African-American sports writers! Dissertation help needed!

I've long thought that dynamic is out there, with a caveat: Smaller papers have a doubly tough time hiring minorities (blacks in particular) because of the demand. I'd posit that black writers don't have to accept lower-paying jobs at small papers because larger ones will pay them more to start. If you have a choice (and virtually any minority who can write a complete sentence will have one) between a 15k paper that pays $20,000 and a 100k that might pay $28k or $30k, that's really not a hard choice. I'm just spit-balling with those numbers, but if they're anything close to accurate, then it won't matter what smaller papers do to try to attract minority candidates.

As an aside, Dave, we've had multiple discussions (with no small amount of acrimony) about this very topic. Don't know how scientific it would be for the purposes of your survey, but there have been a lot of opinions expressed here.

 

Except that I'm not sure it is that easy for anybody to get hired in an entry-level job, including a minority. If it were that easy, you would see a lot more minority people in journalism, and that doesn't seem to be the case. I know there is a thought - "if you are black and can write a complete sentence you can start at a pretty good paper" - but then you have to consider the fact that a lot of newspaper sports sections have no blacks working there.

And I would take the other argument - if you were black and had something going for you, you would be less likely to take $10,000 less to work at a newspaper where the prospects weren't promising.

 

In a perfect world this would be love.

 

are you serious with this statement?????

look, I'll be the first to say that at times -- rare, few and far between times -- there are some advantages to being a minority. heck, my job started as an internship for minorities when i was 17. but you really and truly think that any community-college educated black person with the ability to string a halfway decent sentence together will have his/her choice of jobs in this business?

should SEs and EEs be cognizant that their staffs be diverse? hell yes, just like managers and higher-ups in any company should. but they should be hiring talented writers -- white, black, green or purple. i know of a couple of occasions where an SE was seeking a minority to fill an opening, but it was in large part because most every other black person on staff had left in the six months prior.

but even as a minority, i have mixed feelings about such an idea. yes, the job should go to the best person for the job, but at the same time, knowing what people in my family went through and CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH, it's hard to feel a lot of sympathy for a white guy whining that he's being "discriminated against."

 

this will end ugly. again.

 

I don't think the problem is associated with sports departments. There has been a push, rightfully so, to better represent communities with diverse reporters and editors. There are minority internship programs that help elevate diverse candidates to strong positions in sports journalism. I agree that other areas of a newsroom need the same commitment and representation.

I believe the biggesst efforts need to come from educating minorities at the formative stages, such as age 12-16, about the importance of a college education and help them attain it through nearly any means. That means more minorities will have better opportunities in business fields and ultimately in journalism. When young teens see the benefits of an education, everyone will reap the rewards.

To openly be critical of the sports journalism profession is a little misguided. It should start with job fairs in diverse junior high classrooms. Otherwise, we'll conduct these same polls and have similar research 20 years from now.

 

i'm not trying to have anything end ugly. that was just an ignorant statement.

 

So is your broadbrushed statement of "but at the same time, knowing what people in my family went through and CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH, it's hard to feel a lot of sympathy for a white guy whining that he's being "discriminated against."

So your family is the only one that matters and no others -- especially white males -- are allowed to have sympathy for "discrimination?" Following your thinking, it should go to the best person for the job, as long as that person is you because your family is going through discrimination and it's the only one that matters.
Believe it or not, "white guys" CAN be discriminated against. And in your eyes, that's OK because they are "white guys."

I'm still trying to decide whether that is the most ignorant statement I've read or the most racist. I'm
leaning toward ignorance.

 

That's total bullshit.
There are many minority applicants who are itching for a chance to get a job at smaller papers. For some strange reason, they are rejected. It happens too often and all of a sudden, people say its because of the pay or because editors "didn't think they would fit well." I've had so many minority friends apply for gigs only not to get call back that its pathetic.
And the worst part is, many of the guys who are hired are really horseshit.
And lets not bring in the good ol' boy network. It's still alive.
I know people may not like what I'm saying, but it's time for a change. It's one reason why newspaper circulation and interest is declining.

 

Sorry Friday, but based on my experience I mostly agree with novelist - though his line about writing a complete sentence was a bit flippant.

But generally newspapers will hire minorities with less experience than a white candidate and they should because we need to reach out to these groups that newspapers have historically ignored and/or misunderstood.

I saw this all the time at the Gannett paper I worked at and, again, I understood it. And when I was looking for a job out of college I couldn't help but notice that major newspapers who didn't have room for me were recruiting heavily on minority journalist boards.

At my Gannett paper, I saw them bring in a lot of, pardon the pun, green minorities in hopes they would grow into it. Many of them did but some didn't and, it being a Gannett paper, was very, very slow to get rid of those who didn't because it affected their quotas. That's the only problem I've ever had with the situation - if you can't do it, get out.

But I have no problem with newspapers finding eager minorities without experience and giving jobs a more qualified white reporter could have because it's important to have minority reporters and editors, not just out in the community but helping direct and influence coverage.

 

what the flip are you talking about???? are you trying to imply that every open job in the country should only go to someone in my family?? cause if so the country will grind to a halt real soon. i have a pretty small family.

I didn't say discrimination is ok. I didn't say it's ok for white males to be discriminated against. And everyone should have sympathy for/be opposed to discrimination in a perfect world. But I did say that I have a hard time listening to white men complain that they feel they have been discriminated against (and I have heard it) because I know what my family, the current members and the dead ones, have gone through and continue to go through in this country.

There were slaves in my family. One of those women escaped, hiding in a watermelon cart headed north. Members of my family fought in the 54th Regiment. My husband went to a top university, graduated, and is a highly respected member of his work community. But he's black, he's young, and he's 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds. So when some people look at him, they assume he's either a. a football player, b. a thug, or c. maybe even a doorman when God forbid he's been nice and is holding a door for someone. Sh!t, I'm damn near yellow and there are times that I get watched/followed in a store.

I don't pretend to know what other people have been through, but if you'd like, I'd be glad to poll all of our friends and family members to get their stories on what they go through.

In the grand scheme of things, anyone can be discriminated against for anything -- age, race, religion, gay, Muslim, nose-pierced, tattooed, left-handed. That's the "beauty" of this country.

I think I addressed everything, but I didn't really follow all of your post.

 

Point taken, write. boy friday and I were discussing this at dinner and came to the conclusion that ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL, the minority should be hired and given 18 months to prove the right choice was made or let the powers that be bring someone else in.