Why aren’t there more minority journalists?

[Commentary] According to the 2014 American Society of News Editors (ASNE) census, the number of black newsroom employees has increased from “fewer than 5 percent” in 1968 to … 4.78 percent. So why aren’t there more minority journalists? A common sentiment is that there are not enough qualified candidates. In 2013, graduating minorities that specialized in print were 17 percent less likely to find a full-time job than non-minorities; minorities specializing in broadcasting were 17 percent less likely to find a full-time job; and minorities specializing in public relations were 25 percent less likely to find a full-time job. In contrast, minorities specializing in advertising were only 2 percent less likely to find a full-time job than their white counterparts. Overall, only 49 percent of minority graduates that specialized in print or broadcasting found a full-time job, compared to 66 percent of white graduates. These staggering job placement figures help explain the low number of minority journalists. The number of minorities graduating from journalism programs and applying for jobs doesn’t seem to be the problem after all. The problem is that these candidates are not being hired. There are likely three key factors that help explain this hiring discrepancy:

First, Nieman Reports has noted that minority students are less likely to serve on campus newspapers because they are more likely to attend colleges without the resources to support a newspaper or to feel ostracized by a mostly white newsroom.
Second, minority students are less likely to complete unpaid internships. As The Atlantic wrote in 2013: “Unpaid internships compound diversity concerns by reserving entry-level journalism positions to financially advantaged youth who can afford to work for free.”
Lastly, minority students often aren’t in the hiring networks that editors rely on to find job candidates.

Rather than approaching hiring with a one-size-fits-all mentality, newsrooms should try to interview a variety of candidates. If a job candidate is a solid, curious writer with drive and a good work ethic, they deserve consideration. By making this small adjustment, more minority candidates will get their foot in the door -- literally -- which could help address the decades-long criticism that newsrooms need more diversity.

[Alex T. Williams is a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania]