Coming soon,The Ralph Wiley Rule for sports journalism hiring?

Me too. But one of the worst things you can do to anyone learning their craft is throw them at a big paper that quickly determines they shouldn't be there and gives them pud for the rest of the summer. A fave I recalled was a design intern, back when those were more prevalent, designing classified ads all summer. Classified ads.

 

Yeah I've seen some pretty rough intern assignments in my day too. In some instances, especially at bigger papers, interns are treated just above the cleaning personnel.

 

I have asked this in other settings previously and never really gotten a good answer. But ... Why?

I suppose there is a certain nobility in being inclusive. But other than government jobs (where the overall employment numbers should roughly reflect the population), what is the reason that an organization "needs" to do better? Twenty years ago the answer was that it would increase readership and revenue, but that explanation has proved to be completely lacking, as diversity numbers are wholly unrelated to revenue.

Is it about relating to athletes better? Athletes don't give a shit about us regardless of color -- they pretty much hate us just because.

And I know it isn't about increasing the talent pool out of necessity, because I'm sure you, like all other hiring managers, would agree that there is an overflow of talented and qualified candidates for every job these days.

In businesses with legitimate market reasons for becoming more diverse, those results are provable. Fashion, for instance. But I just don't see any correlation between the news industry's diversity goals and its ultimate future.

 

I don't think this has been such an issue in recent years. Not many minorities are eager to go to j-school and start working at newspapers these days, are they?

 

The example of the online application that gives minority candidates a box to check is a good one. It's the sort of thing that ensures access. The truth of the matter these days is that only the large metro dailies are going to go to NABJ conventions or other recruiting events. Nobody else has a budget for that. But everybody can provide a mechanism that facilitates consideration.

While I'm on this topic, however, I don't want to hear anybody in management say that minority hiring is a priority until they start proving that any form of hiring -- rather than the mass executions of the past decade -- is a priority. Management has abdicated the moral high ground involving a commitment to excellence, and until they cure their insatiable greed, they must shut up about anything they allegedly value.

 

Any Jewish guys trying to qualify as diversity hires?

(I say this because the thread on Anything Goes about our first posts led me to an old thread on this topic. One of my first posts on SportsJournalists.com was pointing out that although Jewish people are a minority, we never count as one when it comes to diversity hires. Not a complaint. Just a statement of fact.)

 

Knew there was some reason I liked you despite the occasional disagreement.

But I don't think it counts for the discussion unless you've tried to pass yourself off as a potential diversity hire during your career.

 

I'm 1/16th Chickasaw, so can I teach at Harvard and have my pick of sports journalist jobs?

 

I made it a point in Trenton to diversify the newsroom with the chances I had.

When they promoted me we needed a designer. I got a handful of resumes. Brought in a black girl who had just graduated Spelman then interned for a few papers including the WaPo. I had an idea she was black from her name on the resume, and it was confirmed when I talked to her on the phone to set up the interview.

There were probably a few other people who could have filled the role (they were white) but I liked her clips and I was going to hire the black 23-year-old woman no matter what because Trenton is a black town yet our newsroom had only 2 blacks. This dynamic sparked heated debates in the newsroom during my 5 years. So I was going to even the field best I could.

A year later, she is still designing pages at the Trentonian (not sure if she is FT yet).

Right around the same time last year, after I finally convinced the company to end its utterly absurd contract with the photographer who for years provided the Page 6 girls, I contracted three 20-something black dudes from Trenton to handle the duties and used as much freelance money as I could to pay them. They had just started their own photo business in town, and one of the guys had proved himself to me by shooting hard news and sports whenever I needed him during the previous 6 months. I rewarded his hustle and go-getter attitude, and I was only too glad he and his colleagues were black.

Then there was the whole Trentonian TV initiative that died after my termination. Oh, Trentonian TV has started back up but doesn't have the same impact on the black community, unfortunately.

 

What qualifies as diversity? Let's take two examples, based on people I know well:

Jason Wagner has a black father who he barely knows. He was raised by his white mother and white stepfather in a mostly white area. Most of his friends are white. He doesn't outwardly look black, with a complexion no darker than a typical white lifeguard's. He spent most of his life distancing himself from his father and his father's culture because of the abandonment, but he joins NABJ because he sees it as the one opportunity his father an provide him.

Jim Williams has a black father and white mother who are happily married. He was raised in a diverse community and has friends of all stripes. He also doesn't outwardly look black, with a complexion no darker than a typical white lifeguard's. But he has always taken pride in his full heritage. He doesn't join NABJ because he doesn't want to use his race to help him get ahead and doesn't like the color-line feel of the organization.

Now a scenario, which is not based on real life: You are the hiring editor, and you decide these are the two most qualified candidates for the job. You know human resources has made very clear you are not to ask about race, but you also know your boss would love if you made a diversity hire. Are they both diversity hires? Do they provide equal diversity because they are equally black by blood? How would you know Williams actually does fit the diversity-hire billing?

Let's add another person, very loosely based on someone I know: Jeremy Simmons has white parents who worked for the government organizing new embassies. They work together on the job and bring their son with them. Simmons lived in six countries by the time he reached high school, when his parents decided to settle down and raise him in New York City, sending him to public school because they believe in the value of public education. He has friends in many countries and of many races and nationalities. He is in SPJ.

Hasn't he lived the most diverse life of any of the three candidates?

 

I'll modify: I made it a point to hire black journalists.

Diversity is just a pretty word.