Introduction
and Challenge to ASNE
William W. Sutton Jr., NABJ President
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Sutton
presenting "Voices of Anger" at
ASNE plenary on April 5, 2001,
in Washington, D.C.
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ASNE
Editors:
It
is with a heavy heart that I attend this year's ASNE
convention as an ASNE member and as president
of the National Association of Black Journalists
(NABJ).
Our
newspaper industry has entered a crisis state.
You
can't possibly be comfortable with the latest report
that the number of journalists of color has declined
for the first time since ASNE started keeping
track of the numbers 23 years ago.
The
newspaper industry took in about 600 journalists of
color in 2000 and watched 698 leave. More shocking
is that the percentage of African Americans dropped
from 5.31 percent in 2000 to 5.23 percent in 2001.
Folks,
we're going the wrong way.
We're
watching our nation become more diverse, not less.
We're watching other industries take away our market
share of revenue and circulation and we're left wondering
why. We are not attacking this like the serious problem
that it is.
Many
of you wouldn't have your jobs if your publisher told
you that your salary and/or bonus program would be
contingent on making year-over-year diversity goals,
like you have to help achieve circulation or cash flow/profit
goals. If s/he did, you might be paying more attention
and making more diversity progress.
Too
many operations have no financial incentive. Among
those that do, too many place diversity with as few
points as possible, 10 or fewer. Honestly, how
many of you focus your attention on those two-point
goals as much as you pay attention to the 20-, 30-
and 50-point goals?
How
many in that declining number of journalists of color
were hired in your newsroom? How many left your
newsroom?
Please
don't make this a "them" issue by pointing
somewhere else. Either you've done your job and
contributed to the solution by bringing in more journalists
of color and increasing your total number of journalists of
color through retention, or you're part of the problem.
We
cannot and must not let the economic changes in our
nation and our industry impact the great need we have
for achieving greater diversity in the newsrooms of
our nation's newspapers. No, in fact we must make diversity
a cornerstone of what must be done during these troubling
times.
If
we can show that we can turn this problem around when
things are bad, then we can really make some waves
and have some serious progress when things are good
again. Unfortunately, too few of you and too few of
our colleagues and publishers have made diversity that
important in the past. It's time for a change.
I'm
calling on each of you today to make a commitment to
NABJ and to diversity by making a commitment
to make a difference. Say you want to help, that
you promise to help, that you will put your money,
time and staff where your diversity words have been.
Help
NABJ help the industry turn the corner by creating
more internship opportunities for black students
in copy editing, design, infographics and photojournalism
through our internship program, our scholarship program and
our media institute programs.
Help
NABJ help the industry by working with our Media Institute programs
for black professionals, particularly those focused
on media management in which we help our brothers and
sisters prepare for the transition to supervision.
Help
NABJ help the industry by including us when you have
opportunities for creative programs through your
newspaper, your company, your foundation, your
colleges and universities. We don't have money, but
we've got the cultural connections to the people we
all want and we've got the strong desire to see
diversity success.
If
you have two interns each summer, I challenge you to
make one of them an African-American hire in
copy editing, design, graphics or photojournalism
- and let us help you. If you have 10 interns each
summer, I challenge you to make at least seven of them
African American hires in these skill areas -- and
let us help you. It won't be easy, but we can do it
working together.
This
trend cannot be tolerated.
We
want to work with you. Prove that you care by working
with us. Sign up today, strike an official agreement
in the next 90 days and I'll be happy to announce at
our August convention (Aug. 22-26, 2001, Dolphin Hotel,
Orlando) which newspaper editors are on board to do
what.
I
agree with outgoing ASNE President Rich Oppel that
this latest news calls for "vigorous attention
on all fronts, particularly retention." I ask
you to step up and be counted among those who will
make a difference.
Sign
up by taking the sheet at the end of this packet and
giving it to me or to another NABJ representative today.
Or, email me and say what you'll do and when
you'll do it.
For
the record: NABJ can't sit down with this news.
I'll
tell everyone at the convention who has agreed to do
some serious business with NABJ on this issue. I'll
also work with our NABJ Board of Directors to
review these numbers line by line and start calling
out those who have lack of diversity in their newsrooms
and no action plan.
What's
your choice?
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