THE NEED FOR DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN AMERICAN JOURNALISM

At the beginning of November, media platform Teen Vogue announced that it would now be merging with its parent platform, Vogue. The news has caused Teen Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Versha Sharma, as well as six other writers and staff members to be laid off while Condé Union has released a statement to X of the company’s layoff impacting BIPOC and transgender writers. This news comes before four of the Condé Nast staff were fired after participating in a Union protest outside of HR director, Stan Duncan’s office, and after Broadcast News Network, CBS News, reportedly laid off eight of their on-air reporters along with 100 other employees, with all eight reporters identifying as women. Notable reporters included Lisa Ling, Nancy Chen, Janet Shamlian, and Debora Patta, all while the company’s Race and Culture Unit was disbanded. 

When this news broke out, my friends and I, who are both aspiring journalists, couldn’t help but feel devastated by the news as we’re witnessing two major media companies that we’ve looked up to cutting programs that were not only beneficial to diversity in journalism but also programs that were representatives of freedom of voice. 

As a writer who identifies as Asian American, this move of departing from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion isn’t only just a loss for the company but for the progress of media that was made within the past couple of years. The purpose of D.E I. within the media industry is to display the diversity of voices found within American culture as seen with films such as Sinners, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and, journalistic documentaries such as Dolly Li’s, The Untold Stories of America’s Chinese Americans, and Ava DuVernay’s, The 13th, which is a documentary that looks into the experiences of African Americans within the American Prison System. These works of media made within the past couple of years have been displayed as works that embody the diverse voices and perspectives found within the United States, as well as providing a platform to talented journalists who wouldn’t be able to have a platform to showcase stories that were reported in their work. 

Without works such as The 13th, or the representation of immigrant families seen in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, mainstream audiences would lose the important messages found within these pieces of work and be left clueless or misinformed on multilayered subjects, leaving stories such as police brutality left in the dark for only the communities involved to face alone. 

What is the point of broadcasting and writing stories for the American public when half of the stories written don’t display the diverse makeup of the country? Media is the biggest platform where the average person becomes informed on issues impacting their communities, so when this job is left to one-dimensional perspectives, it leaves many vulnerable to implicit bias or misinformation  

The perspectives of reporters of color are now more important than ever for diversity within Journalism. This will influence future generations who aspire to embark on a career in journalism. Every great evolution requires a door to be opened and with companies that are looked up to like CBS, Vogue, or Conde Nast erasing their progressive initiatives, it leaves the media to not only take a step backwards, but for journalists of diverse backgrounds having to fight again for their seat at the table.

• art of journalism
• college
• Diversity in Media
• entertainment
• equity diversity and inclusion
• UC Berkeley