Minority sports reporters

Actually, the problem with some people appears to be that they equate under-qualified minorities with quotas. Yes, there are some people who may be hired party based on their racial make-up. And yes, some of them are under-qualified. But I'd be willing to bet that the percentage of white guys who aren't qualified is much higher than for any other group.

 

Which goes back to my point about experience being undervalued (God, why don't I just go away and leave this alone?).

 

Again, why do you think experience and qualifications are linked together? They're not. How many highly-experienced veterans are still awful on the job? Lots. How many inexperienced newbies are studs on the job? Again, lots.

 

Will dispute that second assertion. That's rare.

 

I'll say it again: You're not giving the young reporter enough credit.

 

The unfortunate thing is when there is a bad minority hire, it's never a reflection of that one person. The presence of minorities at every paper begins getting called into question ... like it is right now, and like what happened after Jayson Blair, who couldn't just be a nincompoop that made all journalists look bad. No, he was used as an example of why affirmative doesn't work -- as if he were the only journalist in the history of newspapers to kiss up to the boss, get promoted too soon and fall on his ass. Yeah, cuz that's just a black thang.  :-\

And by the way, quotas are illegal.

 

CW1975,

Jayson Blair only had that job because of skin color - the NYT knew he didn't graduate college, he was in his early 20s, he had been run out of his own campus newspaper...under those circumstances, I'm not sure anyone else except Jayson Blair gets hired. While he is hardly indicative of black journalists, he's a cautionary tale. Just like Stephen Glass is a cautionary tale for hiring young superstar journalists, when all of The New Republic was made of young superstar journalists...plus Michael Kelly, the great cultivator of talent.

Really dealing with the issue of diversity in the newsroom means more than just saying..."we need it." Your posts have proven you eloquent, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater...women's coverage, for example. The journalism community is doing more than okay by women. This needs to be dropped as an demographic needing attention.

 

If Howell wasn't the classic Southern guilt-tripper . . . there's no Jason Blair.

 

And how exactly is that going to matter? Who's going to enforce that? The point was made, quite well, earlier in this thread that no white male is going to sue over descrimination. He'll never win and he'll have a heck of a lot harder time getting another job. Would you want to interview a guy who sued when he didn't get a position he pursued?

Quotas may be illegal, but they are absolutely a part of this business and that's not going to change any time soon.

 

Alma,

I don't get it. What's the difference between Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass?

You proved me correct. Jayson Blair was hired because of his skin color and Glass because of his talent? Talk about a double standard. That is outrageous.

 

This is a very interesting comment, which I think is definitely true at some places. But certainly not everywhere by any means.

 

Phantom concept? Surely you know better than that.

A lot of people here who are saying that there aren't a lot of token hires being made are probably in Middle America/rural areas/small papers. Because I can damn well assure you there are blatant minority hires at major market papers. I've seen a few shameless ones at the major metro where I live ... guys a year or two out of school, without a lot of experience -- or, honestly, even slightly above average ability -- getting staff writer jobs, making great money and basically learning on the job.

I'm really not one to crow about it too much, I mean, think of how many unfair advantages white people have had and still have. But to be passed up while people who should be honing their craft at small/mid-sized papers are being hired for big time jobs, it's disheartening as hell.

This is not sour grapes, if anyone wants to take it as that, so be it.

I respect your opinion grizz, but if you believe this doesn't happen, you're the one who's loco -- or you haven't been around many different places. I've seen it happen in almost caricature-ish extremes.