Minorities Comprise 21.2% Of Local Television News Staffs.

The percentage of minorities working in local television news last year was largely unchanged, according to a survey released today by the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The percentage of minorities working in local radio dropped.

According to the 2005 RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey, minorities comprised 21.2 percent of local television news staffs in 2004, compared with 21.8 percent in 2003. At non-Hispanic stations, the minority workforce remained steady at 19.5 percent, compared with last year’s 19.8 percent. In local radio, the minority workforce fell to 7.9 percent in 2004 from 11.8 percent in 2003.

Bob Papper, who conducted the survey for RTNDA, said that while the percentage of minorities in radio appeared to drop, the ongoing consolidation of radio newsrooms and significant shifts from year to year on which radio stations respond to the survey make year-to-year comparisons difficult.

The percentage of minority TV news directors is 12 percent, compared with 12.5 percent in last year’s survey. In radio, the percentage of minority news directors rose from 8 percent to 11 percent.

The percentage of women in the television news workforce remained essentially the same, at 39.3 percent in 2004 vs. 39.1 percent in 2003. The percentage of women news directors is down to 21.3 percent in 2004 from 2003’s 25.2 percent.

The percentage of women in radio news rose to 27.5 percent in 2004 from 22.4 percent in 2003, while the percentage of women radio news directors dropped slightly from 25.9 percent to 24.7 percent.

“The percentage of journalists of color in electronic newsrooms should be keeping pace with changes in the American population,” says Barbara Cochran, RTNDA president. “RTNDA is committed to assisting newsrooms to better reflect the diverse communities they serve.”

Dan Shelley, RTNDA chairman and news director at WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, says, “RTNDA is a leader in the effort to enhance diversity in newsrooms and in newsroom management. We offer practical advice and tangible tools to assist in the effort to help ensure that electronic newsrooms adequately reflect their communities.”

“The survey suggests that we may have hit a plateau at a time when having a diverse newsroom, especially in decision making positions, is so important,” says Janice Gin, RTNDA diversity chairman and associate news director at KTVU-TV in Oakland, CA. “Successful newsrooms have learned that having a diverse staff generates better stories, better storytelling, and better serves our viewers. As an industry, we can do more to improve the recruiting, hiring and retention of minorities.”

To view study CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

http://www.rtnda.org/research/2005diversity.pdf