"REPRESENTATION" IN JOURNALISM

Why We're Still Behind In 2023

Though there has been some effort in Hollywood to advocate more diverse representation in film, many other media industries have not been as keen "get with the times." Journalism and news media have long been guilty of underrepresenting minority groups not only in their staffing, but also their coverage. And what little coverage there is often presents a sensationalized and one-sided view of the story being presented. Nearly 2/3 of Black Americans don't feel like the new media properly represents their community. With so many lives lost as a result of police brutality towards blacks making the news and the Black Lives Matter Movement taking shape, the often overlooked stories of tragedy are finally being shared on a national stage. And though inclusion and diversity are often listed as moral staples in big news corporations, a closer look shows that we still have a long way to go towards proper coverage and equality in news media.

According to a 2019 Gallup poll in association with The Knight Foundation, 69% of Americans say that reflecting the diversity of the U.S. population is "a critical (33%) or very important (36%) role for the media." The study also found that minority groups in general were more likely to say that the media's "role in reflecting diversity was critical" than their white counterparts. In general, most of the white participants polled were more concerned with diversity in journalism as far as political outlook. Another workplace diversity study conducted by The Pew Research Center in 2022 found that journalists gave their respective news organizations the highest scores for "Age & Gender" diversity in the workplace and the lowest scores to "Race & Ethnicity." These statistics represent a tendency in journalism and news media to overlook marginalized minority members of society and their input. As Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist puts it: “we are often told as journalists of color that if we do projects that center our community, they won’t find a mass audience. Oftentimes, we can’t pitch or get support for these projects." It would seem the news industry still has a long way to go before they can report true diversity in their mission statements.