Percentage of minorities at newspapers declines

PERCENTAGE OF MINORITIES AT NEWSPAPERS DECLINES
[SOURCE: American Society of Newspaper Editors, AUTHOR: Tiffany Hsu]
The percentage of minority staffing in daily newsrooms fell slightly last year for only the second time since ASNE began tracking minority employment in its annual Newsroom Census, according to editors briefed about the report that is to be released Tuesday. “The pressure on the industry is too great,” said ASNE President David A. Zeeck, executive editor of The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. “When jobs went unfilled in years past, people would hire diverse staff at a greater rate to fill a diversity hole,” Zeeck said. “Papers are not really hiring, so when people leave, the percentages go down.” The 2007 census is expected to show that the percentage of minority journalists slipped 0.25 percentage point over the past year, Zeeck said.
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=6497