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

[Drip]

I don't think its a secret that the industry is more interested in surviving than diversity. However, diversity may be a key to the industry's survival.

 

[jojoblack]

LTL, in this current media environment, I would be inclined to agree that diversity would not right the ship.

However, the media had been given a pass for too long for not embracing diversity and making excuses along every step of the way as it thoroughly enjoyed calling out all other sectors. That was among the things I found unpalatable.

 

[exmediahack]

I just wonder if this means everyone will have the same expectation or accountability.

Worked in far too many places where a reporter, editor or producer (TV version of an editor) who happen to be something other than a white male is treated with lower expectations.

Will that ever end?

 

[Riptide]

Ever since the merit system was dumped, the buzz phrase I've heard has been "everyone according to his own abilities."

Translation: "The better you are, the more work we'll pile on you."

 

[black dude with pompano]

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.

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

You do realize they've been saying this for 30 years now?

The very unlikely survival of our industry as we know it will have little or nothing to do with diversity.

There may be other reasons to support "diversity," but this one has never been less relevant.

 

[jojoblack]

I just wonder if this means everyone will have the same expectation or accountability.

Worked in far too many places where a reporter, editor or producer (TV version of an editor) who happen to be something other than a white male is treated with lower expectations.

Will that ever end?

Incompetence and substandard performance comes in all colors and genders. I'm all for accountability. However, I can assure you that because of the numbers, simple logic makes it a certainty that white males get by with lower expectations exponentially more. And while you're crusading could you look into that little thing about pay disparity for doing the same job both in terms of gender and race? Oh, and how about the assumption that as a minority, someone just did me a favor by hiring me whether my credentials meet or exceed the standard?

 

[outofplace]

I just wonder if this means everyone will have the same expectation or accountability.

Worked in far too many places where a reporter, editor or producer (TV version of an editor) who happen to be something other than a white male is treated with lower expectations.

Will that ever end?

Incompetence and substandard performance comes in all colors and genders. I'm all for accountability. However, I can assure you that because of the numbers, simple logic makes it a certainty that white males get by with lower expectations exponentially more. And while you're crusading could you look into that little thing about pay disparity for doing the same job both in terms of gender and race? Oh, and how about the assumption that as a minority, someone just did me a favor by hiring me whether my credentials meet or exceed the standard?

So, you want news organizations to make more of an effort to hire minorities, but you don't want anyone to think that being a minority ever helped anyone get a job?

Between this and your questionable relationship with the definition of a fact, you certainly are bringing an interesting perspective to this thread.

 

[Drip]

I just wonder if this means everyone will have the same expectation or accountability.

Worked in far too many places where a reporter, editor or producer (TV version of an editor) who happen to be something other than a white male is treated with lower expectations.

Will that ever end?

Incompetence and substandard performance comes in all colors and genders. I'm all for accountability. However, I can assure you that because of the numbers, simple logic makes it a certainty that white males get by with lower expectations exponentially more. And while you're crusading could you look into that little thing about pay disparity for doing the same job both in terms of gender and race? Oh, and how about the assumption that as a minority, someone just did me a favor by hiring me whether my credentials meet or exceed the standard?

You touched on something that has been ignored when you mentioned the pay disparity.

 

[jojoblack]

So, you want news organizations to make more of an effort to hire minorities, but you don't want anyone to think that being a minority ever helped anyone get a job?

Between this and your questionable relationship with the definition of a fact, you certainly are bringing an interesting perspective to this thread.

One of the rules of the board is to quote others accurately. I am confident you can never find that I've said being a minority has never helped anyone get a job. I am also certain that my statements reflect that I'm for hiring competent people and demanding accountability. I quite clearly said I was tired of more than 30 years of excuses as to why the media can't find "qualified" minorities.

As to facts, my point was minority hiring never reflected the nation's demographics so we'll never know what would've worked or didn't. That is a fact.

 

[outofplace]

So, you want news organizations to make more of an effort to hire minorities, but you don't want anyone to think that being a minority ever helped anyone get a job?

Between this and your questionable relationship with the definition of a fact, you certainly are bringing an interesting perspective to this thread.

One of the rules of the board is to quote others accurately. I am confident you can never find that I've said being a minority has never helped anyone get a job. I am also certain that my statements reflect that I'm for hiring competent people and demanding accountability. I quite clearly said I was tired of more than 30 years of excuses as to why the media can't find "qualified" minorities.

As to facts, my point was minority hiring never reflected the nation's demographics so we'll never know what would've worked or didn't. That is a fact.

Quotes are open to interpretation. That ws my interpretation of yours.

Sorry, but a consequence of affirmative action policies is that you will have to put up with some people making unfair assumptions about how a minority hire got the job. I used to work with a woman who resented having others assume she got her sports writing job because she was a woman even though that is exactly why she got it.

 

[outofplace]

Just a general observation, not in response to anyone in particular.

I cannot understand how any supposed enlightened person can fail to understand the value of having a diverse staff. I couldn't care less whether it makes a penny's worth of difference to the industry's bottom line. The simple fact is that coverage of a diverse world by an overwhelmingly white media is a massive fail.

That isn't a fact. That is an opinion.

Still haven't seen much explanation of where this helps other than among people of similar opinions and their convention-going cohorts.

Try re-reading this again, jojo, to see your interesting relationship with the definition of a fact.

 

[jojoblack]

OOP, while I generally think that we have reached somewhat of a middle ground in our discussion, I think it is only logical to assert that an overwhelmingly white male media determining what is news, how it is covered and how it will be interpreted/presented for a diverse audience doesn't work.