The media diversity and inclusion paradox

Experiences of black and brown journalists in mainstream British news institutions

Bibliographic Data

ID7477283
AuthorsOmega Douglas (0000-0003-4373-3100, Goldsmiths University of London, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume23
Issue10
Pages2096-2113
Publication date2021-03-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14648849211001778
OpenAlexW3137947028
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited18

Over 100 British journalists of colour are signatories to an open letter demanding the US Ambassador to the UK condemns the arrest of African-American journalist, Omar Jimenez, on May 29th 2020, whilst he was reporting for CNN on the Minneapolis protests following the police killing of George Floyd. The letter is a vital act of black transatlantic solidarity during a moment when journalism is under threat, economically and politically, and there’s a pandemic of racism in the west. These factors make journalism challenging for reporters from racial minorities, who are already underrepresented in western newsrooms and, as this paper shows, encounter discrimination in the field, as well as within the institutions they work for. The letter speaks to how black British journalists are all too aware that the British journalistic field, like the American one, has a race problem, and institutional commitments to diversity often don’t correspond with the experiences of those included, impacting negatively on the retention of black journalists. Drawing on original interviews with 26 journalists of colour who work for Britain’s largest news organisations, this paper theoretically grounds empirical findings to illustrate why and how discriminatory patterns, as well as contradictions, occur and recur in British news production

Diversity (politics · Inclusion (mineral · Journalism · Mainstream · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Solidarity · White (mutation · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media Studies and Communication · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Gender Studies · Law

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