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Sulzberger encourages news industry to 'embrace diversity'

NEW YORK --Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The New York Times, today challenged the news industry “to embrace diversity and take action to transform your organizations” in the face of tremendous changes in technology, demographics and the economy.

NEW YORK --Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., the publisher of The New York Times, today challenged the news industry “to embrace diversity and take action to transform your organizations” in the face of tremendous changes in technology, demographics and the economy.

“We are in a time of constant, relentless change. To succeed in this environment we must be nimble. We must understand how our audiences are consuming news. We must embrace innovation. We must create top-notch content,” Sulzberger said.

“We must discover new ways to extend the advertiser's dollar. We must employ the finest team of journalists and business professionals to remain competitive and relevant. And we must do all of this with limited resources.”

Sulzberger's remarks opened the second “ASNE Leadership in Diversity: New Models for Growing Audience, Talent and Revenue” summit at The New York Times Conference Center.

Some 80 news leaders and executives and diversity advocates were registered to attend the two-day session focusing on revenue potential for reaching markets of different types.

The sessions were planned and coordinated by a broad cross section of news industry representatives and news-related institutes with financial support from the ASNE, Ford, Gannett and McCormick foundations, the Philip L. Graham Fund and The Times.

Sulzberger was upbeat about some responses to the news industry's financial difficulties. “Even when budgets and resources are tight,” he said, “we have all found ways to grow our product offerings. Mobile. Social. Digital subscriptions. We have all stretched our resources, innovated, invested in technology and diversified our revenue streams.”

Nevertheless, he said, “without a diverse group of journalists crafting the news that people want to read, there would be no audience; no monthly uniques to measure, no subscribers or followers on Twitter.'"

Sulzberger noted that the newsroom of the Times, with slightly over 18 percent journalists of color, was higher than the national average of about 12 percent found by the American Society of News Editors in its 2011 census of the nation's newsrooms. Neither level, he said, was sufficient, and he blamed his colleagues for being too closed-minded.

“The media industry is like a secret society,” he said. “We all know each other, we all network with one another, and it seems that we continue to trade staff.”

His advice: “Recruit outside of your comfort zone. Diversity in the newsroom starts with one smart hire that can open your doors to a new group of candidates and expand your networks.”

Sulzberger cited recent reports indicating that Hispanics, Asians and African Americans were the most frequent users of mobile phones. “Yet, our Web developers and programmers—the architects behind these new technologies—are not overwhelmingly diverse.

“And a Northwestern University study published in June found that minority youth aged eight to 18 consume an average of 53 percent more media content a day than their white counterparts. These are our audiences of the future. And we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared to reach them?”

Additional remarks:

ASNE and APME are the two primary conveners of the diversity summit. Below are remarks from leaders of both organizations:

Karen Magnuson, co-chair, ASNE Diversity Committee

Magnuson said that ASNE believes that diverse newsrooms better cover America's communities.

She noted that ASNE keeps track of how the newspaper industry does annually when it comes to employment census. While there was progress over the past three decades, the progress doesn't match the U.S. population as a whole. In fact the newspaper industry is now losing ground, she noted. This year minorities in newsrooms accounted for 12.7 percent, a decline of .47 percent. And this marks the third year in a row of decline.

When it comes to the industry's survival, it becomes “an issue of accuracy and credibility, first and foremost, but we need to make urgent progress in serving minority communities with better and more targeted journalism,” Magnuson said.

Hollis Towns, immediate past president, APME

Towns stressed that “diversity matters not in what we say but in what we do.” He quoted Maya Angelou, noting that she wrote: “Diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and all those threads are equal in value, not matter the color.”

Towns exhorted leaders to “reflect, ehance and embrace all the variations in ideals that make this nation so great.”

“We cannot keep dithering,” he added. “We cannot fail. It should not merely be a part of a singular business model but rather reflect the essence of our core values....Let's fulfill the promise beginning today.”

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