tribes to different forms of
RHONDA LEVALDO-GAYTON, NATIVE AMERICAN JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION
media that were being used by tribes and maybe get them to be more involved. The program though was not only for Natives it was open to everyone, and I think a lot of our guests were quite surprised to learn that tribes are using technology to help keep their culture alive. For example, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma worked with Apple to have the Cherokee Language be an option on the iPad, iPhone, and computers so that their tribal members could type and text in Cherokee. This not only engages the user to keep using their language, but also keeps the language alive in our younger generation, who likes to text and be on computers. Another example was a tribe who was using the Internet to broadcast their own newscast about their tribe. It not only gave their own tribal members news about their tribe, but also, outsiders who wanted to watch as well. The whole program was broadcast via livestream to those outside of Oklahoma who wanted to view the workshop. We are hoping we can do this again in the spring, I think it showed many people that tribal members are engaging in technology.
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Marian Liu, Community Manager at Storify.com
There are two programs that I was involved in that I think worked out. First Voices that I directedits a multimedia program for minorities where we train them in all the different disciplines. The other one was one I worked with Knight Ridder ona leadership forum for employees under 30, to share their ideas with the executives. I think the most important is not only to count diversity in race, but gender and ageand to make sure its reflected in their coverage and in the voice the employees have the organization. These two programs were successful because they strove to represent and to reflect. Its a difficult path these days. I have a lot of friends who have left the business. The usual statistic I hear is that minority journalists leave after 5 years after seeing there is little chance of advancement. I think that the number of years is even less these days. Now, media often cut the ones with less seniority first - and this oftentimes means the minority journalists, so numbers are real low. Looking into the next wave of journalismin the entrepreneur arena, the minority numbers still look very bleak. I think organizations, like ASNE, need to hold old media as well as new media accountable for hiring and growing minority journalists.
MARIAN LIU, STORIFY.COM
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Dori Maynard, president, Maynard Institute
Our organization has a four-decade history of training journalists of color to work in and lead news organizations across the country. Currently, our training offerings
DORI MAYNARD,
include digital training and management/leadership training. Even in this treacherous climate, our graduates are continuing to lead and innovate in the industry. Some of those who have been laid off credit us with giving them the skills to start anew as entrepreneurs. We attribute our success to the focused and immersive nature of our programs that allow us to fully ground our participants in the skill sets we are teaching. The residential programs also give our participants the opportunity to bond with each other, creating a life-long support network. Many have reported that these networks have helped them through the rough patches we all endure in our careers. This bonding does not stop with their fellow participants. Maynard Alums also forge strong ties with the faculty and grads from previous and successive years.
Arlene Notoro Morgan, Associate Dean of Prizes and Programs, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University
THE MAYNARD INSTITUTE
For 10 years, beginning in 1999, the Ford Foundation sponsored the Columbia
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School of Journalisms Lets Do It Better! Workshop on Journalism, Race and Ethnicity at Columbia. That led to the creation in 2007 of a text book/DVD/ and website project called The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity that is now widely used in journalism programs in college and high school. First, the workshop enabled Columbias School of Journalism to convene an important annual event to recognize good work and to use that work to teach other journalists how to adapt the projects to the racial and ethnic coverage needs of their own newsrooms. The workshop also helped top editors and news directors to get over their fear of conducting conversations about the coverage of race and ethnic issues. I have used the book and the workshop template in journalism schools and organizations in China, Spain, New Zealand, including with the Maori, and for customized workshops targeting international journalists who have come to the school from Germany, Denmark, and Italy, as well as in my own classroom. The New Zealand Journalism Association now runs a competition similar to Lets Do It Better. I think the investment Ford made in sponsoring these workshops and the book resulted in a long-term payoff that I have not seen with many other journalism training initiatives. I still hear periodically from editors and reporters who would like me to resume the workshops because they were of such high value. We are now fund raising to create a Center on Race and Ethnicity that would include an academic chair, a fellowship program for professionals and the resumption of Lets Do It Better.
ARLENE NOTORO MORGAN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
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The value added here is the book because it allows journalism educators to bring these stories and the interviews with some top journalists in the field into the classroom; many of which have no other way to talk about the coverage of race and ethnic issues that these students will have to tackle in a changing society, not only here but globally. This misunderstandings, biases and prejudices about race are global issues, not just American ones.
Virgil Smith, Vice President/Talent Acquisition and Diversity, Gannett
Gannetts Talent Development Program (TDP) is a model diversity program with the goal to recruit and retain the highest performing individuals and grow them as
VIRGIL SMITH, GANNETT
future leaders of the company. Our goal is to ensure Gannetts workforce will reflect our communities. The TDP strategy is to recruit the highest potential college graduates, place them in a job at Gannett and have them complete a 10-week orientation- style-training program. Following the completion of the program, the successful participants are awarded a full-time position at a Gannett newspaper, television station, digital operation, or USA TODAY. Currently there are 72 graduates in the program. The program, which is in its sixth year of existence, has a retention rate of 68%. The ethnic and gender composition is 36% minority; 64% non-minority; 83% female and 17% male. The employees work as journalists, sales account executives, marketing specialists,
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analysts, broadcast producers and multimedia journalists. The programs success is due to the fact that these talented employees bring diverse perspectives, new skill sets, passion and energy that supports Gannetts strategic plan.
Mark Trahant, Writer, former editorial page editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
I am going the independent route, its just me. The whole diversity in journalism movement, it seems irrelevant to what I do. I write for American Indian and Alaska Native readers because the media is not doing that. I remain grateful for my thirty years in the newspaper business. But I have been out of that industry for nearly three years. And, while I would never say never, its unlikely I will ever work for a newspaper company again. So my focus has shifted to my own, independent practice of journalism. I have been fortunate in finding a unique audience through digital means and earning a living from my enterprise. One of my concerns, probably because of my own experiences, is looking at the talent thats left the newspaper business. Newspapers without the people who can look back at the last decade (or three or five) are simply reporting what happened today. Unfortunately those are stories that lack in meaningful contextespecially in the diversity arena.
MARK TRAHANT, WRITER
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Jeanne Fox-Alston, Vice President/NAA Foundation, Newspaper Association of America
offered by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation encourage diverse leadership

