NABJ President Greg Lee calls out the journalism industry

WriteThinking · Apr 13, 2013

black dude with pompano said:

That notion is certainly controversial, but from a strictly economic perspective, the answer is YES, absolutely organizations should pay more for diversity.

And even if you find the notion that diversity maximizes profit dubious (as I do), you could argue that the perception of diversity brings all sorts of intangible and tangible benefits (including lawsuit-avoidance) that are beneficial for an organization.

From a strictly market standpoint, given their relative scarcity, a qualified minority candidate IS more valuable than a qualified white candidate. So it's not totally unreasonable that salaries reflect that.
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Do we know for certain that they don't?

The paucity of African Americans in sports editor jobs notwithstanding, if a fair percentage of the minority journalists who are in journalism are slotted for columnist jobs, pro-basketball beat writer positions and spots in prestigious internship programs likely to start them out at a higher price point and then lead to higher-paying jobs more quickly than would otherwise occur, well...

Perhaps minorities' pay is better off than your plain old non-diverse hire.

It does stand to reason that they would get compensated for that sought-after trait, although I'm not certain that's what he or she would really want, unless there is an actual skill involved, like an ability to speak a foreign language, that comes with that trait.

black dude with pompano · Apr 13, 2013

WriteThinking said:

black dude with pompano said:

That notion is certainly controversial, but from a strictly economic perspective, the answer is YES, absolutely organizations should pay more for diversity.

And even if you find the notion that diversity maximizes profit dubious (as I do), you could argue that the perception of diversity brings all sorts of intangible and tangible benefits (including lawsuit-avoidance) that are beneficial for an organization.

From a strictly market standpoint, given their relative scarcity, a qualified minority candidate IS more valuable than a qualified white candidate. So it's not totally unreasonable that salaries reflect that.
Click to expand...

Do we know for certain that they don't?

The paucity of African Americans in sports editor jobs notwithstanding, if a fair percentage of the minority journalists who are in journalism are slotted for columnist jobs, pro-basketball beat writer positions and spots in prestigious internship programs likely to start them out at a higher price point and then lead to higher-paying jobs more quickly than would otherwise occur, well...

Perhaps minorities' pay is better off than your plain old non-diverse hire.

It does stand to reason that they would get compensated for that sought-after trait, although I'm not certain that's what he or she would really want, unless there is an actual skill involved, like an ability to speak a foreign language, that comes with that trait.
Click to expand...

That's a fair point and you may very well be correct.

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NABJ President Greg Lee calls out the journalism industry

WriteThinking Well-Known Member

black dude with pompano Member

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NABJ President Greg Lee calls out the journalism industry

WriteThinking Well-Known Member

black dude with pompano Member

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