The latest Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA) report highlights significant challenges in achieving diversity and inclusion in public media newsrooms.
Despite efforts, many employees still feel disenfranchised and out of place in their workplaces.
The report, based on a 2023 survey with 215 responses from public media journalists, reveals that leadership and employee retention are key areas needing improvement.
The survey reached journalists at over 80 stations, with varying response rates to different questions.
Stan Jastrzebski, who analyzed the research, found that leadership often does not reflect the diversity that newsrooms aim to achieve.
Thirty-two respondents described their workforce as mostly white, attributing this to their station's location or small staff.
PMJA Executive Director Christine Paige Diers emphasized that this report is a "first step" and that future efforts will focus on curriculum development and leadership training. The report also includes recommendations for building diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into everyday operations and planning.
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| Paige Diers |
Those recommendations include:
- Going beyond race and ethnicity so that the newsroom has a “variety of abilities, ideologies, and experiences”
- Taking concrete steps to build diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility into everyday operations and planning
- Considering new reporting strategies and partnerships
- Regularly updating staff on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives and being transparent about finances and audience development Investing in onboarding and professional development
The report also pointed to questions for future research, such as examining turnover at stations or if and why LGBTQIA+ journalists are better represented in public media newsrooms than at commercial outlets.
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