Business Sections Need Greater Diversity

Most U.S. newspapers have small numbers of minority journalists and editors. This is especially true for business sections. The lack of minority representation is a growing concern for many journalists who say more programs and recruitment efforts are needed to promote greater diversity in business sections across the country.

"Minority business reporters and editors are rare," said Earle Eldridge, a business reporter at USA Today. "They are not fairly represented in the field and that makes it challenging to get stories of relevance to minority business owners."

There have been some advances. For example, Vindu Goel, business editor at the San Jose Mercury News, said minorities make up half of the business management staff in his newsroom. In addition, the paper conducts regular diversity audits.

"It's really important to have people represent reality," Goel said. "We strongly believe that readers respond better to a newspaper that reflects the diversity of their community."

Nonetheless, out of 559 members of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) who chose to state their ethnicity, only 60 were minorities. SABEW has a total of 3,419 members.

One problem is that journalism schools do not place a great emphasis on business reporting courses, Eldridge said. "Every J-school should require all j-students to take a business writing class and make sure they can take an earnings report and write a story."

About half of the 105 U.S. undergraduate and graduate journalism programs affiliated with the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications offer at least one course on business reporting, estimated Charles Higginson, assistant to the executive director at the council, based in Lawrence, Kan.  

Others say business journalism is poorly promoted among college students and young reporters considering this specialty beat.

Most conventions draw established business reporters but fail to attract students, noted Marcia Pledger, a business reporter at The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and former organizer of the Business Task Force (a program sponsored by the National Association of Black Journalists).

"We always try to get someone interested but it's tough," she said. "Sometimes people think it's boring or it's a challenge."

In addition, few training and development programs specifically designed for business reporting are available. Often the obstacle is securing funding to continue programs, notes Pradnya Joshi, a business reporter for Newsday and president for the New York chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Last October, AAJA and Bloomberg hosted a three-day business reporting workshop in New York. However, fewer grant opportunities make it difficult to bring the program back next year.

In a profession that is made up of predominately white males, the issue of race remains a sensitive topic of discussion.

"You have to get over that taboo. It's here. We're here. It's an issue and we all have to work together to resolve the problem," said Sam Diaz, a technology reporter at the San Jose Mercury News.

Diaz said newspapers must do a better job of creating a daily support system for minority reporters by encouraging them to go beyond minority reporting beats.

"Just because I'm Latino it does not mean I have to cover Latino issues."

Some are noticing a slow transformation in newsrooms, like Andrea Ahles, a technology reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Ahles said she started a career in business journalism five years ago after a summer internship through the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Business Reporting Program, an internship program that offers a week-long training program, daily newspaper internships and scholarships for minority college students.

"That one internship did determine that I would become a business reporter," Ahles said. "For me, it just seemed completely natural."

Ahles, who is half Chinese, said she was drawn to the details and numbers. "I like working with hard data. I'm able to look at the bond market from a financial perspective."

Many journalists and editors say they are noticing more Asian Americans and women joining the ranks of management.

Lorrie Grant, a business reporter at USA Today, said a main challenge is inspiring younger reporters to consider business reporting.

"Business reporting doesn't always have to be about the stock market," Grant said. "There's an importance to covering business journalism that's exciting."

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Minority Training Opportunities

Click here to read minority business article by Yvette Armendariz at the Arizona Republic.