Women Journalists of Color: Present Without Power
Then and Now

"By failing to portray the Negro as a matter of routine and in the context of the total society, the news media have, we believe, contributed to the black-white schism in this country."
Kerner Commission Report, 1967

Women journalists of color, and their male counterparts, have had a long history of tackling difficult odds in developing their craft and getting their messages heard. As early as the mid-1800s, ethnic minority groups established thriving networks of local newspapers and newsletters, filled with stories and columns about issues affecting their community. But in the 20th century, the doors of mainstream media organizations were closed to people of color until the social upheaval of the 1960s, when coverage of unrest and social transformation forced newsroom managers to find reporters who could venture into minority neighborhoods without being seen as outsiders.

That newsroom shift may have also been prompted, in part, by the release of the Kerner Commission report in 1967. The Commission, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, sought to analyze and learn from the racial turmoil of the times. One undeniable factor, according to the Kerner report, was mounting frustration on the part of African Americans about how their plight was being portrayed-or ignored-by the media.

The report stated, "The media report and write from the standpoint of a white man's world." The American press "repeatedly, if unconsciously, reflects the biases, the paternalism, the indifference of white America." This, the Commission argued, contributed to the nation's climate of pervasive racial inequity.

It is obvious that more than 30 years later, minority representation in newsrooms still lags far behind the goal of parity. According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors' (ASNE) 1999 newsroom census, 5.36 percent of all journalists are African American, 3.46 percent are Latino, 2.29 percent are Asian, and .44 percent are Native American. This 11.5 percent total for 1999 is far short of the more than 23 percent of this nation's population that minorities comprise.

According to the ASNE census, women on daily newspaper staffs totaled 20,323, out of a total newsroom population of 55,100. Of those women, only 2,920 are minorities and 512 hold supervisory positions.

The numbers are similar in the broadcast journalism field. According to the 1999 Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA)/Ball State University study, 19 percent of employees were minorities, a 1 percent decline from the previous year. In radio, the number fell from 16 percent to 11 percent. Overall, only 8 percent of television and radio news directors are minorities. The number of women managers in the broadcast field is even smaller. Only 1 percent of news directors are non-white females, as are 8 percent of executive producers and 5 percent of managers. In radio, 4 percent of news directors are non-white females, and 7 percent of producers are non-white females.

Still, even where their numbers are low and discrimination remains a reality, the IWMF study shows that women journalists of color still infuse the story of their careers with a hopeful and positive theme-one of triumph, extremely hard work, educational attainment, and often, the fulfillment that comes with the support and blessings of family and friends. From a historical perspective, women journalists of color clearly have made great advances in the last two decades.