Coming soon,The Ralph Wiley Rule for sports journalism hiring?

[Mizzougrad96]

For my last opening, I got more than 100 applicants.

How was I supposed to tell if somebody was a minority unless they listed membership in specific organizations?

If you don't know... They're not...

 

[Inky_Wretch]

So let me see if I have this correctly, the problem with getting more minority hires is that employers don't know where to look or who to ask for qualified applicants? Of course legally employers can't ask a person's race, yet they do ask them to fill out that EEOC questionaire.

If a shop is headhunting, then they absolutely know where to look. But that only applies to a select few organizations (around here at least).

The rest of us throw up an ad on JJobs, the APSE site and here and await the flood of applicants.

 

[Alma]

I understand the need for minority hires, I really do, but seriously when we get a stack of resumes, shouldn't the best resumes and clips be selected for the job? I know there are some out there who still discriminate, and that's terrible, but everyone being equal shouldn't you just rip the names off the resumes and clips and go into it with a level playing field and the best people for the job get interviewed?

For my last opening, I got more than 100 applicants.

How was I supposed to tell if somebody was a minority unless they listed membership in specific organizations?

Look them up on Facebook or Twitter?

I did once I trimmed the pile to the 10 semifinalists. But for all of them? I don't have enough hours in the day.

There are many outstanding minority journalists who aren't being hired. The line of "I can't find any" or "There aren't any qualified" is bogus.

But "they didn't apply" is not a bogus reason. Unlike the NFL -- where it is accurately presumed that 99 percent of the men coaching who are not head coaches want to be one -- I suspect there may be many newspapers at which minorities simply have no interest in working. (And they may have no interest for good reason. Like it's not a very good job.)

I'd love to see more minorities and women sportswriters at mid-sized dailies. I'm guessing it's not much different than it used to be, which is not terribly good.

 

[outofplace]

I understand the need for minority hires, I really do, but seriously when we get a stack of resumes, shouldn't the best resumes and clips be selected for the job? I know there are some out there who still discriminate, and that's terrible, but everyone being equal shouldn't you just rip the names off the resumes and clips and go into it with a level playing field and the best people for the job get interviewed?

For my last opening, I got more than 100 applicants.

How was I supposed to tell if somebody was a minority unless they listed membership in specific organizations?

Look them up on Facebook or Twitter?

I did once I trimmed the pile to the 10 semifinalists. But for all of them? I don't have enough hours in the day.

There are many outstanding minority journalists who aren't being hired. The line of "I can't find any" or "There aren't any qualified" is bogus.

You'll have to show me where he said anything like that.

He didn't. Not even close to that.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

As of a decade or so ago, the percentage of minority journalists was relatively close to the percentage that were in journalism schools. It was something like eight percent vs. 11 percent... I have no idea what the numbers are now, but I don't think there's any reason to think they've significantly changed.

If you're at a big paper or one of the main websites you really have no excuse not to look at minority candidates, because there are plenty of great writers out there to choose from. But if you're at a mid-sized daily in certain parts of the country, you might very well get 200 applicants without a single one being from a minority.

 

[Captain Obvious]

If PEteacher didn't leave the business, there would be more minorities working as sports writers.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

At my first job, we sent someone from our sports staff to the NABJ convention every year to recruit and I guarantee you, of the openings we had when I was there, every writer opening had a minority interview and of the hires made, I'd guess half were minorities.

We had a desk opening and instructions to hire a minority and there were no applicants. This was at a 350,000+ (at the time) circ paper. One of the managers in sports was instructed to find a suitable minority candidate and he couldn't do it.

 

[KJIM]

So let me see if I have this correctly, the problem with getting more minority hires is that employers don't know where to look or who to ask for qualified applicants? Of course legally employers can't ask a person's race, yet they do ask them to fill out that EEOC questionaire.

No, I don't think that's correct. Not sure where you got that.

Ads are posted in the usual places. Minorities know these places. They are not secret. If they don't apply, should it be assumed that they DID want to apply and would-be employers should try to hunt them down, even though hundreds of qualified candidates applied? I'm missing something in the reasoning there.

And while applications have the EEOC thing (which is often optional and I never fill out myself unless forced), these are not requested in any ad I've seen -- just a resume, cover letter and clips.

 

[Moderator1]

When I was in Richmond, applicants who sent stuff in through the online system on the web site could check a box. When the application showed up in my mailbox, it said DIVERSITY CANDIDATE in cap letters after the subject of the email. Had to interview them, at least with a phone call. People figured that out and I called a lot of people who in no way qualified as a diversity hire.

We do need to do better as an industry, no question about that. We hear it all the time and no one disagrees.

 

[Drip]

At my first job, we sent someone from our sports staff to the NABJ convention every year to recruit and I guarantee you, of the openings we had when I was there, every writer opening had a minority interview and of the hires made, I'd guess half were minorities.

We had a desk opening and instructions to hire a minority and there were no applicants. This was at a 350,000+ (at the time) circ paper. One of the managers in sports was instructed to find a suitable minority candidate and he couldn't do it.

When I was in Richmond, applicants who sent stuff in through the online system on the web site could check a box. When the application showed up in my mailbox, it said DIVERSITY CANDIDATE in cap letters after the subject of the email. Had to interview them, at least with a phone call. People figured that out and I called a lot of people who in no way qualified as a diversity hire.

We do need to do better as an industry, no question about that. We hear it all the time and no one disagrees.

Mizzou, NABJ isn't the only source for minority candidates. It's unfortunate that many feel that's the first step. Perhaps it's because its the only source that they know of. Moddy's point about the industry needing to do a better job can't be emphasized enough. Hiring is not an exact since but the results have been pretty bad when it comes to bringing in minorities.

 

[Alma]

When I was in Richmond, applicants who sent stuff in through the online system on the web site could check a box. When the application showed up in my mailbox, it said DIVERSITY CANDIDATE in cap letters after the subject of the email. Had to interview them, at least with a phone call. People figured that out and I called a lot of people who in no way qualified as a diversity hire.

We do need to do better as an industry, no question about that. We hear it all the time and no one disagrees.

Some of doing better as an industry could be paradoxical: Bigger papers need to stop overslotting diversity candidates for internships for which they're not prepared.

 

[Drip]

When I was in Richmond, applicants who sent stuff in through the online system on the web site could check a box. When the application showed up in my mailbox, it said DIVERSITY CANDIDATE in cap letters after the subject of the email. Had to interview them, at least with a phone call. People figured that out and I called a lot of people who in no way qualified as a diversity hire.

We do need to do better as an industry, no question about that. We hear it all the time and no one disagrees.

Some of doing better as an industry could be paradoxical: Bigger papers need to stop overslotting diversity candidates for internships for which they're not prepared.

And by the same token, interns are just that, interns. They are learning the craft. I've seen my share of bad white interns along with bad minority interns.