JEANNE FOX-ALSTON VICE PRESIDENT/ NAA FOUNDATION NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Oftentimes, discussion of diversity in the news media focuses on the newsroom. But programs
among those responsible for revenue, audience development and strategyaka the business
sideas well as the newsroom. Indeed, just about every executive or senior manager of color in the newspaper industry including corporate executives, publishers, advertising and circulation directors, executive editors and more have participated in leadership development programs offered by NAA and NAAF over the years.
managers of color participate in monthly webinars and small group discussions in addition to talking with their advisers (senior industry executives) and completing assignments. Further, halfway through the program, the fellows all attend mediaXchange, NAAs annual
Our current signature program is PowerMind. Over six months, the PowerMind fellows all
convention. For three days, they hear and participate in discussions of current industry issues and trends while sitting in on sessions on new revenue models, digital strategies, customer engagement and more. But one of the best things about PowerMind is what they learn from each other. While shar-
ing insights on how to improve specific leadership skills, business-side managers gain a better
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understanding of newsroom culture while those in the newsroom learn about business plans and return on investment. When the 2011 PowerMind class graduated last summer, they all talked about increased confi-
dence, more clarity about their career goals and how to achieve them, and new and more productive relationships with colleagues throughout their companies. One editor, asked about successes because of her participation in PowerMind, shared that she
had supervised a news project that resulted in more than $62,000 in new money. She added,
Thanks to the many tips offered by PowerMind, I teamed up with colleagues in the marketing and advertising departments to sell ads and sponsorships for the publication of news products in print anticipated by the end of the year. and online tied to a single event: the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion. More profits are These days, finding ways to profitably meet the news and information needs of a multicultural
and multigenerational society is a complex task. But as that success story shows, programs like everyone can be tapped.
PowerMind help to break down the silos at news organizations so that the combined expertise of
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Keith Reed, Senior Editor ESPN The Magazine; Treasurer, National Assoc. of Black Journalists
In 2010, NABJ instituted its Executive Suite program, aimed at preparing AfricanAmerican journalists for leadership roles in news organizations. The program runs during the NABJ convention and is run in partnership with the Executive Leadership
KEITH REED, SENIOR EDITOR, ESPN THE MAGAZINE
Council, a nonprofit organization whose mission is developing African-American corporate leaders. Participants attend classes which have focused on maximizing technology to engage readers, budgeting, personnel management and successfully navigating their way into executive roles. The sessions have been led by leaders including as Mark Whitaker, executive vice president and managing editor, CNN Worldwide, Jonathan Rodgers, former president, TV One, and Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman, The New York Times Co. The principle underlying Executive Suite is that diversity in media companies is a bottom-line business imperative and is most efficiently achieved when there are diverse executives who make it a company priority. NABJ, then, must continue its leadership role in developing a pipeline of African-American journalists ready for executive roles.
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As a primary distributor of information, media organizations shape public policy, economic trends and every other significant facet of American life. A homogeneous news media in an increasingly diverse society, then, is doing a disservice. Recent instances of the news medias coverage of itself to illustrate the point: industry journal TV Week recently released its annual list of the most powerful people in television news, which included no nonwhites. Likewise, Forbes annual 30 Under 30 list of important media figures included only one nonwhite person. If the media believes that only whites inside its own ranks who are noteworthy, how can it be fair or accurate in reporting and shaping a diverse publics opinions on critical issues? Media companies now and into the future will be more entrepreneurial organizations in which new content and technologies will be tested and launched at a rapid pace. Those companies must make sure that a pipeline of diverse talent is working on every initiative from the executive level down.
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Doris N. Truong, President, Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association started its Executive Leadership Program in 1995 to address a lack of our members in newsroom management positions.
DORIS N. TRUONG, ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
ELP helps Asian Americans address cultural issues that might be holding them back in U.S. newsrooms, which have tended to be dominated by Caucasian men who had a certain expectation of how their managers should look and behave. ELP has nearly 400 graduates, and a large majority of them report that after the program training, they have earned promotions or moved on to jobs that are more professionally fulfilling. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. Only four publishers of American newspapers are Asian American; two of them are ELP graduates. Only a handful of general managers at news stations are Asian American. And we dont have data on who is in charge in digital newsrooms. We all know that news is more accurate when people who make the decisions are aware of the many nuances of diversity, which increasingly goes well beyond ethnicity.
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Where we are with diversity

