Blog
2013 Newsroom Employment Census launching soon
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 01/16/2013 16:48:09
- In: Newsroom diversity survey
Our annual Census helps us track diversity in U.S. newspaper newsrooms.
In the next week or so, ASNE will send out an email asking you to participate in the 2013 ASNE Newsroom Employment Census. Please help us by responding promptly!Increasing diversity in U.S. newspaper newsrooms has been a primary ASNE mission since 1978. The Society has been an industry leader in helping newspapers better reflect their communities.
We all know a diverse staff provides better coverage of a community. We all know the demographics of our country are shifting. We also know diversity is important to the financial well-being of our industry.
And we know, as an industry, we are not where we want or need to be. Over three decades, the annual survey has shown that although there has been progress, the racial diversity of newsrooms does not come close to the fast-growing diversity in the U.S. population as a whole.
The Newsroom Employment Census is a tool ASNE uses to measure the success of its goal of having the percentage of minorities working in newsrooms nationwide equal to the percentage of minorities in the nation's population by 2025. Check it out at here; you can see the results of the survey since 1997.
A significant grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation funds this important research. In 2012, for the first time, we partnered with the Center for Advanced Social Research (CASR) at the Missouri School of Journalism. CASR Director Kenneth Fleming led the project. It was a terrific partnership because it increased the level of participation. Last year we had a response rate of about 71 percent, the highest we ever have had (generally it has been about 60 percent).
Your participation means a lot to the success of the project. You will soon be receiving an email with instructions; we will follow up with phone calls as necessary. As always, we will announce the results at our annual convention, June 24-26, at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.