Diversity Groups Strongly Urge Newsrooms to Contribute to ASNE Survey

Diversity Groups Strongly Urge Newsrooms to Contribute to ASNE Survey

Austin, Texas (September 13, 2018) — A coalition of minority journalism organizations is disturbed by a lack of participation in the American Society of News Editors’ (ASNE) annual diversity survey. The coalition strongly urges media companies to participate in this important annual project. The coalition consists of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Asian-American Journalists Association (AAJA), Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) and The Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA).

In a statement yesterday, ASNE says it is delaying the results of its annual survey because it needs more participation to make the survey more representative of the media industry. Out of 1,700 newspaper and digital media outlets, only 234 participated this year. ASNE will continue to collect data for another 30 days until October 12. The new release date of the survey will be in early November.

The coalition remains committed to advocating for diversity and diligently works with media companies to improve performance in the diversity and inclusion arena. One of the first steps toward improving diversity is acknowledging shortcomings and putting diversity initiatives into practice to benefit the company, customers and all stakeholders. The coalition applauds the news organizations that are transparent in sharing their information and stands firmly behind ASNE in this important endeavor.

 

The coalition of journalists represents five nonprofit organizations with 8,420 members.