The Claims of Multiculturalism and Journalism’s Promise of Diversity

Mainstream American journalism rests on a pluralist model of democracy that conserves the status quo, essentializes culture, and trivializes diversity. A very different understanding of diversity emerges from a multiculturalist perspective that questions existing arrangements, posits a relational view of culture, and defines diversity in terms of patterns of discrimination and inequality. A case study of coverage of a local issue in the mainstream and minority press underpins a discussion of the importance of diversifying journalism by restructuring the American press. Journalism diversity matters most not only as it heightens sensitivity to cultural differences but as it strengthens the role of minority media in the struggle to achieve the social justice and political parity that a culturally diverse society demands.