Lack of Diversity a Cause of Newspaper Industry's Crisis

Minority journalists warned for years that diversifying newsrooms was critical to newspapers' survival. The industry's failure to make more than the barest progress towards diversity partly explains its current crisis, Unity: Journalists of Color said Tuesday. The leaders of the four associations representing minority journalists spoke on a conference call Monday reacting to last week's daily newspaper newsroom census that showed most minority groups are losing their jobs at a higher rate than newsroom employees in general. The leaders of associations representing black, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American journalists said they well understand that newspaper employment is shrinking. But they said they are alarmed about numbers showing minority newsroom employment falling faster -- and that the idea of employing newsrooms that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity has been a principal victim of industry cutbacks.