Scripps funds media diversity

Workforce, Dec, 2002 by Maryann Hammers

Of the 9,000 employees who work for the E. W. Scripps Company, only about 20 percent are racial minorities. The Cincinnati-based media conglomerate says that diversity has long been a company goal, but it has a hard time finding qualified applicants.

"We are constantly looking for talent in the minority community, but our [ethnic makeup] looks a lot like that of other media organizations," says Greg Ebel, vice president of human resources. According to a new survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, just over 12 percent of journalists working for daily papers are minorities. Minorities account for 9.7 percent of newsroom supervisors.

Now Scripps is putting its money where its hiring goals are. The company's philanthropic arm, the Scripps Howard Foundation, has made a $10 million commitment to a new media school at historically black Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. The Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, which opened this fall, includes a new 36,000-square-foot academic building, complete with television studio, campus radio station, auditorium, classrooms, and computer labs. The Scripps endowment will also help fund the school's curriculum, faculty, programming, and scholarships.

It is hoped that by providing an ongoing source of qualified journalism and communications professionals, the new school will help foster workplace diversity in the nation's media. "The management of this company has continually stated that the makeup of our newspapers, broadcast TV stations, and cable networks ought to reflect the communities in which they operate, but we have not had as much success as we'd like' Ebel says.

"This partnership will increase the pool of qualified candidates. And the entire industry will gain. As it benefits all media organizations, it will benefit Scripps as well. This school is a step in the right direction."

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