By Olivia Borgula
The Society for Professional Journalists at the University of Maryland hosted a panel Thursday to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion in journalism.
Alexis Ojeda-Brown, the new program coordinator for diversity, equity and inclusion at the journalism college, moderated the event. Patricia Wheeler, Krissah Thompson, Steven Overly, Krishnan Vasudevan and Jerry Zremski made up the five panelists who have connections and experience working to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in the field, with ties to the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
Ojeda-Brown began by asking the panelists a series of questions about diversity in journalism and then invited attendees to voice their own thoughts and questions.
Steven Overly, a university alum and Politico reporter, said that the conversation about diversity in the newsroom has shifted from recruitment to retention. People are increasingly focused on not only increasing diversity, but also ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard and listened to.
“Every newsroom is at a different place with that conversation,” Overly said. “A younger generation of journalists has really been key in pushing that conversation in recent years.”
Overly also discussed the concept of “managing up” : the practice of pitching ideas that are beneficial to both management and your own goals. This tactic can be used to implement inclusive measures, he said.
“You have to develop an understanding of what motivates your managers, what are the problems your managers are trying to solve, and then try to align the things you need and want,” Overly said.
Patricia Wheeler, a university alum and the founder of the Black Explosion, the first Black campus publication at the university, said that the phrase diversity, equity and inclusion has been used as “political football.”
“[Diversity, equity and inclusion] doesn’t mean hiring people who are not qualified,” she said. “It doesn’t mean just giving people’s jobs away. It doesn’t even mean affirmative action.”
Instead, diversity, equity and inclusion is the practice of ensuring integrity and fairness, Overly said.
“To me, DEI is fundamentally about fairness and accuracy as well, which are two core tenants of good journalism,” he said. “I’ve seen firsthand in coverage, communities that I’m a part of, being misunderstood or be underrepresented. And I know the effect that has on me as an individual as well as the community at large.”
Ojeda-Brown presented the findings of a Pew Research Center study toward the end of the discussion. It presented a demographic profile of U.S. journalists who cover each beat. Hispanic and Black journalists make up a greater portion of those who cover social issues and policy beats compared to other groups, the study found.
Newsrooms continue to lack diversity, a Zippia research study found. The study found that 67% of all news reporters are white compared to the 12.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian and 6.3% African American or Black.
Overly reinforced the importance of diversity in maintaining strong journalism.
“We need to make sure that they fairly and accurately represent the people who are writing about,” Overly said. “It’s very hard to do that if the people who you’re writing about are not represented in your newsroom.”
Featured Image: Knight Hall on April 24, 2023, on the University of Maryland campus, where the journalism college is located. Photo by Olivia Borgula.