For all the oppressed white males out there....

Have you checked who started this thread and gave it the title? It was not a white male claiming to be oppressed. It was someone pointing out the numbers in the APSE report and saying, in effect, that minorities are being oppressed. In addition, the other threads on this subject started in the same vein. Once they were going, a number of white males pointed out -- some more tactfully than others -- that the industry is seeking minorities but is having a hard time finding candidates. I think you have a bit of an exaggerated view of the uproar among white men on this subject. I don't think we're claiming victim status as you suggest (I know I'm not). Rather, many of us don't believe that shutting candidates out of jobs on the basis of race is a good idea.

 

then give me a number, percentage wise, of major metro gigs that go to recent minority college grads, either as interships and/or full-time gigs.

think the quotas are being filled? ... since the quotas are being filled, are you really going to continue to bitch? or is that really why you as a person were put on this planet to do? ... ok, please, bitch some more.

 

I've read an APSE report that says that number isn't too high, TP. and wow, please switch to decaf

 

You give me qualified candidates, I'll hire them.

Qualified candidates just aren't out there.

I think the idea of being a sportswriter is something that white males grow up with fantasizing about to a certain extent.

That sort of pipeline does not exist for any other race, or the fairer gender.

 

This is all bullshit. I know several qualified minority journalists. A few who have won awards, and they haven't gotten a break. Now, they are looking elsewhere because they feel that they gave their life to the business and the business hasn't done right by them. I can't blame them for feeling the way that they do.
It's easy to use numbers but the facts remain, unfortuneately, that editors aren't doing all they can. The numbers speak for themselves.

 

Wow. If this person is truly in a hiring position, you can see why minorities and women are screwed.

He's saying qualified candidates "just aren't out there" -- he's made up his mind.

And the reason is? You didn't come down the pipeline.

That's just a sick post on so many levels.

 

and yet, so indicative of the journalism climate.

 

Yes, I think that's problematic. But show me a hire that's based strictly on race. If I have an all-white male staff and I hire a minority even though he's got a couple years less experience than a white male applicant because I want a more racially balanced staff, is that a hire based strictly on race? No. Maybe I believe the different perspective that he brings to my staff outweighs the difference in experience. But that white guy might very well go away thinking that race was the only reason he didn't get hired. There are lots of factors that go into determining the best person for a job, and they don't all have to do with your resume and clips. As I said before, I think a lot of this has to do with white men finding out that it's not always a built-in advantage to be white or a male. That's a new feeling to them, but it's something the rest of us have been dealing with for a long time.

 

I'm not the one bitching, Tom. You are.

 

I know one guy who was at a major metro, did a good job covering one of the three major sports as a backup, but was told by an editor that he would never be a beat guy because of his skin tone. The guy has been bitter and with good reason. If it came down to competition, he could do something about that. Skin color, there is nothing he could do about that. He's still in the business. Not bitter and trying to get an opportunity, somewhere.

 

You give me qualified candidates, I'll hire them.

Qualified candidates just aren't out there.

I think the idea of being a sportswriter is something that white males grow up with fantasizing about to a certain extent.

That sort of pipeline does not exist for any other race, or the fairer gender.

I don't know about anyone else, but this is a frighteningly ignorant and presumptive post, at least to me. I guess you've got it all figured out. I agree with the previous poster in hoping this person is not in position to hire people in this industry. I might still be stringing for $50 a pop if all editors had that way of thinking.