Journalism Best Practices (Part 5)
Racial Bias in the Newsroom
“It’s safe to say that in almost all newsrooms, blatant bigotry and intolerance do not exist. What does exist, however, are preconceived notions about race and ethnicity that can shape story selection and content. The conventional wisdom among many assignment editors is that white viewers will tune out if blacks or Latinos are featured in segments. That view can influence the choice of the person who will provide the ‘expert’ sound bite. There is no question that a lack of racial sensitivity affects news judgment. It is a problem that goes to the heart of fair and balanced presentation of news on television.”Av Westin, Best Practices, The Freedom Forum, 2000, p 21
It’s important to remember that Av Westin wrote this book 25 years ago. I was one of the people he interviewed for his book, so I thought it would be helpful to see how journalism has changed in just a quarter of a century. Has it changed for the better or worse? You can purchase the book here and see for yourself.
Racial Bias in the Newsroom
When Westin called me he explained that anything I told him would be confidential. Even though my name is listed in the book as one of the participants, none of my quotes or the quotes of other participants were attributed to us. Here are what some journalists told Westin about racial bias in the newsroom —
“My bosses have essentially made it clear: ‘We do not feature black people.’ Period. I mean, it’s said. Actually, they whisper it, ‘Is she white?”
“If I gave my boss a choice between a black female doctor at NYU (a teaching hospital in New York City) and a white male doctor at Lenox Hill (an upscale private hospital on the affluent East Side), she’s going to pick the white male doctor at Lenox Hill, even if what they say is identical Period.”
“It’s a subtle thing. A story involving blacks takes longer to get approved. And if it is approved, chances are that it will sit on the shelf a long time before it gets on the air. No one ever says anything. The message gets through.”
“We don’t like discussing race in our newsroom because it can make us uncomfortable. And if we’re uncomfortable, how can we have a team? We want everyone to be working together. Newsrooms themselves have to be prepared to deal with the issues of race before covering issues of race.” pp 21-22
Having started working in radio news in 1967 I can tell you that many of the ‘quotes’ in Westin’s book are things I also witnessed. I am glad to say that things did improve as we hired a more diverse group of journalists through the years.
A newsroom of journalists should represent the community it covers. Here are some of Westin’s Best Practices from 25 years ago —
“Be pro-active in dealing with racial and ethnic issues and attitudes in the newsroom. Management has to set standards as a best practice or break away from any existing standards that justify biased news judgment.”
Discuss race. Discuss culture. Cultivate an environment where it is possible to explore issues, and then figure out how to transfer the insights to the coverage of news stories.
Listen to and learn from staff comments. They go a long way toward rectifying what minority staff members may perceive as management’s insensitivity.” p 22
On-Air Perception
The practices in television newsrooms show up on the air. Viewers will perceive racial bias whether intended or unintended. It’s up to every journalist and every manager to think about how their audience will perceive race based on what is shown during a television newscast.
Think about how you use words, descriptions, video, etc. in ways that describe race issues and relations. Ask someone of a different race in the newsroom to read your script — look at your story before it goes on the air. Do they read or see anything that they think is racially biased? If so, talk about it. Think about it. Make changes where appropriate. The objective is to be accurate and fair — that includes being racially unbiased.
In-Person Perception
What does the public see when members of your news department appear in public? That can include live broadcasts and special appearances across your community? Do they see diversity? Do they see and hear from journalists who have similar life experiences?
Diversity simply means ‘variety’ (Merrian-Webster Dictionary). Our communities are made up of a variety of people and your newsroom should also have variety. As I have made clear through years of managing and teaching journalists, variety (diversity) in a news department does not mean hiring unqualified people for a job. It means that hiring managers should make every effort to find qualified journalists who also help build a team that is representative of the community they cover.
Part 6
In the next part of this special series I’ll share about ‘Researching and Fact Checking in the Newsroom.’ Here’s a ‘tease’ from Av Westin (25 years ago) —
There is a considerable difference between handling the challenges of breaking news and dealing with the less-hectic demands of assignments that allow time for preparation. A high-intensity editorial metabolism comes into play when researchers have to dig up facts and background in a hurry to support coverage of a breaking news story … Errors can occur at any point in the production process: Information can be wrong, sources interviewed on video can provide inaccurate quotes or an unfair context, inferences in the script can be unfair, conclusions can be overstated. The copy and video editing and the fact checking should ensure that the final script is fair, accurate and balanced. Best Practices, p 27
Comments and Questions Welcome
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Newsletter Purpose
The purpose of this newsletter is to help people who work in the fields of journalism, media, and communications find ways to do their jobs that are personally fulfilling and helpful to others. I also want to help news consumers know how to find news sources they can trust.
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