By 2010, continued economic turmoil, the deterioration of the traditional news business model and an uncertain future for newspapers led to belt-tightening and continual rounds of layoffs. Eventually, the minority employment percentage began to fall. Magnuson, speaking at the September, 2011 New York City conference on Leadership in Diversity discussed how that downturn had affected the annual newsroom census. While there was progress over the past three decades, the progress doesnt match the U.S. population as a whole. In fact, the newspaper industry is now losing ground, Magnuson said. This year minorities in newsrooms accounted for 12.7 percent, a decline of .47 percent. And this marks the third year in a row of decline. There are no figures that report percentages of minorities working for online-only news websites as adequately as those the annual ASNE census has used to report daily newspaper newsroom diversity for nearly three decades. That stems from several factors. The number of online-only news sites participating in the ASNE survey represents less than fifty, compared to several hundred newspapers included each year. Size plays a role, too, with many of the online-only news sites having fewer than 15 employees. Also, part-timers and freelancers often provide the content to such news sites, and ASNE hasnt counted them in their surveys. In addition, some larger online organizations that provide newssuch as AOL-Patch and Yahoodeclined to give out numbers. In an effort to expand its survey, ASNE has decided to include those of mixed race as part of their census. That will establish a new baseline.
It may speak to the challenges faced by onine news organizations when it comes to minority participation. Or it may simply mean they dont see diversity as a priority.
Minority jobs among online news sites are more difficult to track
30
Organizations think that if they just hire enough people it will work out. But it doesnt.
HOWIE SCHAFFER, VP AT COOK ROSS, A FIRM THAT SPECIALIZES IN DIVERSITY ISSUES
Whatever the numbers and percentages maybe in the legacy media, or the online media, Coleman noted that the news media as a whole no longer has the presumed credibility it may have had at one time with communities of color. No clear business model exists to support those who specialize in certain types of news, he added. And he pointed out that the newspapers no longer enjoy the same easy access to people that they once did. Whats clear is that relevant content is important, Coleman stressed, which means that diversity will play an important part of any successful media outlet. To understand what role diversity can play in the news medias future, the discussion of that role needs to be reframed, suggested Howie Schaffer, a vice president at Cook Ross Inc, a firm that specializes in diversity issues. Schaffer told conference participants that diversity conversations have focused on: The U.S., race, gender and cultural assimilation Reparative, us vs. them, equal opportunity, affirmative action, political correctness Event-based and training-oriented approaches The diversity discussion needs to be reinvented, he said, to deal with: Globalism, cultural flexibility Unconscious perceptions and behaviors Future-oriented, system-based, cultural change We have culturally competent people working in culturally incompetent organizations, Schaffer said. They think that if they just hire enough people it will work out. But it doesnt. Schaffer pointed out that industry research shows that employee performance is declin-
31
ing, with high levels of extra effort declining by 64 percent since 2005; that the disengaged were 31 percent less likely to quit in 2009 compared to with 2006; that 25 percent of high potential employees plan to quit in the next 12 months; and employee commitment is up for grabs, with about three-fourths neither fully committed or uncommitted. Making people feel included could change that. But the road to inclusion requires people, and organizations, to move from being blind about their biases to cultural competency, he added. Bringing in diverse people isnt enough. Schaffer used the example of pouring chocolate syrup milk into a glass of white milk. The chocolate descends to the bottom of the glass. You need to stir it to get inclusion, he said. Any lasting change requires moving from awareness to becoming operational to transformation, Schaffer said. Without knowing the unconscious bias that exists, it becomes difficult to deal with it. Its easy to miss something youre not looking for, he said. Recognizing a bias not only enables news people to address it, but also to use it, even exploit it. The Root, a website owned by the Washington Post Company, focuses on black news, politics and culture. Founded by the Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 2008, The Root wants its audience to know it provides news and commentary from an African-American perspective. Why a black website? The Internet is segregated already, said Joel Dreyfuss, The Roots managing editor. What we see ourselves doing is filling in the gaps, in news coverage. Root assumes people are getting info from other sources, and we bring the black perspective, he said.
MULTI-DIRECTIONAL CONVERSATION
It becomes important to
recognize the diversity conversation. Today it
discussion is not a linear includes many different groups with discussion going on between them, as well as the one that might take place between just blacks and whites.
32
Root assumes people are getting info from other sources, and we bring the black perspective.
JOEL DREYFUSS, MANAGING EDITOR OF THE ROOT
Dreyfuss noted that most of the diversity discussion in the news media involves hiring, not coverage. Thats the fundamental issue for African-Americans who want to know whats happening in their community, he added. For us, were interested in the intellectual life of Black community, Dreyfuss said. Launched at the time of the 2008 presidential election, The Root benefited from the attention generated by Barack Obama. It learned that a strong voice about the news helped the website become increasingly popular. We take news and give it an opinionated twist, Dreyfuss said. We take a lot of time to find the Root angle on a story. For example, the Arab Spring prompted us to focus on a Black man who lived in Egypt and how Black people were regarded. This conscious approach to creating a Black conversation catapulted The Root to become the No. 1 online destination for a Black audience, Dreyfuss said. The Root draws almost two million unique visitors a month, he noted, with non-Blacks accounting for between 20 to 30 percent of its users. While some see opportunities for diversity by narrowcasting, others wonder what it will take to imbue their own organizations with diversity initiatives that work. In addition, to recognizing the dimensions of diversity, speaking truth to the diversity, or lack of it, must take place as well, Schaffer, a VP at the diversity consulting firm of Cook Ross, Inc., said. We need conversations for accountability, he said, We need true accountability that fits your organization. Ultimately, its about trust. The major difference now compared with 20 years ago is the environment in which such
Start thinking what you can do. Dont be looking at others.

