Survey on Canadian newsrooms lays bare a stark truth — they aren’t diverse

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This article was published 03/12/2021 (1722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“I can’t find the city I know in the newspapers.”

That was the opening line of a column written by Vancouver journalist Christopher Cheung. Published in the Star in June, it examined the lack of diversity in Canadian newsrooms and how that skewed reporting.

“I once thought journalism was a reliable reflection of reality. Nowadays, I can’t help but view reporting as a reflection of whoever happens to be holding the pen, and they aren’t representing or writing about large parts of the community,” Cheung wrote.

I was reminded of that column as I read important research by the Canadian Association of Journalists that underscored how poorly the staff in Canadian newsrooms reflect the communities they report on.

It found that newsroom staff are overwhelmingly white — 74.9 per cent — compared to 18.6 per cent who identify as a visible minority, and 6.4 per cent who identify as Indigenous. More than 80 per cent of supervisors identify as white. Most newsrooms have no Latin, Middle Eastern, Black or Indigenous journalists.

Just over half — 52.7 per cent — identify as women compared to 46.7 per cent who identify as men and 0.7 per cent that identify as non-binary.

The data is based on the submissions of 3,873 journalists from 209 newsrooms. Some 379 newsrooms did not respond. Not all the Star’s demographic details are captured by the CAJ results because of problems translating the data.

In December 2020, Torstar, the Star’s parent company, asked the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion to do a demographic survey of its workforce. Just half of the Star newsroom took part so it’s an incomplete picture. But the results are still telling.

The newsroom’s staff is 47.6 per cent men and 47.6 per cent women, with 4.8 per cent either non-binary or unknown. Of those who took part, 68.5 per cent of full-time staff are white, 13.3 per cent identified as Asian and 5 per cent as other/multiple. Between one and four reported in each of the groups Black, Latin and Middle Eastern.

No one in the survey identified as an Indigenous person. Nine per cent at the Star self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and two-spirit. Eighteen per cent identified as a person with a disability.

Star editor Anne Marie Owens called the numbers a “staggering” reminder of the work ahead to build a diverse newsroom.

“It’s not enough to bring in diversity in our intern pool … journalists with diverse backgrounds must be represented throughout our operation, at all levels, and influencing all aspects of our coverage. We need to ensure their experiences within our newsroom and its culture are conducive to staying at the Star,” she said.

No doubt, the numbers are an indictment of the industry, laying bare the blunt truth that making newsrooms more representative was not a priority. Sure, people can cite financial hardships and downsizing — but even when newspapers were printing money, not enough was done.

The Toronto Star, reporting on this diverse urban region, has a special imperative, in my view, to ensure its newsroom represents the community.

Transforming newsrooms will require a focused commitment. It starts at the journalism schools where reporters learn the craft and extends to the media outlets where they will work.

In January 2020, the Canadian Association of Black Journalists and Canadian Journalists of Colour released a joint call to action, noting that “glaring racial inequality still exists,” despite efforts by media outlets to address it.

The organizations urged regular reporting of newsroom demographics; hiring more reporters and editors of colour; retaining and promoting journalists of colour to management positions; scholarships and mentorships to help journalists of colour overcome barriers; and a more structured approach to improving representation. They also encouraged a focus on diversity and inclusion at journalism schools.

At Torstar, employee groups formed earlier this year are working on recommendations in the areas of recruitment, career development and editorial content.

Hiring practices are being reviewed. Others areas include ongoing support for employees, particularly from marginalized communities; finding and removing roadblocks to retention; improving the promotion of journalists into editors and newsroom leaders; and examining “how we do journalism,” said Irene Gentle, Torstar’s vice president of inclusions and strategic partnerships.

Increasing representation is a key first step, Gentle said, “one we clearly need new processes and practices to do effectively.

“But along with that, we need to ensure our company and newsrooms are a place people will want to work in and feel valued and inspired in, be a place they can grow their career. And that means hiring representatively is a step among many,” she said.

“They’re long overdue steps, and they’re vital to the relevance and richness of our journalism as well as our workplace,” Gentle said.

I’m encouraged by the work underway. There should be an urgency to these actions, given that they are overdue.

Torstar says it will survey its workforce each year. I hope that data can be made publicly available, as the Washington Post does. Those future workplace surveys will truly reveal whether words were translated into action.

Bruce Campion-Smith is the Star’s public editor and based in Toronto. Reach him by email at publiced@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @yowflier