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Diversity is nearly everwhere except college athletic departments

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by newspaperman, Jul 27, 2011.

  1. newspaperman

    newspaperman Member

    I was recently sending out resumes to numerous collegiate (predominately white) athletic departments, when a friend of mine asked a question: "Why are you applying there? They won't hire you." He told me to look through media guides and see if I could find a black person.....Let's just say I'm still looking.

    It seems strange that in 2011, I can skim through countless media guides and not find one black employee. (Hell, maybe the same can be said about a lot of our newsrooms.)

    Why is this going on and has anyone else noticed it?
     
  2. newspaperman

    newspaperman Member

    And guys, let me know if you've encountered anyone that's not white in college sports media relations. I sure haven't in all my years.
     
  3. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    At the BCS conference school in my town, the AD, top associate AD and head football coach are all black. That's, arguably, the three most powerful people in the athletic department. Now if you are talking media relations, that staff is all white.
     
  4. Turtle Wexler

    Turtle Wexler Member

    I've known several athletic academic advisers and "life skills" program staff who are black. Some schools like to fill those roles with alumni athletes, people who can better relate to the current students.
     
  5. JimmyHoward33

    JimmyHoward33 Well-Known Member

    I have a stack of media guides here. All have at least one black "employee."
     
  6. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    Not trying to be an asshole, but if there are a significant number of minorities with this thinking maybe that is part of the problem. They almost certainly aren't going to hire a minority that doesn't apply.
     
  7. newspaperman

    newspaperman Member

    Not trying to be an asshole, but if there are a significant number of minorities with this thinking maybe that is part of the problem. They almost certainly aren't going to hire a minority that doesn't apply.
    [/quote]

    You have a point. But surely some have applied. I have a stack (and I mean as tall as Mutumbo) and there's no one in the media relations that isn't white. There are no Hispanics or blacks and hardly any women. I'm not here to complain or piss about it, but it was just something that stood out. Just kind of strange that sports that are heavily dominated by African-Americans hardly ever are covered by African-Americans. And that isn't a problem until Colin Cowherd opens his mouth (Roger Goodell is a father figure to black athletes). No, I don't think companies should carefully plan out their "diversified" staff with 50/50 white and black workers. But when you can't find one minority in the entire business in a region, it just makes you wonder.
     
  8. WTFünke

    WTFünke Member

    Well, sometimes, it's pure numbers. Sometimes, it's subtle racism.

    There's about 10 white college grads for every black one. So, yeah, I'd expect most gigs like that to look mostly white.

    At the same time, one Harvard economist sent out 5,000 identical resumes to Chicago and Boston with one caveat -- half the resumes had black-sounding names, and the other half sounded white. Saw this in the "Freakonomics" documentary. If the resume had a black-sounding name, the person had a 33 percent less likely chance to get a callback.

    So, what is this a case of? I have no idea ... maybe a little of both? Regardless, I tend to agree with J_T. And there's always JournalismNext ...
     
  9. The word countless usually means you didn't count any at all.
     
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