Story at a glance
- Media company Gannett announced it will document hiring more diverse staff in a company-wide census to better represent the U.S. population.
- By 2025, the company aims to reach gender, racial and ethnic pay equity.
Gannett, the parent company of USA Today and more than 260 daily local news outlets in the United States, pledged Thursday that it will achieve gender, racial and ethnic parity in all newsrooms by 2025 while also reporting its progress annually through a workplace census.
President Maribel Perez Wadsworth wrote in USA Today that Gannett is publishing its first census today that documents the number of journalists in its newsrooms who are female, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). Wadsworth noted the lack of diversity in newsrooms, especially in leadership positions, while explaining the census is part of Gannett’s commitment to workplace equality.
“Diversity and inclusion are choices, not just words,” Wadsworth said.
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Gannett will also create 20 national and 40 local jobs by the end of the year that are focused on social justice, disparities and inclusion. Wadsworth says Gannett’s media outlets will also be focusing on covering race at the intersection of education, health care, criminal justice and the environment.
“Gannett is committed to creating a culture where every employee feels safe, included and championed for their full identity,” she wrote. “This week, the company announced important steps to expand our demographic data to be more inclusive by providing employees the opportunity to be heard and voluntarily self-identify as diverse in ways beyond race and ethnicity, such as identifying as LGBTQ.”
Included in the letter were statistics showcasing current diversity hallmarks the company has already achieved, such as its newsrooms in El Paso and Corpus Christi being composed of majority diverse leadership teams. It also notes that USA TODAY is the only major national newspaper with a female editor-in-chief.
“Educating, informing and empowering our local communities is at the core of what our newsrooms do every day. To do this, we must better reflect who we serve,” Gannett CEO Mike Reed said. “I’m committed to providing our journalists with the company support and financial investment necessary to improve the diversity of our news organizations to mirror our communities.”
Gannett was one of many newspaper chains to furlough multiple journalists at the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., when decreases in advertising revenue rattled the industry, hitting local newspapers particularly hard.
This move comes as several media companies were accused of promoting toxic workplace environments and allowing racial discrimination to permeate, such as Refinery29, Hearst Magazines and Bon Appétit. These instances have shed light on the lack of diversity in editorial leadership and the struggle for BIPOC journalists to receive equal pay and opportunities.
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