RTDNA: Mixed Picture For Minorites In Radio

The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds

• Record number of minority TV news directors
• Mostly down minorities numbers in radio
• Record number of women TV news directors and women in TV

Bob Papper, Professor Emeritus Hofstra University sees a mixed picture for minorities and women in radio in the past year.

The minority workforce in radio fell by 0.4 ... with African Americans and Native Americans dropping, Hispanic/Latino going up, and Asian American staying the same.  Non-commercial stations did a lot better in diversity than commercial ones (14.7% vs. 5.6% minority).  The bigger the market and the bigger the newsroom, the more diverse the radio news staff.

Interestingly, notes Papper, larger local station groups tended to be less diverse.

The South and West were more diverse than the Midwest and Northeast, but, for the first time in my memory, the Midwest wasn’t lagging way behind the rest of the country.  The Northeast was actually the least diverse this year.

In radio news, overall, there are more than twice as many men as women... with the highest disparity, by far, among whites.  Less lopsided, but still with noticeably more men than women, came Native American.  Men barely outnumbered women among Hispanic/Latino, and women outnumbered men among African Americans and Asian Americans.    Radio News directors   Good news for minority news directors in radio.

After last year’s plunge, the percentage of minority radio news directors climbed back almost two and a half points.  African Americans made the biggest jump, but Hispanic and Native American were also both up.  Asian American remained at zero – the second year in a row that no Asian American radio news directors appeared in the survey.  Non-commercial stations were more likely to have minority news directors than commercial stations.

Staff size didn’t matter until you got to the very biggest radio newsrooms (10 and more staffers), where the percentage of minority radio news directors soared.  Minority news directors were much more likely to be in the biggest markets and at standalone stations.  They were least likely to be found in the Midwest.

After dropping by 5 points a year ago, the percentage of minority radio general managers dropped again – this time by 1.3.  Minority GMs were way more likely to be found in major markets … and least likely to be found in the Midwest.  Women general managers rose by nearly 2 points from last year, and they’re more likely to be found in large and major markets … and less likely to be found in the Midwest.