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

Again, diversity is bottom-line neutral, at worst.

You are either in total denial or totally clueless if you think lack of diversity doesn't impact coverage.

 

No, my question is how it impacts the business and its survival, which is, again, the way the diversity goals were pushed for a good 20 years. I heard it beginning in college: have to get more diverse to draw in more readers. Younger readers. That's the ticket.

It turned out to be completely untrue. And in the context of this thread, where we're discussing recent hiring numbers (and against the backdrop of current business conditions), I don't know how and where the goal of increasing diversity fits into all the other challenges.

 

You gotta be shitting me. How can a white person give a perspective of what it is like to be black? How can a black person give a perspective of how it is to be Hispanic? You're on the outside looking in and contrary to belief of some along here, there are instances when the race of a reporter proves invaluable in terms of the information that can be gathered.

 

Such as the ongoing Drip series NBA Stars Who Have Been In My Living Room?

 

Very simply look at the demographics. The country is changing very quickly. If the industry wants to survive, it will have to diversify.

 

I don't know who has been in your living room and really don't care. The topic is diversity in sports journalism, not who you entertain.

 

The industry is vastly more diverse than it was 40 years ago and it's in the worst shape it has ever been.

 

Yeah and to survive it has to find a way to reach that growing audience.

 

LTL, as you are aware, the fact that the industry is in worse shape than it's ever been has absolutely nothing to do with diversity since the alleged goals never came close to being met -- particularly in management.

 

The industry's economic outlook has absolutely nothing to do with diversity, period. It never has and it never will. So it's a nice goal if you're big into the social-obligation portion of newsgathering, but the idea that it's necessary to the future has been pretty well debunked.

 

As you are fond of saying, I don't know that as fact and neither do you since a diverse media remains an unfulfilled goal.

 

Eh, fair enough, but I'd put heavy money on my side.