NABJ President Greg Lee calls out the journalism industry

[Drip]

National Association of Black Journalists President Greg Lee issues a torching statement about the industry's hiring practices.
http://www.nabj.org/news/118732/Industry-Must-Collectively-Build-the-Pool.htm

 

[RonClements]

Because race should be a deciding factor in any and every hire.
Ugh.

 

[Boom_70]

Lee was on SJ a while back and he and Mizou had a fun little debate over the Washington Times hiring plans.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/3006044/

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Lee was on SJ a while back and he and Mizou had a fun little debate over the Washington Times hiring plans.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/3006044/

Good times...

I'll sit this thread out...

 

[dooley_womack1]

From that thread, part of one of my posts:

Man, I need to check out the Jobs board more often. When the vitriol hits here, it hits .7 harder than on other boards.

Man, I had forgotten about that inside joke.

 

[Drip]

I thought Lee made some pretty good points with his statement.

 

[Ace]

I thought Lee made some pretty good points with his statement.

I would like to know what the NABJ is doing to address the problem.

There is no way the industry could or would identify "unknown talented black journalists." There are a million conflicts with that.

But the NABJ could and should do that. I didn't see much in the article about what the NABJ is actually doing to help in that regard.

 

[hate-d-mah-old-prepjob]

I thought Lee made some pretty good points with his statement.

I would like to know what the NABJ is doing to address the problem.

There is no way the industry could or would identify "unknown talented black journalists." There are a million conflicts with that.

But the NABJ could and should do that. I didn't see much in the article about what the NABJ is actually doing to help in that regard.

Ace, I'm a black journalist, and I'd say NABJ has been a tremendous asset throughout my career, as well as others I'm sure. You asked what they're doing about the problem. Well, NABJ isn't bullying anyone into hiring people of color. That's for sure. Hires obviously remain the decision of folks in charge of making them. Speaking from my own experience, NABJ definitely critiqued my stuff harshly back in the day, gave tips on how to improve, and introduced me to several great mentors (of all races). I promise the NABJ isn't just shoving minorities in folks' faces just for the sake of doing it. They want to make sure "qualified" candidates receive opportunities. I can definitely remember years ago being told by several editors (including Greg) and other reporters in NABJ, "you're not ready" back when I was trying to get a foot in the door at a metro. The truth is the numbers Greg writes about are real. Addressing the problem, however, is extremely difficult because race issues always trigger such emotional responses.

 

[Ace]

I thought Lee made some pretty good points with his statement.

I would like to know what the NABJ is doing to address the problem.

There is no way the industry could or would identify "unknown talented black journalists." There are a million conflicts with that.

But the NABJ could and should do that. I didn't see much in the article about what the NABJ is actually doing to help in that regard.

Ace, I'm a black journalist, and I'd say NABJ has been a tremendous asset throughout my career, as well as others I'm sure. You asked what they're doing about the problem. Well, NABJ isn't bullying anyone into hiring people of color. That's for sure. Hires obviously remain the decision of folks in charge of making them. Speaking from my own experience, NABJ definitely critiqued my stuff harshly back in the day, gave tips on how to improve, and introduced me to several great mentors (of all races). I promise the NABJ isn't just shoving minorities in folks' faces just for the sake of doing it. They want to make sure "qualified" candidates receive opportunities. I can definitely remember years ago being told by several editors (including Greg) and other reporters in NABJ, "you're not ready" back when I was trying to get a foot in the door at a metro. The truth is the numbers Greg writes about are real. Addressing the problem, however, is extremely difficult because race issues always trigger such emotional responses.

At our paper the last open sports position probably generated 100 applicants and I don't know that any were black.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I don't understand the need to develop and grow talent for the industry. Why does a hiring manager need to do that? There is talent aplenty, already groomed, maybe 50 experienced and solid people for every job.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Nothing really noteworthy here.

People in the position of a Greg Lee have to remind us every once in a while of their organization's existence and purpose. Easiest way to do that is to fire off a column that takes a high-profile individual's example and the latest numbers from the impressively prolific Richard Lapchick and friends, build up a nice head of steam that hints at fire and brimstone, and voila! Large Advocacy Group is "FIGHTING!!!!!" for its constituency.

Of course, I would argue that if there are very few minority applicants for newspaper jobs, it shows a lot of foresight and good judgment on the part of those who are not applying.

 

[Moderator1]

I'll say this once and only once: Even though several know-it-alls came here and acted like they knew differently, Greg and I had some very good conversation when we were building this staff. No "bullying," no "pressure," nothing of the sort. Greg is a good guy, a top-notch leader. I'd want him on my side in any battle. Can he make a difference? I'd like to think/hope so.

