A report from the American Society of News Editors showed Employment in the newsrooms of the nation’s 1,386 daily newspapers declined 2.4% in 2011 while the number of online-only news organizations reporting in this year’s census has almost tripled since 2010:
(Press Release) Total newsroom employment at daily newspapers declined by 2.4 percent in 2011, while the loss in minority newsroom positions was 5.7 percent, according to a census released today by the American Society of News Editors and the Center for Advanced Social Research at the Missouri School of Journalism.
ASNE, which has conducted its Newsroom Employment Census of professional full-time journalists since 1978, announced the results on the last day of its annual convention, which is being held this week in Washington, D.C, at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel.
Despite this year’s loss in newsroom positions, the decline in jobs that began in 2006-07 appears to be stabilizing. The loss this year is not as drastic as the losses between 2007 and 2010.
The decline in minority newsroom employment also appears to be stabilizing. Following a decline of approximately 800 minority newsroom positions in both 2008 and 2009, the total loss over the last two years was 500 jobs. There were slight decreases in the percentage of employees in each minority category in 2011, although the census was revised this year to add a category of “multi-racial.” This could account for some of the loss in other categories.
“Clearly, we have more work to do,” said Ronnie Agnew, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting and co-chair of ASNE’s 2011-12 Diversity Committee. “While the numbers suggest stabilization, the trend shows that the exodus from this important industry among people of color continues. This is far from just a numbers issue; this is a troubling content issue. The decline will only stop when people in leadership embrace diversity as an essential part of their business.”
“I’m glad that the percentages appear to have stabilized, but our industry still falls significantly short of accurately reflecting the population it serves,” said Karen Magnuson, editor and vice president of news for the Democrat and Chronicle Media Group of Rochester, N.Y. “As our ‘Future of Diversity in the News’ report warns, diversity is a business imperative. Â We must ensure that we cultivate diverse, creative staffs to create content that is relevant to growing communities of color. Â It’s a critical key to our survival.”
Across all market sizes, minority newsroom employment is still substantially lower than the percentage of minorities in the markets those newsrooms serve. The second largest category of newspapers, with daily circulation between 250,000 and 500,000, is closet to the overall goal of having minority employment match population. On average, they had a minority workforce of about 20 percent of their total workforce, while they reported that about 30 percent of the population of their circulation areas are comprised of minorities.