By Laura Nelson
Student Writer
Communications specialists and journalists gathered at USC's Davidson Conference Center Jan. 30 for a discussion on media diversity in the digital age, based off findings published in a recent Federal Communications Commission report.
USC Annenberg played a major role in the research, development and drafting of the report, which analyzes the changing landscape of United States media. One of the principal investigators on the FCC team was Cinny Kennard, a senior fellow at USC Annenberg's Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, whose work informed the sections on radio news, public broadcasting and local television news.
During the event, USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III introduced a panel of communication executives to discuss the implications of the report: Steven Waldman, the author of the report; Robert Butler, vice president for broadcast at the National Association of Black Journalists; Mark Lloyd, associate general counsel and chief diversity officer, Federal Communication Commission; and Henrik Rehbinder, editorial page editor for La Opinión.
“The question of how to engender civic engagement across all platforms of society and across all dimensions of diverse populations is a critical issue for society as a whole,” Wilson said, before introducing Waldman.
The changes in media over the last half-dozen years have thrown experts for a loop, Waldman said: even as newspapers folded across the country, innovative forms of new media popped up and thrived. Newsrooms have seen an increase in hyperlocal coverage, but have lost much of the traditional “accountability reporting” and beat coverage as staffs shrank to pre-Watergate levels. Similar problems have affected the diversity of newsrooms.
“There have been so many innovations that have been very positive, that have advanced the bar to where it never used to be,” Waldman said. “But by some of the traditional measures, things are going backwards.”
The FCC’s study of diversity is nascent and faces challenges, Lloyd said, including ensuring diversity in public broadcasting without breaking court rulings that prohibit employment reports detailing demographic information. He encouraged the public to embrace a more complex definition of the term.
“There is a confusion between diversity and variety,” Lloyd said. “Even if you get a lot of diversity in a newsroom, that doesn’t mean you have antagonistic sources competing for different versions of the story.”
In 2011, the National Association of Black Journalists surveyed 228 stations owned by 15 companies, Butler said. Eleven percent of managers were people of color. Stations are often reluctant to release that information, he said, and stressed that disclosure is the only way to improve the situation.
“Companies themselves don’t know how much diversity they don’t have,” Butler said. “If I know what your diversity is, I can help you. If I don’t, I can’t.”
Butler recommended that HR employees take a newsroom hiring manager to recruiting events and job fairs, so newsroom leadership can point out which traits they find most important in prospective candidates.
The complexity of diversity is one that’s not easily solved, Rehbinder said. In some communities, where a demographic group in one city differs completely from the same group in another city, it’s hard to know what to cover and how to engage a diverse audience.
“We have this challenge,” Rehbinder said. “How can we fulfill this mission of civic engagement, to bring information, to bring accountability to public officials?”
The report and discussion included few recommendations, but Waldman said the committee thought the problems were significant enough to warrant addressing, even without solutions the FCC could take on due to legal restrictions. He suggested that other entities—journalism schools, non-profits, professionals—assume the onus for increasing diversity and building foundations.
