Newsrooms: haven't changed much.(African-American TV Special Report)

Broadcasting & Cable, September, 2004 by Albiniak, Paige

There are more minorities in newsrooms than there were a year ago, but it's not like you'd notice. An annual survey by the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Ball State University shows that, on average, the percentage of minority newsroom hires hasn't changed much in a decade. In 1994, minorities made up 18.0% of the TV-newsroom workforce; this year, they are 21.8%.

"Barring some significant changes, I'm not sure it's going to get any better," says Bob Papper, professor of telecommunications at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and director of the RTNDA/Ball State annual survey on diversity.

The survey, released this summer, found that minorities' representation in the TV-newsroom workforce grew to 21.8% in 2004 from 18.1% in...

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