MEI-MEI CHAN, PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER, THE NEWS-PRESS MEDIA GROUP
33
conversations take place. Previously, news organizations seemed solid. They had a history to overcome and a future to create. They seemed stable. But how do conversations about diversity take place today when no organizational stability appears to exist? While some may call it an environment of scarcity, others see it not as an issue of resources but of core values. So whats in it for the organization to overcome organizational bias? The Assistant Secretary to the U.S. Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Juan M. Garcia III told conference participants that one way the U.S. Navy addresses organizational bias is by letting its commanders know that if they cannot lead as diverse a crew as possible, they wont be promoted. His advice for creating a more diverse organization involves casting a net thats as wide as possible. We did so, without lowering the bar, Garcia said. How does that compare with whats happening in the civilian world? Commonalities include enlightened self-interest, Schaffer said. But individuals continue to hold on to individual self-interest. People in scarcity will operate differently than in abundance. Scarcity breeds self-interest and paranoia. Organizational budgets are an articulation of their values, he added, and if diversity fails to occupy a place on the budget, its not a priority. Diversity requires a longer strategy, and longer strategies are often eschewed in time of scarcity, he said. Recognize the risk, Schaffer said. Theres risk. But there is reward. Small gamble, small result. Big gamble, large result. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
MEI-MEI CHAN, GROUP THE NEWS-PRESS MEDIA
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The Millennial Mindset: Voices from the new media generation

Regarding news
Emi Kolawole: I tweet while Im talking. This is the fastest way to communicate. website, you need to be careful. nity to talk about itself. My goal is to get a new commuinternational relations. What excites me right now is that Ive gotten all this experience and excited about where I could go, and the endless possibilities. I Some of the best ideas come out of random conversations. We have random pods (work work at The Washington Post.
An excerpt of a panel discussion featuring comments from Millennials on consumer news, news relevance, career paths and newsroom culture.
Hernandez: Its web culture to teach yourself things. But its not true that (young people) know everything. They know
Robert Hernandez: Brand is
er to have our own brand. But

ROBERT HERNANDEZ, USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL
dead. Now we all have the pow-
technology. But not how to use it for storytelling. Young people know about the problems with the journalism world, but they have an impact. Im an aca-
what matters now is relevancy. If the information is relevant, I dont care where it comes from. Kolawole: Gawker is my entertains.
groups). We have young pro-
ducers sitting at different desks incredibly organic experience. Hernandez: More young
do it because they feel they can demic who wants to guide the young people. Its an exciting in the industry, the pay was time. When older people started bad. Its still that way today. But media roles.
and talking to each other. Its an
favorite site. It aggregates and
people are willing to go to a startup, or start their own (business). My success is when I go rogue. You have to know your place, but also that (most) how to use Twitter, html, Facebook, etc. others in the room dont know
With regard to creating new

EMI KOLAWOLE, PRODUCER, POSTPOLITICS.COM
products, if youre interested in creating a new print product, youre barking up the wrong
thats not why people do go into
tree. If you want to create a new
Kolawole: I had a double
major, theater studies and
35
On career paths
Kolawole: Career paths? Theres a path? Where is it? I think that the career ladder is nonexistent. Its a really inter-
Kolawole: The Post is good at is fantastic at the Post. Shes
setting up mentors. (My mentor) opened doors for lot of commuin you. Its not that the model is open to ideas. At the Post, Ive never been dismissed outright because of my professional status. Hernandez: For me, I am
more Sunday readers. News is the (stories) I want to share.
a salon experience. I Facebook Then we have a conversation. My Facebook feed is a mix of different data. Brands speak with a louder voice.
On diversity
Hernandez: It was me and a The Seattle Times. Korean who knew Spanish at
nication. At the Post, they invest not suffering as much its not as
Feed and flow of commentary.
esting garden maze. You need to smell the flowers. Youd be surprised where you end up. I want to expand my educa-
Kolawole: I do care (about
Hernandez: My Facebook is
diversity.) The idea of holding the way my parents did and
tional horizons. Pour myself into everything I do. I started in politics. Now Im doing innovation.
about my kid for my mom. Twitof people citing the same thing, it gets my attention. Theres not one place to go to. Tumblrs are the new rage. We innovate more in storytelling, but not innovative in advertising. Youre not going to be everything for everybody. You should not be do best and link to the rest, said Jeff Jarvis.
diversity close to your heart is their parents did. But I focus on how I can do my work better. Im not thinking about furthering before me worked hard so I could do what Im doing.
the product of Unity mentor-
ter is for news. When I see a lot
ship program in 1999. I made everyone a mentor, whether they knew it or not. Web culture is to put it out there. I dont care if you dont give me credit. I share above and share below. The point is to figure it out in beauty of it. teaching. Go find out. Thats the
Hernandez: (Its) empowering. And scary as well. Because theres no career path. Were slashing our way through.
diversity. But I know that people
like someone with a machete, People are trying to figure out want to do is this and survive.
Hernandez: (Diversity) is a part Weve heard this conversation there doing it.
how to do what we do. What we
the Daily Show. Do what you
of you, but it doesnt define you. for so long we got it. Were out
marily New York Times readers,
Kolawole: My friends are pri-
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How to stay true to our mission and audiences? By better connecting with them via the channels that matter to them.
Where diversity discussions might be headed

