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Diversity In Journalism

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In 1988, Carole Simpson became a weekend anchor at ABC News, making her the first African American woman to be named an anchor of a major network newscast (Kettle, 2016). In an interview with C-SPAN, Simpson explained her abuse during her stay at ABC from racial slurs to being sexually fondled. Despite the hard time, she continued to speak out, not for just African American women but for all women. It is important to identify and acknowledge how these obstacles, including invisibility and bias against women of color, makes broadcasting careers a challenge to obtain. Women of color can identify with the Spiral of Silence theory, which is when people with different opinions and views from the normal society remain quiet in fear of isolation, …show more content…
In an analysis published in the Columbia Journalism Review, Alex T. Williams, Ph.D. at University of Pennsylvania addresses the question of why there are so few minorities in mainstream media. The article suggests that the reasons for the lack of minorities in broadcast journalism careers are not solely due to a lack of minorities pursuing journalism degrees (White, 2015). According to studies from the American Society of News Editors, the Women’s Media Center and the advocacy group VIDA Women in Literary Arts, gender and racial diversity in newsrooms have scarcely improved in the last decade despite an increasing demand for more inclusive journalism in the current round-the-clock news cycle” (Abbady, 2017). The 2018 Status of Women in the U.S. Media study, by the Women’s Media Center, has seen an increase from 11.1% to 12.6% in 2017 in the number of women of color as local television news staff (Gonzalez-Ramirez, 2018). As for people of color, they make up 38.7% of the U.S. population and women make up 50.8% according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Gonzalez-Ramirez, 2018). These percentages has increased over the years, however race and gender in the news continues to reflect the struggles that women of color face over the decade (Abbay, 2017). Although not as significantly as before, women of color still face discrimination, they still have to break the sexual orientation barrier and many more barriers in order to improve

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