1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Report: Newspapers, websites lack diversity

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by dcdream, Apr 28, 2011.

  1. dcdream

    dcdream Member

    ORLANDO, Fla. — Some 320 websites and newspapers that belong to Associated Press Sports Editors slightly improved their racial hiring practices last year, according to a study released Wednesday, though they failed again to make any strides in gender hiring for key newsroom positions.

    The report, released every two years by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, gave those outlets a C plus, up from a C in 2008, for racial hires and an F for gender hires in jobs including sports editor, columnist, reporter and copy editor.

    This is the third report that's been done for APSE since 2006.

    Overall, it said, sports departments were still being led mostly by white men.

    "When survival is at stake, like it is for so many places, I think the danger is that things that will be of long-term importance are less of a priority than say, keeping the economy of a newspaper going," said the study's primary author, Richard Lapchick. "I think it happens in all kinds of businesses … The old saying of last hired, first fired is still too much at play."

    Lapchick said perhaps the worst news from the study was that the percentage of sports editors who were women or people of color fell 2.3 percentage points from 11.7 percent in 2008 to 9.42 percent in 2010. White males increased by 3 percentage points for sports editors.

    The report showed that 97 percent of the sports editors at APSE newspapers and websites in 2010 were white, and 94 percent of sports editors overall were men. Just 5.5 percent of sports staffs are black men and 3 percent Latino men. Only 11.4 percent are women.

    Latino and Asian men increased by an average .54 percent in all categories covered, except sports editors. Latino men's biggest gain was in assistant sports editors (1.03 percent) and Asian men saw the largest gain in columnists (.66 percent).

    For the complete story, go to: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_APSE_DIVERSITY_REPORT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-04-27-20-05-43

    For more information, go to: http://www.tidesport.org/
     
  2. nufan_78

    nufan_78 New Member

    Color of skin, gender ... none of it should matter when it comes to hiring reporters/editors. If you're the most qualified, the job should be yours. Simple as that.
     
  3. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, but "Not enough qualified blacks, asians around to fill what opening are left in journalism" isn't as catchy a headline.
     
  4. JimmyHoward33

    JimmyHoward33 Well-Known Member

    No, keeping the newspaper going is the most important thing. Otherwise when the minority reporters they hire go on unemployment, some study will hang the high minority unemployment rate on journalism.
     
  5. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    This was on the AP wire Tuesday. It not showing up here until today makes me think that no one here really cares what Richard Lapchick and Central Florida think.
     
  6. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Report: Newspapers, websites lack personnel
     
  7. This ol' gag again?
     
  8. bumpy mcgee

    bumpy mcgee Well-Known Member

    I wish our newsroom had an old wooden ship used during the Civil War.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I think it's high time the APSE do something about this, namely cave to Richard Lapchick's extortion and write a $10,000 check to that bullshit "institute" he runs. That should take care of the grade next year.
     
  10. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    The answer is obvious. Shiftless whites work cheaper.
     
  11. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Nice job of crossthreading... you could work for a website and/or newspaper
     
  12. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    Providence Journal's Patriots beat writer Rob Lee - who happens to be black - just left the paper, no explanation given.

    http://wrnipoliticsblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/robert-lee-leaves-projo-sports-department/

    Boston Sports Media had the link and mentioned that it may or may not have had something to do with something they had posted a few days earlier.

    http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page