When we look at a statistical portrait of the diversity of the U.S., what would we see? In the last U.S. Census, there were 308 million people, of which one-third were minorities. Hispanics amounted to 16 percent, becoming the largest minority group, totaling 50.5 million. African-Americans followed, with 13.9 percent, or 38.9 million. Asians accounted for about 5 percent, or 14.7 million and American Indians/Alaska Natives came to 0.09 percent, or 2.9 million. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders were the smallest of the major race groups with 500,000 people. The growth ethnic/racial groups continue outstripping the white population and are projected to do so in the future. At the ASNEs conference in New York, Towns urged the news
industry not to hesitate in its pursuit of diversity initiatives. We cannot keep dithering, he warned. We cannot fail. It should not merely be a part of a singular business model but rather reflect the essence of our core values. He added, Lets fulfill the promise beginning today. Sulzberger urged the news media to address the increasingly diverse population by looking inward. Without a diversified workforce, he said, the industry will lack other elements that matter.
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Why havent we also diversified our workforces so they represent the audiences they speak to every day? Without a diverse group of journalists crafting the news that people want to read, there would be no audience; no monthly uniques to measure, no subscribers or followers on Twitter, he said. We just stay true to our mission of delivering the news and information that matters to our audiences by better reflecting their communities and connecting with them via the channels that matter to them. Coleman remembers what it was like when the push for minorities in journalism began. That memory, and the recognition that diversity in the news media needed to be reframed, moved him toward the 2011 initiative that he led through two conferences. In an article he wrote for Nieman Reports that focused on fresh strategies and news goals, he reflected on what he saw taking place. The dominance of newspapers is fading or gone. They are less essential to broader clusters of readers, replaced by the trimmed down, sped up digital news, he wrote. Yet communities of color still need and want journalism that holds governments, institutions and people accountable and provides insight and understanding on issues that reflect the totality of their lives. Thats what we hope the entrepreneurial talent and mindset of the children and grandchildren of the post-Kerner era will produce. In short, Coleman said, We need to find the diverse audiences that will make money.
The platform for journalism will continue to change. Yet communities of color still need and want journalism that holds governments, institutions and people accountable and provides insight and understanding on issues that reflect the totality of their lives.
MILTON COLEMAN
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Diversity drives innovation. And innovation drives dollars.

