diversity spotlight
Building better newsrooms News publishers need more consistent momentum toward DEI goals By Gregory Lee Jr.
I
t’s been two years since George Floyd died — his murder sparking a global conversation about race and racism. Journalism hasn’t been exempt from the discussion. More publications across the nation used 2020 to make an aggressive push to diversify newsrooms. Numerous Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) positions were created to help improve news publishers’ hiring practices. There is a reason this might feel familiar. It’s because journalism has done this before and finds itself still seeking answers it should have found years sooner.
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Leon Carter and Sandy Bailey (now Rosenbush) sought to change the way sports departments and press boxes looked across the nation. They were experienced journalists who wanted to see change. Carter was the chairman of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Sports Task Force. Bailey was the first woman to be president of the Associated Press Sports Editors. Together, they founded the Sports Journalism Institute. Their SJI initiative was created at the 1992 National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Detroit with a grant from the Freedom Forum.
SJI’s mission is to help women and minorities work in sports journalism by placing students through “boot camp.” From there, they are provided paid summer internships at newsrooms across the nation. As SJI approaches its 30th class, the program has had more than 350 student journalists. I am among those individuals to go through SJI, graduating among its second class, and since then, I’ve served as the program’s co-director. Our talented alums have included: • Kendra Andrews, Warriors reporter, ESPN editorandpublisher.com
