New Leader of AP Sports Editors Seeks Candidates

The nation's sports editors, recently told that they preside over what is likely the whitest, most male section of newspaper and website newsrooms, are planning a nine-month program intended to train mid-career women and journalists of color for sports department leadership positions.

Michael A. Anastasi, new president of Associated Press Sports Editors and managing editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, announced the program at the group's convention in Boston late last week and told Journal-isms on Monday, "I will be making this the major initiative of my term."

Anastasi told his fellow sports editors, "Now, there are those in the industry who will say that diversity is not important, that it’s passe, that in the big picture it’s not what we should be worrying about any longer.

"To those I say this: horse shit.

"It is not only the right thing to do, it’s the vital thing to do. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the urgent thing to do. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s key to our survival. . . .

"As an organization, our diversity efforts have focused mostly on young people, just out of school. We can rightly celebrate great success with [the Sports Journalism Institute], with Hampton University, with our partnership with [American Women in Sports Media]. Many of us need to look no farther than our own newsrooms to see some of that success.

"However, how this new program differentiates itself is by focusing on the mid-career professional, rather than the student. We are targeting working journalists, the copy editors, the web editors, the reporters, who are in your newsroom today. We want them to be here, among us who lead, in the future.

"Working with Indiana University, with SJI, with our Sports Management Program and leveraging the many resources APSE already has and offers, we will put our Fellows through a nine-month, in-depth course of study that will stretch them, will educate them, will challenge them, and will prepare them to be leaders in our newsrooms.

"We cannot control the opportunities and indeed there are fewer. But we can help ensure there is never a shortage of well-qualified applicants. . . "

"I call on the Association for Women in Sports Media — our partners in Chicago in 2012 — NABJ, NAHJ, APME, ASNE and others to consider to support us financially and especially in finding and encouraging potential candidates," he said, referring to the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Associated Press Managing Editors and the American Society of News Editors.

An April report for APSE by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) reported that the percentage of sports editors at websites and newspapers who were women or people of color fell 2.3 percentage points — from 11.7 percent in 2008 to 9.42 percent in 2010.

"This report shows that in 2010, 97 percent of the sports editors, 85 percent of the assistant sports editors, 86 percent of our columnists, 86 percent of our reporters and 90 percent of our copy editors/designers were white. In the 2008 report, those numbers for the same positions were 94, 89, 88, 87, and 89 respectively."

When Lisa Wilson, assistant sports editor at the Buffalo News, was promoted to executive sports editor in April, it restored to two the number of African American top sports editors at the nation's newspapers. There had been six as recently as 2007.

Anastasi told Journal-isms by email:

"Details of the application process will be posted on the APSE website (and, I hope, NABJ's, AWSM's, et al) by the middle of July. Rough time frame is we'll have the Fellows selected around Sept. 15 with the first of the training beginning in October and continuing through next summer's conference. I had committed to at least two Fellows funded by APSE for this first year — with a ballpark cost of $1,000 per Fellow. I was hoping for as many as four (I'm thinking we want to keep it fairly small to ensure its initial success), and The Sporting News already has committed to sponsor a third. So now I'm already working on getting the fourth!

"Ultimately, I hope this this program will accommodate many more Fellows, but we need to make sure that it succeeds and that it is substantive experience the first year. Being a graduate of the Fellowship Program needs to really mean something to hiring editors. I will be making this the major initiative of my term so I will be heading it up jointly with the chair of our Diversity Committee, Jorge Rojas of the Miami Herald, and all of the members of that team. One of the key aspects of this in my mind is that there is a broad range of stakeholders — both internally within the organization and externally with other organizations and, hopefully and ultimately, news organizations themselves. I think that puts it on the best path toward success and longevity."

Unlike fellowship programs, the participants will continue at their day jobs. The outline of the program says, "APSE will work closely with supervising editors to ensure the fellows not only meet all work responsibilities, but will customize the program to focus on skills most important to the employer."

 

Headline:

AP Sports Editors Want Women and Minorities To Have Even Less Job Security

 

This thread will not end well.

 

I eagerly await the first inkling of proof that any of this diversity push results in any positive (or negative for that matter) impact on circulation or revenue. I have been waiting for 20-odd years and the two seem to be wholly unrelated, but it does make for nice talk at the APSE parties.

 

Everything else aside, I am sure that newspaper editors have their hands full holding on to their jobs for dear life.

The thought of a spate of women and minorities being hired for these plum jobs -- if they aren't already on staff to take over after the editor is laid off -- is laughable.

 

Didn't start well, definitely won't end well.

 

So happening to be a white male disqualifies someone?

 

Why shouldn't women and minorities have the same opportunity to get stabbed in the back by management as white men when the ax comes a'swinging/

 

This is simply racist.

Period.

I am usually pretty tolerant, though I was once told not to apply for a specific MLB beat job because they wanted a woman.

This is blatant.

Yes, Mark. Apparently it does.

 

Han: I heard that same argument last week about same-sex marriage here in New York. Well almost the same.

 

Wow, incredibly biased and I am someone of Hispanic decent (mother's side). My question is, as a half Puerto Rican who got a C in Spanish in high school and butchers Spanish, would I qualify?

Before you say, no. I am as much Hispanic as Barack Obama is black.

I am for Affirmative Action and for diversity, but the statement is blatantly biased and does border on racist. That makes me uncomfortable. They are going to disqualify a group of applicants in a tough job environment for the sole reason because they are white?

Affirmative action is about finding quality minority candidates and actively seeking those candidates. This isn't that, this is "we need more minorities."

 

"If I got one thing against the black chappies, it's this - no one gives it to you. You have to take it." / Frank Costello