Reporting Diversity: A Checklist 1

This Checklist was developed by journalists, journalism professors and diversity advisers at a workshop at Carleton University in June, 1995. They exchanged information about diversity initiatives and how to sustain them; they shared experiences both positive and negative; they debated with vigor the difficulties and the merits, the problems and the advantages of greater diversity in both hiring and coverage; they worked at case studies based on real events; and they drafted this set of principles to help newsrooms respond better to the changes in Canadian society. They would like to share these principles, condensed and formatted as a checklist, with other newsrooms.

Reporting on DIVERSITY means reflecting all members of the community in a fair and accurate manner, and applying equal standards of scrutiny for all groups.

FOR BEAT AND GENERAL REPORTERS

• Am I covering all aspects, including positive and negative, of diverse communities?
• Am I aware of the power of images
• Do I avoid furthering stereotypes by seeking a diverse representation when
    interviewing people,
    no matter what the story?
• Are the "labels" I use to describe people appropriate and necessary, and do they meet the
    guidelines of my news organization?
• Do I regularly consult a variety of widely representative community
    (and minority) newspapers,
    radio and television programs and their editors and producers?
• Do I involve all resources in our news organization as a way to enrich our coverage?
• Do I help keep the diversity dialogue alive in the newsroom through questions, source
    suggestions and requests for explanation about news decisions?
• Do I research diverse groups thoroughly, to avoid perpetuating stereotypes?
• Do I include questions/allegations of systemic racism as context to specific stories,     whenever I can do so fairly and responsibly?
• Am I aware of factions and agendas within groups so that I do not fall prey to manipulation
    by prominent sources?
• Do I get my assignment/city editors onside-show them how allowing me time
    to do background
    research will pay off with better coverage?
• Do I take the time to consult peers and editors to gain a balanced overview when in
    doubt about the tone of a story?

FOR DESK AND ASSIGNMENT EDITORS

• Am I giving reporters the time to develop diverse contacts and pursue a wide
    range of stories?
• Am I creating a newsroom atmosphere that encourages reporters to move beyond
    traditional news gathering?
• Am I personally exploring all sources of news, and open to non-traditional
    views and voices?
• Do our story and photo ideas and our content perpetuate cultural or other stereotypes?
    Am I assessing whether our photographs and visuals accurately reflect the
    entire community?
• Am I watching our use of language for bias?
• Am I aware of minority sensitivities before setting and reviewing a style to describe
    groups or communities?
• Are we under-playing or over-playing a story because of its diversity content?
• Is our coverage of the actions of a few stereotyping an entire group?
• Am I regularly reviewing the accumulative impact of our coverage?

FOR SENIOR MANAGEMENT

• Are we hiring the most qualified people? And are we making clear what those
    qualifications are?
• Are we seeking to hire people who can bring diverse perspectives into our newsroom?
• Are we looking for candidates in non-traditional places
   (e.g., ads in community papers; staff of community papers or cable television and
    community radio stations; and community groups or organizations)?
• After hiring, are we supporting and training new employees?
• Are we telling schools of journalism what we need?
• Are we thinking long-term about recruitment (e.g., organizing job fairs, participating in high
    school media literacy programs)?

…..SUSTAINING IT

• Is there commitment from the top that diversity is important?
• Are we clear what we're prepared to invest to make it happen
    (e.g., outreach, assigning, mentoring)?
• Are we telling diverse communities that we want their business?
• Are we creating opportunities for reporting diversity?
• Are we measuring progress regularly?