Minority Journalists' Perceptions of the Impact of Minority Executives

Annual newsroom surveys by industry groups show only miniscule progress in the effort to diversify the nation's newsrooms or to increase the ranks of minority newsroom managers. This survey explores minority journalists’ perceptions about minority executives’ ability to influence news coverage of minorities, and how career satisfaction relates to these perceptions. The findings suggest that minority journalists— regardless of ethnicity, occupation, or years in the business—believe that a minority executive can make a difference in several key areas, including a news operation's sensitivity to racism and how it covers minority groups. Overall, respondents felt that a minority executive could influence how the news media thinks of minorities. Implications of the findings for the hiring, promotion, job satisfaction, and retention of minorities in the newsroom are discussed.