Frans Johansson delivered that message at the New York City conference. Johansson, author of The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts and Cultures, believes that when you change the rules, differentiation takes place. We must break new ground, Johansson said. Diversity drives innovation. Diversity of
FRANS JOHANSSON,
author of
cultures, gender, race, functions, disciplinesanything that gives you different takes on opportunities. Better ideas, and more of them, take place at the intersections, he stressed. Diversity does that. When you create diverse teams, surrounding yourself with people who are different from you, it becomes easier to come up with creative ideas, Johansson said. Since you create new ideas based on what you know, there is a need to leverage existing diversity. The world we live in is getting more diverse, he noted. But Im making a different argument: if you bring different people together you come up with better ideas. The world is connected. You need someone make those connections. And that somebody should be you. Johansson used the Medici family of Florence and its contributions to the Italian Renaissance as an example of how creativity came out of the sponsorship of different types of art and humanism.
groundbreaking bestseller, The Medici Effect: What Elephants & Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation, spoke at the conference.
We are attracted to people similar to ourselves. So we need to make combinations occur.
39
FRANS JOHANSSON, AUTHOR
He sees the Medici Effect as a way to advance diversity through three facts: Fact 1: All new ideas are combinations of existing ideas. Johansson noted that not all ideas are created equal. Consider the bikini and the burqa, he said, noting that a Muslim woman designed the burquini, a stylish, full-body bathing suit for Muslim women. Fact 2: People that change the world try for new ideas. Johansson said we are horrible at predicting what will work. So we have to keep on trying. The story were told is how ideas are brilliant and successful. But Wikipedia followed Nupedia, which was created to reach out to experts and put their knowledge online. Nupedia got only 20 posts. So Wikipedias founder decided to open it up to everyone. Fact 3: Diverse teams can unleash an explosion of new ideas. This, Johansson noted, is a mathematical argument. Rock musicians connecting with classical music result in new ideas in rock music.
JOEL DREYFUSS
listens to
Johansson during the wrap up session at Septembers conference.
40
New Business Models at Work
Excerpts of a panel discussion:
Jan Schaffer, executive director, J-Lab, The Institute for Interactive Journalism
Stories about how Latinos were being frisked by police, how African-American men were being jailed, stories gotten from the communities themselves. The Seattle Times Net-J Project, which had no marketing, had readers thanking The Seattle Times for letting them conJAN SCHAEFFER, J-LAB, THE INSTITUTE FOR INTERACTIVE JOURNALISM
nect with niche communities. This improves their brand and it encourages more advertising. Here are our 10 tip new entrepreneurs interested in new models: 1. Map the landscape 2. Test drive your idea 3. Wire frame the project 4. Pick a business structure 5. Develop a plan 6. Craft an elevator pitch (figure out Whats your Ask) 7. Build a Website 8. Gather content 9. Launch with fanfare 10. Tell your Story
Tonja Brown, senior director, strategic integration, CNN
No matter who you are, you want to see your interests in the news. You need to pay attention to what it is your audience is paying attention to when they arent paying attention to you. Its how you attract the audience that will make your brand more valuable. Dont allow challenges to get you stuck. Getting stuck is one of the major challenges. Lati-
41
nos being fragmented. That challenge causes people to stop there. So you need to be agile. In the movie, No Country for Old Men, I like the clip where the guy makes the character Call it. Is it ever easy to call it? But should that stop you? Need is also a need for people behind the scenes who know the community and the structure. We focus on whos behind the microphone, but also would benefit from knowing executives, too.
Paul Cheung, project director, OurChinatown, New York, and Interactive and Graphics Editor, The Associated Press Headquarters, New York
We applied for McCormick Foundation grant for Our Chinatown. 30,000 Chinese in New York City area. We saw a niche between Chinese newspapers and mainstream media. How do we develop a platform for the phone since minorities use mobile to get information? So we are having news reporters using mobile phones to gather, report and upload information and send it to a mobile audience. We send out brief reports, or digests in Chinese. We wanted to make it easy. We use Wordpress. Most of our users are not app users. So we wanted to make it simple and easy. The concept will run from April to December. No advertising. We average 7,000 unique visitors a month. Were covering just Chinatown right now. Imagine if we expand to Brooklyn and Queens. We got involved right away with community. Town meetings. Asked what they wanted. Later we want to do it in Chinese and Spanish. Content is free. But were looking at an ePAUL CHEUNG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
42
commerce platform. We want to build a Chinese version of Craigs list for Chinese Americans. Our focus is 100 percent online and were looking toward mobile. Were targeting new wave of immigrants as well who are familiar with technology.
Maritza Puello, executive editor, NY1 Noticias
We made sure we brought on people who represented the fragmented population of Latinos. We looked at how whats happening in community affects the Latino community.
GLENN BURKINS,
editor and
Education is a great example. We want something more exclusive to the Latino population. Hyper-local. Priority is what effects New Yorkers, then how it affects Latinos, others. Were advocating for our viewers. We need people who fit with start-up models, who can produce things in an unstable work environment in addition to their news credentials. Need people who are pioneers and ready to load the wagon and say lets go.
Glenn Burkins, editor and publisher, Qcitymetro.com
publisher of Qcitymetro.com talks with SARAH LUMBARD, senior director at National Public Radio.
We have a Black-oriented news website in Charlotte, NC. Started Qcitymetro.com. Being African American, I know African Americans care about certain things more than others. Like church. We heard about a trial of black minister with regard to money. Heard the mainstream me-
43
dia was covering opening and closing. I decided to cover it gavel to gavel. The response was incredible. We did morning upload laying it out, something before lunch, then at 3-4 p.m., and then at end of the day. People were pegged to our updates. Charlotte Observer missed out on 37 percent of the population of Charlotte. Our Business plan: I approached banks and health care companies about sponsorship. We want to go beyond banner ads. Financial partnerships are the next step. Talking to a young man, who has spent his career editing alternative newspapers, and I have spent it in serious news. But I hope he can bring an edgier approach. I think niche markets are the way of the future. I think the day is gone when we look to anyone as the one source. Go to different places for different reasons. Like restaurants, we have favorites but we dont go there every day.
Joel Dreyfuss, managing editor, theRoot.com
We do sponsored content, which is for journalists a delicate balance. Were near 2 million unique visitors per month. Breakdown between blacks and non-Blacks. Non-Blacks number 20-30 percent. But we cant sell that to advertisers who want a niche market so only interested in Blacks.
JOEL DREYFUSS, THEROOT.COM
44
Tips offered by panelists

Dreyfuss: Once a day, run a story you dont think your readership will be interested in. Schaffer: Treat your community as your partner. Be intellectually curious. Journalistic ethics are changing. New issues and new spaces to make judgments. New ethical challenges. Puello: Use your newsroom staff to encourage connections with the community. Young journalists focus on technology, moving stories quickly, filling the website. EncourWith more than 130,000 unique visitors in the last 12 months, Qcitymetro.com was started in 2008.
Brown: Value different opinions. Find dissenters, people who will poke holes in things you do. Dont lean back but lean forward with people who disagree with you. The culturally curious was a term I coined to identify people who are interested in other cultures, races, etc. Include those people in process. This is a long haul. Takes time for a payoff for the multicultural project to catch on. Burkins: You need to focus on revenue from day one, as well as content. You have to do both. Were seeing double-digit increases month-to-month, but revenue is not keeping up. Cheung: Dont be afraid to fail. Test and try.
age them to form relationships. With young people its like shampoo, lather, rinse and repeat.
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What keeps the panelists awake at night

Our Chinatown is a
Schaffer: Collaboration is the new competition. Its a thought I think people have, and it worries me. Brown: The mainstream doesnt understand the value of multiculturalism. It doesnt understand such a separation between regular culture and multicultural. Its already multicultural. What gets me excited in the morning is the challenge of working in our business, talking to people who are fiery and demanding change.
Dreyfuss: Competition keeps me up at night. New competitors every day. What Im excited about is what we do is not what anybody else is doing. We look for media partnerships, new things to explore and grow. Puello: I sleep as much as I can. Sister Theresa said get a good night sleep. How to do more with less worries me, but it also makes you leaner, meaner and keeps you re-inventing with only a nickel and dime. Cheung: What concerns me is that the
hyper-local project for the New York City Chinatown community created by the Asian American Journalists Associations Executive Leadership Program.
Burkins: Money keeps me up at night. What gets me up are the readers.
American community is one-sided in its coverage. What excites me are those who are trying to create new products.
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Research shows tremendous change in news habits.
The Media, Minorities and Mobile

