It isn’t news that journalists have been burned by their “conformity.” You can bet that journalists know having a diverse newsroom improves story quality.
However, we forget how much these minority groups lose the second they put on a press pass.
It’s easy to say that newsrooms like the Post have navigated rough waters. Media sexual assault scandals are in the past, present, and likely future. Newsrooms underpay across the board, and journalists are overworked, according to this statistic.
New faces to media are even more malleable. The industry teaches you to be willing to do anything. (I still joke that journalism asks for an arm and a leg very literally some days.) Obviously, the phrase “willing to do anything” is an understatement.
If you are an aspiring front-page writer or on-air reporter, this gets worse. You work for free sometimes, or next to nothing in your news infancy. At your most prestigious and precious jobs, you may still be waiting tables.
Newsrooms make it a goal to diversify their “unbiased” spaces. Often, we advocate for our affinity groups in the room. In fact, these pushes extend from the most trusted to least trusted names in the news.
