July 14, 2004

Contacts:
Ernest R. Sotomayor, President, UNITY Board of Directors
Long Island Editor, Newsday.com
631-843-3664

Anna M. Lopez, Executive Director, UNITY
(703) 854-3585

Statement by UNITY and its alliance partners, AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ and NAJA,
on the annual Radio and Television News Directors-Ball State University
Annual Diversity Survey

ARLINGTON, VA. ( July 14, 2004) — Despite declarations from the industry that it is working to boost diversity in broadcast newsrooms, the annual survey of diversity in local radio and television news media shows that the media companies are falling short of their obligations to make broadcast journalism truly representative of our increasingly diverse nation, UNITY president Ernest R. Sotomayor said today.

The bottom line, the survey shows that people of color in local broadcasting are at about where they were in 1994.

The Radio and Television News Directors Association-Ball State Annual Survey of people of color and women in local broadcast newsrooms showed a jump from figures released last summer, with local TV at 21.8 and local radio at 11.6, up from 18.3 percent and 6.5 percent last year, respectively. Despite that, the survey released today showed that the percentage of Asians Americans dropped to 2.2 percent for the third straight year, there was no increase in Native Americans in local TV newsrooms - 0.5 percent – while in local radio the percent doubled from 0.2 percent last year to 0.4 percent.

While UNITY supports RTNDA's tracking of diversity in local broadcasting, we also are concerned that this year's survey shows less progress than indicated by the results. RTNDA president Barbara Cochran, in an article on the survey, says increased efforts were made to collect diversity information from stations with more diverse staff, suggesting that last year's survey produced an undercount in those newsrooms.

"Sadly, we continue to see broadcasting ignore the reality that the population has changed at a rate that far outpaces the progress of local companies," said Sotomayor, Long Island Editor for Newsday.com in New York .

In reaction to the survey, Mae Cheng, president of the Asian American Journalists Association, said, “These are alarming numbers that cry out for immediate attention. The industry must come up with an aggressive strategy that addresses this issue of a rapidly declining Asian American television and radio workforce."

Cheng, assistant city editor at Newsday in New York City , added, "In recent years, we’ve held many discussions on how to increase the number of Asian Americans in the newsrooms. We now need to turn those conversations into actions. AAJA will continue to be available to provide assistance in these efforts."

New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, said, “While we are relieved that the industry has stemmed the decline of journalists of color, we still remain concerned with the lack of substantial increases in minority newsroom personnel since 1990. We are also alarmed by the decrease in the overall radio workforce. It is clear that media companies are not investing in producing news for radio.”

Newsday courts reporter Herbert Lowe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said, "Another year, another survey? it's the same thing: The industry is not sufficiently hiring or retaining or promoting black journalists. Sitting across tables and bemoaning the same excuses isn't getting us anywhere. The industry must hire, retain and promote. Plain and simple."

After last year's RTNDA survey was released, UNITY and its alliance associations called for a summit of local and national network broadcasters to highlight our concerns, challenge the companies to devise new strategies to boost hiring, retention and training of their staffs.

UNITY, a coalition of the four largest organizations of journalists of color, will hold its third joint convention, "A Powerful Alliance. A Force for Change," Aug. 4-8 in Washington , D.C. Attendance is intended to top 7,000, making this the largest gathering of journalists in American history.

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About UNITY: Journalists of Color
UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc. is a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color, and aggressively challenging its organizations at all levels to reflect the nation’s diversity. UNITY, representing more than 10,000 journalists of color, is comprised of four national associations: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

In addition to planning the largest regular gathering of journalists in the nation, UNITY develops programs and institutional relationships that promote its mission. For more information on UNITY, visit www.unityjournalists.org, email info@unityjournalists.org or call (703) 854-3585.