One of journalism’s most important purposes is accurately reflecting the stories of communities. In places where communities are large and diverse, it is critical for newsrooms to also feature that diversity. A diverse newsroom of dedicated journalists is a key step in ensuring news coverage accurately and fairly reflects each member of varied communities.
Different cities have varying levels of diversity, but it’s important for that diversity to be reflected in newsrooms everywhere. For example, East Lansing, Michigan, has a 2024 population of 48,808, according to census data from World Population Review. While East Lansing is predominantly made up of White 20-somethings, 9.24 percent of the population is Asian, 7.45 percent is Black and 6.25 percent are two or more races.
Older adults, young children and seniors also make up smaller portions of East Lansing’s age range. Many other specific groups within this college town that aren’t mentioned in the census, such as international students, LGBTQ+ people, graduate students, business owners, and more.
Given the wide array of people who call East Lansing home, whether that be for a few years at Michigan State University or for their entire lives, it is vital that newsrooms serving this community are made up of diverse groups of people who can understand the perspectives and life experiences of their readership.
When a newsroom is diverse, it is easier to ensure that various groups are represented accurately and fairly within the outlet’s reporting and that no mistakes are made. In an article for Forbes, “The Importance Of Diversity In The Newsroom,” Stephen Frost gives examples of largely White newsrooms mixing up famous people of color, mistakes that he says could be avoided by increasing diversity in newsrooms.
Diversity will give newsrooms various perspectives and decrease the risk that comes with homogenous in-groups, when people struggle to see beyond their own inherent biases. Instead of making mistakes and apologizing for them, Frost says an effort needs to be made for a sustained pattern of improvement.
When diverse groups of people are represented accurately in the news media, trust and respect are built between the readers and the newsrooms. All communities desire to have their stories told, and newsrooms should strive to do that for all groups of people.
When diverse newsrooms work hard to be inclusive, the communities they serve will feel more valued and listened to and, in turn, will appreciate journalism more. People will not buy or pay attention to news products in which they feel invisible. A diverse newsroom is the first step in making sure that is not the case.
In a newsroom where every reporter looks the same and has similar life experiences, it is easy to produce one-dimensional news and make mistakes. Diversity in newsrooms will help in the production of higher quality, valuable journalism that reflects all communities. Editors should keep these things in mind when looking to expand their newsrooms.