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Why would a white person apply for a program that was obviously intended for blacks and/or "minorities"?
I can understand why the program was made, and perhaps when it was set up, it was intended to bring more black students into Journalism. Personally I applaud that effort, and can only hope they can find a way to continue.
Originally posted by jsobecky
There are no roadblocks to blacks in journalism.
The industry is falling further behind benchmark targets set by ASNE six years ago to chart performance toward a goal of newsroom parity with the U.S. minority population by 2025. Every three years, the editors report the progress toward achieving this goal.
This year’s report card shows that newsrooms have failed to meet the five benchmark categories:
* The benchmark for percentage of minorities working in newsrooms by this year is 18.55. The actual percentage: 13.87.
* The goal for minority interns is 36.35 percent of the total pool. The actual number: 30.8 percent.
* The goal for minority supervisors is 16 percent. The actual number: 11.2 percent
* The target for the number of newspapers with no minority staffers was to reduce them to 275. The actual number: 377.
* The benchmark for the number of newspapers that have reached parity with their community is 348. The actual number: 145.
ASNE census shows newsroom diversity grows slightly
“While it’s encouraging that the number of minority staffers in American newsrooms is up, the increase — .45 percent — is almost imperceptible,” said ASNE Diversity Chair Sharon Rosenhause, managing editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale. “The most troubling aspect of the census is the benchmark categories; none are even close.”
The American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) is a membership organization for daily newspaper editors, people who serve the editorial needs of daily newspapers (wire service editors, news executives at newspaper companies, people who work for journalism think tanks, etc.) and certain distinguished people who have worked on behalf of editors through the years.
Founded in 1922...ASNE also has several initiatives carried out by its committees.
One of those is through its Diversity Committee: the Newsroom Employment Census, which queries every daily newspaper in the United States to determine the number of news staffers as well as their gender and race. Conducted since 1978, it is the most accurate reflection of the current state of newspaper newsrooms. Issued at the organization's annual convention, it is used extensively by scholars and others for studying newsrooms.
Wiki on ASNE
Originally posted by jsobecky
I cannot understand why such a program would ever be considered. There are no roadblocks to blacks in journalism. Why create an artificial situation? It is racist at it's core.
Originally posted by UM_Gazz
There are many programs, and even employers who operate with racial quotas, and I believe this is part of the core of the racism issue, When a person is hired for a position to fill a racial quota, or a person is excluded from a program, or job opening because of their race, this creates more frustration, and anger, and even encourages racism. Again, I believe the only factors that should be considered are a person's qualifications. Race regardless of which, should never be a factor.
[edit on 15-2-2007 by UM_Gazz]
Originally posted by UM_Gazz
Originally posted by jsobecky
I cannot understand why such a program would ever be considered. There are no roadblocks to blacks in journalism. Why create an artificial situation? It is racist at it's core.
I don't think the program itself was racially motivated, as it was simply created to encourage more participation from minorities.
[edit on 15-2-2007 by UM_Gazz]
Originally posted by UM_Gazz
...however it could give the perception of reverse discrimination, when as in this case a white student was accepted, then later rejected purely because of race.