New Jersey newsrooms somewhat reflect state’s diversity, study finds
However, journalists of color reported higher burnout and turnover in their jobs and lower pay; Hispanic representation low
It is well-known and well-documented that newsrooms across the United States have not reflected their communities for decades. As we said earlier this year, pressure on journalism organizations to reflect the diversity of the country has rightfully grown, especially recently.
Our focus at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University is our home New Jersey, an incredibly diverse state. We consider it part of our mission to ensure New Jersey media is representative of that diversity.
But we’ve never had a good baseline of the diversity of the industry in New Jersey against which to measure, which is why we launched a statewide diversity survey of New Jersey journalists and newsrooms in January.
Today we’re excited to publish the results and share the takeaways.
The data can help us and the media industry in the state gauge how representative local newsrooms are of the communities they cover and serve. Additionally, the survey results allow us to assess how newsrooms are performing in terms of fair wages, safety, upward mobility, and other hiring and retention practices.
Researchers David Coppini and Kareem El Damanhoury of Denver University led the audit. Data was collected from January to April and included a survey for individual journalists, focusing on the experiences and identities of the individual journalists/editors, and one for companies, to get a sense of diversity and inclusion within the organization as a whole.
The researchers also conducted a series of individual interviews. All survey responses were anonymized.
Despite the survey’s promise of anonymity, the response rate was lower than expected. However, the 146 individual and 31 organizational survey responses provided some valuable insights.
Here are a few highlights:
- Among staff reported in the organizational survey, 66% were white, followed by 12% who were Asian American, and 12% who were Black. None identified as Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. (By comparison, the latest U.S. Census data shows that 55% of NJ residents identify as white alone, followed by 13.1% who identified as Black alone; 21.6% identified as Hispanic; 10% identified as Asian alone; 0.6% were American Indian and Alaska Native alone; 0% identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone. 11.3% identified as ‘Some Other Race alone’ and 9.7% identified as ‘Two or More Races.’)
- A majority of leadership in participating newsrooms (66%), is white, followed by 13 percent Asian American, and 13 percent Black, with no one in leadership being multiracial.
- Newsrooms indicated that eight percent of their staff and nine percent of their leadership are of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.
- More than 55% of the staff and leadership reported by newsrooms in the organizational survey were women, followed by men at more than 40%, with none identifying as non-binary.
- One out of every seven journalists reported having mental health difficulties, followed by unseen disabilities (e.g., asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy), mobility problems, visual impairment, hearing impairment, and dyslexia.
- Half of the survey respondents reported being hired as new employees for their current positions, compared to 27% who were promoted to their current positions, and 23% who moved laterally into their current positions, which signals the high turnover in the industry.
- Journalists of color in New Jersey experienced higher turnover rates than their white counterparts. JOCs typically had around 11 years of journalism experience and had been with their current news organizations for about five years. In contrast, white respondents had a median of 20 years of experience in journalism and nine years at their current newsrooms.
- Nearly a quarter of respondents reported earning less than $40,000, while 28 percent earned $80,000 or more. Given that the median household income in New Jersey is $97,126, most survey respondents earn less than the median.
“As disturbing as the findings are when it comes to low pay, higher turnover and burnout rates amongst journalists of color, and many female journalists thinking their newsrooms aren’t taking harassment seriously, this is part of a wider trend in local news ecosystems across the country, unfortunately. What is more disturbing though is the low organizational survey response rate, suggesting an unwillingness by many media outlets to share data on newsroom diversity,” said El Damanhoury.
Still, they are optimistic that the audit underscores continued motivation for increased diversity, improved work conditions, and structural newsroom changes that would make NJ news media more equitable.
“There is a clear contrast that emerges from this report, similar to other research studies in this area. On the one hand, there is a strong reluctance by big news organizations to participate in this type of study. On the other hand, it’s clear how many individual journalists are invested in making the NJ media landscape a more equitable and diverse place. Moving forward, what gives me some hope is journalists’ desire to participate in training, change traditional professional routines, and improve community relationships.”
Where do we go from here?
While the data does not speak to a lack of representation across all New Jersey newsrooms, the responses from this sample suggest that local journalists are experiencing high turnover rates, and news staff and leadership are less diverse and representative of the state’s population. Consequently, these groups are becoming increasingly marginalized.
These findings also reflect systemic inequality in the news industry nationwide, with the majority of newsrooms being white-led and white-focused organizations.
The results of this statewide diversity audit have provided insights that will help guide the Center’s core strategic objectives going forward. They will also help to inform our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including offering new translation and diverse sourcing initiatives, as well as reporting fellowships, training, and mentoring support for early-career journalists of color and those positioned, but often overlooked, for leadership roles.
We look forward to refining these goals with help from our racial equity advisory board and with the support of our media partners and local news stakeholders.
Stefanie Murray is the director of the Center for Cooperative Media. Contact her at murrayst@montclair.edu.
Cassandra Etienne is the associate director of membership and programming at the Center for Cooperative Media. Contact her at etiennec@montclair.edu.
About the Center for Cooperative Media: The Center is a primarily grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond. The Center is supported with funding from Montclair State University, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Democracy Fund, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, the Independence Public Media Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit centerforcooperativemedia.org.
