FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2023
NAHJ’s Investigative and Data Journalism Task Force releases a report on the lack of access and opportunities for journalists of color on investigative teams across the U.S.
Washington, D.C. – In 2021, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists created an Investigative and Data Journalism Task Force to look into the lack of access and opportunities for journalists of color on investigative teams across the U.S. An important part of that mission was to quantify what was a decades-long concern: underrepresentation.
Today, we released a preliminary report showing an alarming lack of parity on investigative news teams, along with key areas of concern and calls for creating strategies for improvement.
Investigative journalism plays a crucial role in uncovering hidden truths, holding institutions accountable, and driving social and economic change that strengthens our democracy. Yet, for years people from historically marginalized communities have warned that their local and national newsrooms are filled with investigative reporting teams that don’t look like them. The watchdog lens is focused from a dangerously singular viewpoint.
NAHJ’s task force subcommittee on management launched an ambitious and rare survey of the diversity of U.S. investigative teams in which nearly 20 major newsrooms have responded to the survey to date, though more than two dozen others have not, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. CNN stands out as a major U.S. news organization that has declined as yet to answer the survey, despite its stated commitment to representation and sponsorship of Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship. The network says it does not typically provide census data.
Task force members sought to better understand problems with sustaining a successful hiring and retention pipeline, as well as conditions that lead to ethical and equitable lapses in establishing investigative teams that reflect our communities.
In doing so, task force members also met with investigative team leaders at some of the nation’s largest newsrooms and started documenting the experiences of Latino journalists. Those essays will be published on Poynter, a nonprofit media institute and newsroom that provides fact-checking, media literacy and journalism ethics training to citizens and journalists.
During a press conference at the 2023 NAHJ conference in Miami, NAHJ Board President Yvette Cabrera, VP of Digital Mc Nelly Torres and task force members will unveil the survey’s preliminary findings and discuss next steps for accountability and transparency.
“Journalists and communities of color have long understood and felt the harm of misrepresentation and underrepresentation when our newsrooms do not reflect the people and places we have the privilege of covering,” said Cabrera, a veteran investigative journalist who specializes in environmental reporting. “It is long past time to take a deeper look into why progress remains slow. “
This first look shows cause for measured optimism with more newsrooms open to communication about what real progress looks like and implementing accountability measures to meet long-standing challenges. It also shows that some newsrooms are still balking at transparency, even as they claim a stronger commitment to journalists and communities of color. News leaders should hold themselves to the same standards of truth and accountability that they hold other institutions.
In order to move forward together for overdue solutions and national dialogue, we invite news leaders to join NAHJ by responding to this parity survey. We have task force members ready to make a second round of invitations at the conference and in the coming weeks.
“Newsrooms across the nation need to build the courage and will to hold themselves accountable,” said Mc Nelly Torres, a long-time investigative journalist based in South Florida and editor at the Center for Public Integrity. “We can no longer ignore this problem. Our communities deserve it and so does every journalist of color in this country.”
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About NAHJ:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is the largest organization of Latino journalists in the United States and is dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists. 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 news media. NAHJ has more than 3,500 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:
Pepe Xicohténcatl
Tapiz Media Group
Pepe@TapizMedia.com