Over-reliance on university qualifications risks damaging diversity efforts, editors warned
The ‘graduatisation’ of journalism as a career could be acting against attempts to increase the diversity of newsrooms, a new report from the NCTJ has warned today.
The organisation’s Diversity in Journalism report concluded that while the number of roles in journalism has gone up since 2018 — from 78,000 to 96,000 — there has been no significant changes in the proportions of journalists coming from Black and Minority Ethnic groups, or from lower social groups.
It also, reported that women now represent a majority of journalists in the industry for the first time, and that the average age of journalists appears to be getting younger. The latter statistic also suggests a decline in the number of people aged over 40 remaining in journalism.
Headline from the report show that the number of people in journalism with a degree qualification or higher represents 89% of journalism’s workforce, up from 87% in 2018.
This compares to 48% of the wider population.
Joanne Butcher, chief executive of the NCTJ, said: “The headline result for the NCTJ in this really useful report is that under-representation of diverse groups in journalism and reliance on graduates continues.
“We need to do more to encourage and support those diverse groups into journalism, promote alternative, non-graduate entry points and encourage employers to recruit from this talent pool. Apprenticeships, foundation courses and initiatives like the Community News Project are becoming even more important.
“At the same time, we will encourage those who share our values in the higher education sector to recruit a more diverse intake and to offer NCTJ-accredited courses and qualifications.”
Journalists are more likely to come from households where a parent works/worked in a higher-level occupation, one of the key factors of social class.
75 per cent of journalists had a parent in one of the three highest occupational groups, compared to 45 per cent all UK workers.
Less than one in ten (eight per cent) have a parent in the lowest two occupations compared to 20 per cent of all workers.
The report also states: “It is also notable the relative low proportion of journalists who have parents in the skilled trades occupations at 12 per cent compares to 22 per cent for all those in work.”
Journalists from non-white groups now represent 8% of all journalists, up from 6% in 2018, but down from 10% in 2016.
The 8% compares to 12% of the total population, showing that journalism continues to under-represent ‘BAME’ communities within newsrooms.
Women now represent 53% of people working in newsrooms, compared to 48% of the general working population.
Journalists are more likely to be aged between 25 and 39, with those aged under 25 and over 50 under-represented compared to the working population as a whole.
