WASHINGTON, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society of
Newspaper Editors released its annual newsroom survey showing that the
percentage of Latino journalists working at English-language daily
newspapers increased slightly in 2001. But NAHJ remains concerned
about the overall hiring and retention of journalists of color.
ASNE's survey, released April 9, found that Latinos made up 3.86
percent of all newsroom employees in 2001. In 2000, Latinos made up
3.66 percent of all newsroom employees. The number of Hispanic
journalists increased from 2,064 to 2,098.
However, the percentage of Hispanic journalists working in the
nation's newsrooms has increased only 2.66 percent between 1982 and
2001. Meanwhile, Census figures show the U.S. Hispanic population,
excluding Puerto Rico, has increased from 6.4 percent in 1982 (14.6
million) to 13.0 percent (35.3 million) in 2000. By 2025, Hispanics
are projected to make up 18.2 percent of the U.S. population.
"It is difficult to properly assess these figures which reflect
turbulent times in the industry," said NAHJ President Cecilia Alvear.
"Despite the small increases for Hispanic and Native American
journalists, the decreases for our African American and Asian American
colleagues is a matter of concern. We at NAHJ will continue to work
with ASNE and with individual newspapers to make sure that journalists
of color are properly represented at all levels."
Overall, the survey found that the percentage of journalists of
color working at daily newspapers increased from 11.64 percent in 2000
to 12.07 percent last year. The survey found that the increase was
mainly the result of buyouts and layoffs of white staffers. The
nation's newsrooms had a net loss of 1,983 white staff members in
2001.
The survey also revealed some mixed trends:
1) The number of papers that do not employ a single journalist of color
increased from 44 percent to 45 percent.
2) While the number and percentage of Asian American and African American
journalists declined, the number and percentage of
Native American and
Hispanic journalists increased.
3) The number of journalists of color leaving the industry dropped from
698 to 443 but the number of new journalists of color
hired also
declined from 596 to 447.
4) While the overall percentage of interns of color increased from 29
percent to 31 percent, the number of interns of color
declined from 923
to 870.
NAHJ urges ASNE to make diversity a top priority for all of its
members and newsrooms nationwide. "As the economy improves and
newspapers once again start hiring, it is imperative that qualified
people of color are effectively recruited, hired and retained," said
Marilyn Garateix, NAHJ's vice president of print. "There are plenty of
them out there."
For the first time at the 2002 ASNE convention, representatives
from the four journalist associations of color and UNITY participated
in meetings with the full ASNE board as well as a Diversity
Roundtable. NAHJ is committed to working with ASNE to develop specific
plans to help expand the ranks of journalists of color in newspapers
across the country.
The mission of the NAHJ, founded in 1984, is to increase the number
of Hispanic journalists in the media profession and to improve news
coverage of the nation's Latino community.
For more information, call Joseph Torres at 202-662-7143 or visit
the NAHJ's Web site at
http://www.nahj.org/ .
###