Mobile communication devices offer news organizations another way to reach diverse audiences. A variety of studies already indicate that minoritiesespecially Latinos and Blacksuse their mobile phones more often than whites to get information. The Mobile Access 2010 Pew report noted that 64 percent of African-Americans and 63 percent of Latinos access the Internet through wireless devices. It also reported that 87 percent of blacks and Hispanics own a cell phone compared with 80 percent of whites. Minorities consistently come out ahead in every mobile engagement, said Aaron Smith, a research specialist who has written for the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Some of that may be related to economics: mobile phones cost less than laptops or desktop computers. But another factor involves the frequency with which minorities want to keep in touch with members of their community. News organizations that want to reach diverse audiences could seek ways to distribute news through mobile phones aimed at minority communities.
Smartphone penetration is higher among mobile users who are part of ethnic and racial minorities in the U.S. than White mobile users
THE NIELSEN COMPANY
With 16 hours of connected time a day, the mobile phone represents the technology with the broadest reach possible in the world today.
MASTERING THE MOBILE MEDIUM BY HADEN KIRKPATRICK SOURCE
Minorities consistently come out ahead in every mobile engagement

Mobile device penetration by ethnicity
47
AARON SMITH, RESEARCH SPECIALIST
18 Percent of blacks and 16% of English-speaking Hispanics are cell-only wireless users, compared with 10% of Whites. In total, roughly half of
SOURCE: The Nielsen Company
African-Americans (54 percent) and Hispanics (53 percent) go online from a mobile phone
PEW INTERNET & AMERICAN LIFE PROJECT, 2010
Publishers offer mobile audiences a variety of content
SOURCE: Audit Bureau of Circulations and ABC Interactive
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Recruiting for diversity

Recruiting young and diverse talent involves strategic planning that includes both oldfashioned techniques and the latest social media tools.
MICHELE SALCEDO, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC JOURNALISTS
Virgil Smith, Gannett vice president for talent aquisition and diversity, sees building relationships with people as an effective recruitment tool. That means not only forming relationships with them in the company but also in the communities they are assigned to work in, he said. He also values such social media tools as the LinkedIn recruiter package. Chrystal Johnson of CBS News noted that it was important to identify diverse young people and to think ahead about finances and to help them pinpoint places to cultivate relationships. Michele Salcedo, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, emphasized the need for a commitment to do training and to follow minorities from the student to the executive level. Michael Oreskes, senior managing editor for The Associated
MIKE ORESKES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Press wants those they recruit to be able to think journalistically, to want to break news. He sees opportunities to help juniors and seniors in high school by creating news by creating news oriented to their peers and by getting reporters and editors to to guide teenagers toward journalism. Once you identify people, you want to keep them, Smith said. But recruiters dont have much time to cultivate and keep young, diverse talent, said Keith Reed, treasurer for the National Association of Black Journalists. The reality is that this young generation will not stay with you if they dont see opportunities for advancement.
Once you identify people, you want to keep them.
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VIRGIL SMITH, GANNETT VICE PRESIDENT, TALENT ACQUISITION AND DIVERSITY
You have to show somebody from the day you bring him or her in the door that there is opportunity for investment. Your time frame is six monthstops. Daniel Trach, a key account digital sales executive at the Enquirer Media Group in Cincinnati warned Nobody is too small to be taken seriously in your organization. Amber Guyton, a multimedia specialist at WXIA-TV/WATL-TV in Atlanta, noted that her cohort of young professionals is hungry for a challenge.
Trach and Guyton offer tips for hiring young professionals

(who likely consider the following when they are being recruited): 1. The incubator effect. (Do I have opportunities to grow? Is there a clear future in the company? Is promotion realistic? What can I contribute? 4. The Art of Entry Level 2. Double O Seven (Ownership and opportunity. Can I do things above and beyond my level?) 5. Investment & Indispensability 3. SuperEmpowers (Are you empowering us? Asking us for (Letting us know were valuable assets. Executives look good if we have success (Do we have opportunity to rise? Will you pay attention to us?) advice? Care about our opinion? Or what we can contribute? Be a mentor. Take us under your wing. Can I shadow people?)
Gannett employee, AMBER GUYTON, multimedia specialist, WXIA TV/WATL TV, Atlanta, expresses her appreciation for her organizations commitment to diversity, along with fellow 24-year-old DANIEL TRACH, key account digital sales executive, Enquirer Media Group, Cincinnati.
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The reality is that this young generation will not stay with you if they dont see opportunities for advancement.
KEITH REED, SENIOR EDITOR @ESPN MAGAZINE
too. Were cheaper labor but reason to invest beyond our salaries. Send us to conferences where we might not look like we belong there.) 6. Einsteinolgy (Permission to think big and be heard. We take a unique approach to things. A lot more has changed in the last 15 years than has in the past
KEITH REED, SENIOR EDITOR, ESPN THE MAGAZINE
key. Dont be distant if you are in the top ranks. You may not appreciate how valuable it is to us to hear from you. We have an open cube policy. My manager gives me feedback and I need that. Feedback is so important. 8. Benefits and Benjamins (Im 24 years old, and have a ways to go. If you work for money you work for money but if you work for success you work for more. We want to be compensated with travel, which is huge. Virgil, Gannett, works with us.
50 years. In our generation, technology is our first language, we didnt have to learn it. Ability to embrace new ideas. Get their opinion.) 7. I have a degree in communications. Now what? (Communication is
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What is the future of diversity in the news?

