Minority sports reporters

"Somewhere along the line, we dropped the ball when it comes to minority recruitment."


You're right. Such as when after I submitted my resume to the Gannett job bank, they called a former paper I interned at, got a glowing review from my boss, and then asked "Does he meet any minority targets"?

Guess what? I haven't heard a THING since from any Gannett paper I've applied to.

You're right, we have dropped the ball, by doing discriminitory crap like this.

 

chances are some white guy was hired for the job anyway, f8.

 

Plus: I'd say it's a big help to a MLB reporter if they can speak fluent Spanish.

Minus: you look at Sports Reporters, see Bill Rhoden defending the black side whether it's right or not, and roll your eyes . . .

 

Must resist... must stay away.....Nooooooooo :-X

 

Of the 10 full-timers at my shop, all (including myself) are white men. Just sayin'.

 

They'd probably leave if they could get another job, but they can't because folks are only hiring minorities.

 

Indeed. America has been keeping Whitey down for too long.

 

I've been told on four occasions by the people doing the hiring not to bother applying for jobs because I'm not a minority. Before I had even sent in a resume. So the only reason I wasn't qualified for these jobs was the color of my skin (because they hadn't seen my qualifications). Again, this has happened four separate times, most recently about two years ago by a large paper with a terrific reputation. Please point me to any minority journalist in the past 30 years who has been told flat out by the people doing the hiring not to bother applying for a job because he or she is a minority. I'm not saying that minorities have it made or that white people have it rough. I'm just pointing out that things go both ways and the situation isn't as simple or clear as many make it out to be.

Just sayin'.

 

If your people doing hiring at newspapers told you not to bother applying for a job because you are not a minority, that's four more jobs you could have gone after, because that's so dumb that all four should be fired.

Even if their bosses were putting the pressure on to diversify their staffs, saying that to an applicant is like begging for a lawsuit.

I know this goes on, but the reality is that most newsrooms still don't reflect the makeup of their communities and some aren't even close.

 

Four black sports editors at daily newspapers in the entire country. The last four shops I worked at, one of which is a major metro daily, a total of four black sports staffers.

Just sayin'.

 

No one's going to sue over that. First of all, it's your word against theirs, unless maybe you can find a bunch more people who have been told the same thing. Second of all, if you sue and it hits the media, you will end up associated with the David Dukes of the world, because that's who will come out in support of you. And I damn sure wouldn't want that. Heck, I'm not even 100 percent sure what they did is against the law (newspapers are private businesses).

When it first happened, I remember thinking that I appreciated the SE being up front with me so I wouldn't waste my time getting sutff together for a job I had no shot at. The more I think about it, though, the more frustrating it becomes. Like everyone else, I would hope to be judged on my qualifications, on my ability and experience. If there are several qualified candidates and you want to diversify your staff with a minority, that's great. It just seems to me that turning away someone who might be the best candidate for the job (before you know otherwise) simply because he is not a minority is a waste and is not the way to put out the best possible product. I would think you'd want to enlarge the pool you are choosing from rather than shrinking it.

 

Joe,

I agree with you, and I've been there.

I also wouldn't want to work anyplace where they told me not to bother applying without seeing what they might be missing out on.