Minority sports reporters

Two things:
1. Maybe he doesn't like me. I can't argue. But all I'm saying is having some diversity in this situation could only help.

2. As a young reporter, I'm sure a lot of young journalists are put in position they're not ready for. But editors may feel that a few mistakes here and there is worth it because the potential to grow is greater than the old vets, who have hit their ceilings.

 

Hey Grizz, count to 10 next time before going off or just try drugs.  

People are going to be better than me? Get better or get out of the business? Please point out in my post where I cried about not getting a job. I'll assume for now that you're confusing me with another poster.  

I love my current job and was fortunate enough to move up into it, over time, without having to jump around like some of my friends who grew intimate with workers at moving companies.

I'm fully aware of the chasm between the majority and minorities (not just blacks). You seem very passionate about improving those numbers and I merely asked if that passion runs deep enough for you to step aside to help improve those numbers.

The reason I asked the question is that those of us blessed with solid jobs have an easier time pushing for diversity than do younger professionals who are trying to work their way up the ladder and may feel they won't get a legit shot at certain gigs or at certain papers if they aren't a minority. Those cases do exist, despite the numbers gap that exsists and will persist for a long time.

And the dilemma those people face is as unfair and as painful as the dilemma faced by a member of a minority group who felt the door slammed in his or her face.

As for my school staff, it was 40% minority. My immediate supervisor was a woman.

As for my current job, the department head is a minority. The editor with whom I work most often is a minority. Our relationships are fine and we work seamlessly.
 

 

da man:

Sadly, there is much truth in what you say. I've seen too many folks "encouraged" to take early retirement in an effort to trim the bottom line. But it's not as if our profession started that trend. I think that thinking, and a fundamental lack of appreciation for experience and wisdom, runs throughout society.

At the same time, I agree with Grizz that there are also examples of individuals who were allowed to hit the cruise-control button and fall asleep at the wheel. Now that pisses me off more than anything in this business.

 

Have any of you white boys ever considered that the minorities have better sense than to go to school 4 years for a job that has crappy hours, little or no social time and pays squat? Maybe it's just a white boy thang!

 

My bad, Armageddon. Didn't mean to direct it at you specifically. After reading so many posts, was just saying that not everyone who thinks they're a great writer, is one.
I considerate myself fortunate enough to realize how bad I sucked when i got in this business. Not saying I'm great now, but i'm better.
And I've posted on here about discrimination I've received during an interview. Yeah, it sucks. I even detailed the conversation of the interview for my SportsJournalists.com colleagues almost verbatim. the response was very supportive.
The only thing I left out was the fact that I'm black.
Discrimination sucks in all forms. White, black, male or female. But it's there.
All anyone can do is keep trying to get better than the next candidate and hope we have a little luck on our side as well.

 

You are forgiven

And good luck on the job.

 

All my career I've heard "you'll be able to write your own ticket" because I'm a minority with what could be considered marginal talent.

Well, guess what. I spent 5 years at a 30K daily (I got the job because the SE covered me in high school) before moving on to a mid-major. Pen still in hand, I'm waiting to write that ticket. Through those first five years, I've learned this business is more about connections than anything. But even if your connections help you get your foot in the door, you still have to display enough talent to make the hiring editor put you on the payroll.

I hate when these discussions are even brought up because they always turn into a sympathy session for the downtrodden white guy. Well some of us black guys have paid our dues, too, and are deeply thankful for every opportunity we've received.

Sorry for the rant, but think of how unconfortable this kind of thing is, when you're one of just a few black faces in your newsroom and some of your white colleagues feel like it's OK to open up to you about this subject because they think you're "cool". It sucks sometimes, especially when you're covering one of the more important beats at your paper.

 

remember too, PETeacher, that when you don't have a notebook or tape recorder in their face, athletes are sometimes much more talkative.

as for the rest of this, jobs should be given on merit - white, black, whatever. If i get passed over for a job, it's because someone was better. Color shouldn't mean shit. Just my take.

 

As a middle-aged white guy, I've been told that a number of positions are out of my reach for precisely that reason.

Tough shit. Middle-aged white guys have been riding on the gravy train for 300 years. It was my luck to be born at the wrong time. That's the way it goes.

 

ace (and i really tried for some time to come up with a formal for ace ... i'll be damned) of course you attempt to find the most qualified person through networking and, well, ("or a promising kid at another paper to try to sweeten the pool?") outright thievery. it's all fair when you're in dire need of a good hire.

but, sxy tosses a stone at companies that aren't out there "hunting for the diversity hire." come on, i'm looking for the best person to fill a job and i know how to get the word out when we're hiring. i'm looking for the best candidate, not the best (fill in the blank with whatever you want) hire. to suggest i should -- the newsroom i work in and my department is diverse as hell -- is pure bullshit.

when i interview and recruit, i'm colorblind. all i want is the person who will cause me the fewest headaches and give me the best production. why is that not good enough?

 

ace - that's not fair. if you're going to make a point on demographics, you have to take another into account: folks with college degrees.

you can bring up the point that more whites are entitled to earn degrees than blacks or any other group, and i'd fully agree, hell, it'd be stupid not to, but that's not the point. a precursor to attaining a job in a newsroom usually is a college degree. if you look at it mathematically, if most minority groups receive degrees at a far lower rate than whitey, of course the numbers inside the newsroom are going to be lower than the demographics outside the front door.

i don't think that's a slap in the face of newspapers, it's a result of our societal values.

 

This is a great point.

If you've been performing middling to slightly above average work on a beat for 25 years, you're essentially this industry's equivalent of a tenured professor.