In some ways, it will be the same as it was beforean important goal for any news organization that cares about covering diverse communities. In other ways, it will be completely differentin approach, in the tools used and in how it targets diverse communities. The Leadership in Diversity conferences sought to review and refocus the medias attention on the future of diversity in the news. If nothing else, we sent a message that diversity is alive and well. How it can be applied in the new, new age. And how it applies to the future, Coleman said. The news media must move on from focusing on multicultural headcounts. In the future, success for those who care about diversity involves seeking content that conveys something of interest about, for, and to all types of communities. It will require a more strategic approach to identifying and then serving diverse audiences. New technological communication tools must be employed. More sophisticated distribution channels will be essential. Fresh outlets must emerge. Diversity in the future will require more than it did in the past. Instead of conversation, it will require commitment. Instead of reaching down, it will require reaching out. Instead of being transactional, it must be transformative. Diversity must go beyond being a goal. It must become an act.
ALY COLN, REPORT AUTHOR
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Video messages
If you are viewing this as a PDF file on your computer, you may view videos from some of the key players in the project. Click on the images to hear from these leaders in journalism diversity.
MEI-MEI CHAN (CLICK ON IMAGE)
MIKE ORESKES (CLICK ON IMAGE)
RHONDA LEVALDO-GAYTON (CLICK ON IMAGE)
DORI MAYNARD (CLICK ON IMAGE)
DORIS TRUONG (CLICK ON IMAGE)
VIRGIL SMITH (CLICK ON IMAGE)
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Chart pad notes from the conference

Diverse audiences include
Differences within groups, no monoliths Latin American segments Old vs. new Floridians Black segments Ethnicity and race Military: who joins? Why? Mining community Migrant workers Mining communities Gated communities Sexual orientation Those interested in other cultures Those skeptical of change Socio-economic diversity Religious diversity Age diversity Technological preference diversity Geographic diversity Employed vs. unemployed Underemployed Political perspective Limited but still valuable technocrats
Storytelling
More collaborations and partnerships Voice as an asset How do you pay for it? Opinion vs. News in communities of color
Great ideas were captured during the brainstorming sessions at the Leadership in Diversity conferences. You will find some of the notes on these pages.
Millennium mindset
Relevant content/understands audience/doesnt talk down Inform and entertain Dont be all to all Randomness BrandR.I.P.? Focus on learning environment and crank it out Go rogue respectfully Mobile, mobile, mobile
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Brainstorming new models

More chart pad notes from the conference, June 15 session
Health connect
Through the Smartphone Aggregate information Push it out over various platforms Advertising business model Target underserved communities
A virtual Welcome Wagon

Target newcomers, most of who are of color Can also be a mobile app Site can also have video, bloggers Advertising bases and coupons Year of understanding (The new America) A public service project Bring together diverse communities Part of virtual Welcome Wagon Initiative
Mobile partners, ethnic papers

Could help new residents and travelers too Could attract advertisers Newsmaker TV shows that can later be podcast (for a fee) Use community newsmakers and newsroom staff
Train ad reps to better sell mobile apps

Arm them with tools Reps are behind in technology shifts in the newsroom
U.S. Navy and diversity

Cast a wide net Go lots of places Dont overlook any city Honor high standards Higher echelon accountable for mentoring Cant afford to overlook any talent Proactive replacement policy for pipeline Howre they doing? Assessment 2 x a year
Millennial mix
Millennials in the newsroom put their spin on the news of the day They become newsroom ambassadors Millennial network Advertising link to millennial audience
Home of singular lifestyle: Solo.com

Target single-person households Some like to sit around naked Products packaged for singes Services packaged for singes Forums for local social interaction Solo for Seniors support structure
Free at last
No Money needed (not a lot) Have a training plan, be tactical about it. Use internal talent Vet-rookie mentoring; upper-echelon involvement
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Put lessons into practice
Recruiters
Everyone is a candidate Journalism skills trump all else Track former interns Dont forget runners-up Be world-class in something Create networking opportunities for passive personalities
Common points
Not news Niches Audience engagement Lifestyle information Creating more opportunities for diverse communities
High-level Ahas!
Share talent across the industry Update job site New type of diversity.com Social networking is an essential medium Creative flexibility (managers especially) Dont pigeonhole Make the diversity case to newcomers Relevant advertising can be welcomed, useful content Diversity of perspective is indeed diversity
News website w/ relevance for high school juniors, seniors

Peer to peer importance News literacy component Source of newsroom expertise Share info on mobile and social networks Teach young to pay for news Write appropriately for young market
Scot Safan, executive vice president of CNN Worldwide talks about mobile strategy in an open session at the conference.
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Want to learn more about the conferences?

There are multiple stories published about the two Leadership in Diversity conferences on the ASNE website. Here is a link: http://bit.ly/ASNE_diversity

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THE FUTURE OF DIVERSITY IN THE NEWS