It is hard to find qualified minorities and women. For example; when a newsroom is trying to find a producer and add diversity in their station, they just may grab the first candidate that comes along. A lot of times this candidate is not ready or fully qualified for this position. Some minorities and women show up expecting to get a job because of their color or gender and are greatly disappointed when they are turned away. Women and minorities tend to play the race or gender card but that is not always the case.
Qualified minorities and women tend to have to work twice as hard in order to be found, recognized, and considered. Now that education is accessible to them there should be no excuse. What is not accessible to them is the convenience of connections and links. In the interview it was stressed that this is a highly social industry. If the individual is not social and are not marketing themselves before college then they are awaiting a major set back. You have to market yourself. Not only is your education vital but so is 'who you know.'
In the census it was stated that although minorities in this industry statistically has not drastically changed, Asian women are out doing Asian men in the industry. In the interview it was suggested that traditionally Asian men were prong and breaded to become doctors, lawyers, or positions of that status. It was also suggested in the interview that the Asian men were lazier than the women. I believe the increase was by 2%. This increase was not enough to really increase the overall minorities numbers statistically.
Another question asked was how the minorities population was increasing but the job market was either staying the same or diminishing on their behalf. If there was a shortage in jobs; for example the economy loosing jobs, minorities were some of the first to go. Hispanics are the largest minority group in America and they have accumulated their own media string, but they have not been able to place themselves significantly in the main stream of media.
The last side note I want to mention is how the majority of minorities and women who enter the newsroom want to be an anchor. There is nothing wrong with that but there are other positions that need to be filled. What about a writer, producer, coordinator, reporter, and etc. These jobs are needed but aren't sought after. The need of diversity behind the screen is just as vital as on the screen. In the interview it was stress that the newsroom should be just as diverse as the audience is.
If you would like to hear the interview for yourself please click on the link below
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