FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2021
NAHJ National Board calls on the Arizona Republic and Gannett to meet the demands by newsroom Diversity Committee
(Washington, D.C.) – The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is deeply disturbed with reports by NAHJ members and other journalists of color at The Arizona Republic and Gannett about significant pay inequities and a lack of advancement opportunities within the company’s newsroom.
Several members of the National Board spoke to several former employees of the Arizona Republic, the state’s largest newspaper, about circumstances they’ve faced, such as gaslighting, avoidance and hostility from management against journalists of color. In addition to these direct conversations, the board has reviewed an analysis published by the NewsGuild Gannett Caucus, including the Arizona Republic Guild, that shows stark pay inequities between women and journalists of color compared to their white male counterparts across 14 Gannett newsrooms analyzed for this report. The analysis also found “a dearth of diversity,” in nearly every newsroom, with 13 of 14 newsrooms whiter than the communities they covered.
While the Arizona Republic was the most diverse newsroom, according to the analysis, it also had the largest gender and racial pay gaps: Women made nearly $30,000 less in median wages than men, while people of color earned about $25,000 less in median wages than white employees. “I think it’s criminal for Gannett or any other news organizations to have pay inequity based on gender or color while these same organizations expose and condemn other industries of doing the same,” a Sarasota Herald-Tribune journalist noted in the report. “It’s the typical do as I say, not as I do.”
In addition to pay inequities, former Arizona Republic journalists reported that managers gave them the runaround as they sought new opportunities to advance within the newsroom, and were confronted with intimidation tactics used against individuals to discourage their efforts. The toxic environment, created by leadership, including Greg Burton, the paper’s executive editor, has led journalists of color and veteran staff members to leave the company over the last year. While Burton touts select data to convey the diversity of the AZ Republic newsroom in a positive light, the lack of Latinos in management positions is a serious oversight in one of the country’s most diverse cities.
Latinos in the Phoenix area account for nearly a third －or 1.38 million－ of Maricopa County’s population. However, the newsroom is far from achieving parity, and only a handful of reporters have the fluency to cover Spanish-speaking Latino communities in the Phoenix metro area. The resignation of staff members due to hostility from management has made the situation worse. At least three of those staff members who left over the past year spoke fluent Spanish, which further reduced the paper’s ability to reach out and highlight the voices of the Latino community.
The NAHJ National Board calls on the Arizona Republic and Gannett to meet the demands outlined by the newsroom’s Diversity Committee. For nearly two decades, this committee, comprised of journalists of color and allies, has worked to achieve racial and gender parity and justice without genuine action or change implemented by management. It is time that systemic racism and institutional biases are eliminated to improve the environment of the AZ Republic’s culture and newsroom, so that staff members can pursue the type of coverage that accurately reflects the communities they cover.
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About the NAHJ
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States and dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. The mission of NAHJ is to increase the number of Latinos in the newsrooms and to work toward fair and accurate representation of Latinos in the news media. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists. NAHJ has over 3,300 members, including working journalists, journalism students, other media-related professionals, and journalism educators. For more information please visit NAHJ.org or follow on Twitter @NAHJ.
Media Contact:
BA Snyder
Veritas Group for NAHJ
512.630.6337