 

[Boom_70]

Nothing really noteworthy here.

People in the position of a Greg Lee have to remind us every once in a while of their organization's existence and purpose. Easiest way to do that is to fire off a column that takes a high-profile individual's example and the latest numbers from the impressively prolific Richard Lapchick and friends, build up a nice head of steam that hints at fire and brimstone, and voila! Large Advocacy Group is "FIGHTING!!!!!" for its constituency.

Of course, I would argue that if there are very few minority applicants for newspaper jobs, it shows a lot of foresight and good judgment on the part of those who are not applying.

As we move into spring training Richard Lapchick must be updating his blacks playing MLB stats for some spring articles.

 

[sportsed]

Here, tucked away nine paragraphs into Greg's column, is the real root of the problem.

There are a total of four black sports editors leading newspapers in the country. (Full disclosure, I am one of the four). There are only 238 black sports journalists who work in print and on websites in the nation. That is only 7.6 percent of the entire sports workforce. White reporters comprise 86 percent of the sports departments.

So it's not so much about hiring and retaining a diverse work force, it's that there's a small pool of diverse candidates to begin with. When you can be as specific as citing that there are exactly "238 black sports journalists who work in print and on websites in the nation," there's a systemic issue that your average department hiring manager can't adequately address when scurrying to line up interviews when an unexpected opening occurs.

Sure, you can create "a queen bee" of sorts by investing more time and resources by identifying and mentoring minority journalists who seem to rise above the others, but let's not confuse this with the problems professional sports leagues have in hiring minority coaches and managers. Nearly two-thirds of NFL rosters, for example, are comprised of black players, providing the league's 32 teams with thousands of potential job candidates for coaching openings. But as Greg points out, a paltry 7.6 percent of the entire sport workforce is black and less than twice that are deemed diverse.

The corporate monoliths -- with their deep pockets, high-profile jobs and cross-platform opportunities -- will always have the upper-hand in luring the best and the brightest of those 400+ diverse journalists, but the reality is that there just aren't enough in our industry to begin with.

I realize that professional organizations, including NABJ and APSE, have made great strides in identifying and promoting diverse candidates, but I can't help but wonder if they could be doing a better job themselves. Are they going beyond the J-school classes in search of potential journalists on college campuses? After all, it's probably the math major who's best equipped to devise the new-wave metrics in analyzing player efficiency. It's the pre-med student with a writing proficiency who can help readers understand what it means when the star athlete is hobbled by plantar fasciitis. And it's the business major who's best able to identify story opportunities on the business of sports.

Large media corporations are already doing this, but the professional organizations are the ones that will make a greater difference across the industry. Greg and others like him should be lauded for their great work with aspiring minority journalists, but perhaps they should also be devising strategies to find more minorities who haven't discovered journalism yet.

 

[RickStain]

The population is 12.6% black, and black Americans are roughly 50% less likely to hold a college degree than white Americans. 7.6% is pretty much right in that sweet spot.

America has a black education problem, but sports journalism does not have a black hiring problem.

 

[YankeeFan]

The population is 12.6% black, and black Americans are roughly 50% less likely to hold a college degree than white Americans. 7.6% is pretty much right in that sweet spot.

America has a black education problem, but sports journalism does not have a black hiring problem.

Rick is right. And, not only that, but the pool of African-Americans with the qualifications to land these jobs also have far better opportunities than taking a job in North Dakota, to work for peanuts, and share an apartment.

Even if they want to work in media, they're far more likely to want to work in broadcast.

 

[boundforboston]

Isn't there more than one group of people (African-American) that comprises minorities? Why not the discussion of women, Asians, etc.?

 

[Norrin Radd]

Isn't there more than one group of people (African-American) that comprises minorities? Why not the discussion of women, Asians, etc.?

That's not Lee's mandate. The "B" isn't for "women" or "asians" or "latinos".

 

[1HPGrad]

The numbers might be low, but in my experience, their jobs are pretty good. I have met exactly 4 black prep writers in 20-some years. I see that many major metro minorities at an NBA shootaround. My corner of the world could be completely off base, but that's what I've seen. I've recruited for high school openings and found young minority candidates who weren't interested or already had more prestigious offers. This isn't so much an answer as an observation. Are they not getting hired at the prep level? Or are they not interested in starting at that level?
It's interesting that Lee noted sports columnists. That's the position almost every writer wants.
What about prep writers? What about college stringers? What about guys grinding it out?
That's where it has to start, and that's where I've never seen much interest.

 

[RickStain]

Has anyone done a breakdown of where the sportswriting jobs are in terms of rural vs. urban? I'm curious, because I'm wondering if small towns don't have a disproportionate number of the jobs.