AP on Spike Lee's donation

I can't imagine why Spike Lee would feel like greater effort needs to be made to get minority voices in sportswriting, because on this board you see nothing but reasoned debates about race and open-minded individuals willing to put themselves in the shoes of others.

 

Sportschick -- I understand what you were saying -- introduce the craft early and give them the merits and demerits.

But by the same token, considering the fact that despite all of the programs designed to funnel more black kids into journalism and all of the efforts by groups like NABJ to recruit and/or place more black journalists, the pool and percentage of black reporters hasn't grown significantly and in fact has seemingly peaked and appears to be sliding the other direction --- doesn't that say something about the actual level of interest in this profession among black kids?

Again, every one of these studies on a lack of a certain group in certain jobs focus on those doing the hiring -- I'm saying it is time we start looking at those doing the applying and why they may or may not be applying for the jobs in the first place.

 

Personally I wouldn't steer anybody into journalism right now.

 

Why? Right now is an exciting time to be getting into the business. Scary to some, exciting to others.

 

I think most of those programs start too late. Course the crappy pay doesn't help efforts to recruit/keep minorities in journalism.

I think I read somewhere, and I could totally be wrong, that a much lower percentage of black kids go to college than white ones. So it seems only logical that the kids that do go on to higher ed would choose professions that make it worth their while.

And given the attitudes of many on this board, I can see where kids might decide that industry attitudes and the crappy pay aren't worth their time or effort.

 

the man gave money to advance the cause of education and people are second-guessing him. what a joke...

spike and morehouse could turn their journalism school into the black northwestern. that would be a powerful tool. there's nothing to complain about here.

i just hope i'm invited to speak to those kids in the program and explain to them the level of commitment and passion it takes to make it in this field regardless of color. those kids need to be told the truth. don't get in this field if you're expecting internships at all the biggest papers and walking into a job at a major metro. if you really want to make an impact as a journalist, you have to be willing to take your @$$ out to the sticks in a little town where you may not have the best social life for a few years. you may have to cover preps and little-league stuff for a few years. there's nothing wrong with that. don't assume the industry is racist because a major metro won't hire you at 24. i'll stop there...

but there's nothing negative about what spike is doing. nothing.

 

Zag,....are you asking why they're not applying to J-schools, or not applying to journalism jobs?

Are there many programs at the high school level exposing black students to journalism? I don't know, but it can't hurt to have 1 more right? To truly work, newspapers need to get involved by providing ia few internships for students entering senior year of high school, mentors, lectures at the school, etc.

 

mizzou, i see your post was erased... but i do find it rather humorous and enlightening what makes some people feel powerful... when it actually makes them look rather small.

 

Admire Spike's efforts. Probably the biggest cause of low minority figures in newspapers and sports coverage is the crappy pay. If you can get a job at a decent newspaper, you can probably make a hell of a lot more money doing something else. Journalism cares about diversity. They just don't care enough to pay for it.

 

But what's more important, Jason, that the journalists are black or that the journalists are good?

I don't understand why race is important here. I feel it's a slippery slope. I'm a fan of yours, though, I'm willing to listen.

 

I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm saying before we start another outrage or crisis, let's take a closer look at what the low numbers of black journalists really means.

And yes, there are so many "urban" and/or "minority" high school journalism work shops (I know because I've spoken at and/or volunteered for them) out there, exposure isn't the problem. In fact, Leon Carter from the Daily News used to (I don't know if he still does) had an intense "minority journalism university" for select minority students every summer.

One problem I have seen in speaking with these kids is that (and I didn't say all so please save the "generalization" crap) it seems as like a much higher degree of the minority kids aren't willing to start out in East KaBumFuck and working for a 14,000 circ. daily rag than the white students I work with.