Where is the diversity among sports editors?

I think Indian would count as a minority.

 

Native American would. India .... not so much. I should have said Bosnia, though.

 

The honchos just want window-dressing diversity, not real socio-economic diversity, which can include race. But isn't a newsroom just as diverse with those who were raised in dire poverty compared to some who were born with silver spoons in their mouths?

 

Exactly. I've told this story here before, though it was a long time ago. I bring it up again because the guy is Jewish.

Buddy of mine applies for a sports writing job. They tell him he is in the final two, but then they go with the other candidate. Turns out the other candidate is African American. The SE tells the guy who missed out that if anything ever opens up again, he will be the first phone call.

About two weeks later, my buddy finds out that the guy they hired quit, but the SE never called him. He calls to ask what is going on and eventually finds out that the SE has been told that he must make a diversity hire. The staff is all male and almost all white, so the powers that be don't like how it would look replacing a minority with a white guy. When asked if being Jewish counts, the SE laughs. They re-open the entire process and eventually hire a kid just out of grad school who hadn't even made the final six the first time around.

Cue somebody saying that they don't believe this story. "No way OOP has a friend."

 

I believe her name is Holly Lawton.

 

A more important point that hasn't been brought up here: Diversity is something that newspapers like to trumpet. Non-white reporters often are more likely put into a columnist role, where their diversity is on full display. I'd bet a number of the readers at the papers where minority sports editors ran the ship had no idea a black/Asian/Hispanic man or woman was in charge of the section.

Another point: Some of the most diverse staffs just happen to have a white guy in charge. Matt Vita runs a staff of (at least) three black men and five women at the Washington Post. He replaced a Hispanic (Emilio Garcia-Ruiz) as sports editor when Garcia-Ruiz was promoted.

Does anyone truly believe the Washington Post isn't doing a great job getting talented minority journalists simply because their current sports editor is a white man?

 

Ace makes a good point above. About 10 years ago there was an impressive-sized group of minorities running newspaper sports department. In the last few years almost all of them were recruited to ESPN, MLB.com, the Sporting News, MSNBC.com, AOL, etc. When they left, they often were replaced by assistant sports editors whose jobs were then eliminated.

 

I'm sorry, but the arguments being made in defense of newspapers could be made by every other industry & profession.

If diversity is as important as many in the media proclaim it to be, then there are ways to maintain a diverse work force.

 

I'd also like to address the some of the comments regarding minority coaches in professional leagues.

I have no interest in defending the hiring process that existed previously. It definitely focused on a finite number of rotating folks who were part of an "old boy" network.

Minorities were certainly overlooked, not encouraged, and not given opportunities.

That said, I don't think you can just look at the makeup of the players in any particular league and expect that the same percentage of minorities should be reflected in the coaching ranks.

I don't think the all of the players in a given league should be included in the category of potential coaches nor do I think they should make up the whole category.

You have to only include players who are interested in coaching after their career is finished. Many of the best players in the game -- and this goes back to Ted Williams -- would not make good coaches because they wouldn't be able to relate to lesser players. Many of the highest paid players are so wealthy that they would have no desire or need to put themselves through the daily grind of coaching.

Look at a guy like Andy Pettitte. Maybe he'll want to get into coaching one day, but if he retires now, it would be to spend time with his family.

Also, TV scoops up many potential coaches -- and a TV salary pays more and has less responsibilities than a low level coaching position can afford. Why would Charles Barkley or Deion Sanders go into coaching when they gan make big bucks and get treated like a star for little actual work?

The there are guys like former Nets coach (and now Celtics assistant) Lawrence Frank or Bill Belichick who never played pro sports but worked for years to become coaches.

Frank never even made his high school team but he specifically went to Indiana to volunteer as a team manager for Bobby Knight. He worked his way up from the lowest levels in the sport. He also has a masters degree.

Belichick started out making $25 a week to break down film.

But they both trained for years with the goal of coaching at the highest levels.

I don't think you can compare their experience to someone who went straight to the pros out of high school or who spent a year on a college campus.

If a minority has pursued a similar course and been overlooked, I would condemn that.

But each individual needs to be considered on his or her own merits.

 

wow did Ragu steel your handle?

You better pace yourself.

 

Cases like the Washington Post are the exception, not the norm. The NYT has two minority sports reporters. There are major papers I wont name that dont have a single minority.
The Richard Lapchick 2010 APSE Diversity Census will be released soon. You will notice some papers will not respond because they know they do a poor job.
As for the Dot.coms and ESPN's hiring the talented minority sports editors, thus leaving the cabinet bare in newspapers,thats on newspapers for not cultivating talent. The news of a Leon Carter and Garry Howard leaving sports departments would not be as damaging if there were more people like them around the nation.

 

Serious question, DC: When a major metro loses a minority SE, do you believe the replacement should be a minority?