For a print-friendly version of the open letter access the PDF file format.

Press Forward Must Ensure Equitable Distribution of Resources to Underrepresented Voices in Local News

For those of us who work in journalism, there is not a day that passes that we don’t see vividly how newsrooms are shrinking and how local news deserts are negatively impacting people.

So when a group of foundation leaders and heads of philanthropic organizations announced the Press Forward initiative to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support local news, those of us who work in the field didn’t hesitate to applaud. After all, we need many more funders to understand that local news is vital to the health and sustainability of our democracy. A growing number of people are vulnerable to becoming victims of disinformation and misinformation masquerading as credible local and national news.

As the much-anticipated initiative to fortify local news ecosystems rolls out, we think it’s important to remember just what is “local news” and who are the people who have long been providing it.

The organizations that have signed this open letter represent, support, train and serve many of the journalists, leaders and founders of color who are essential to the sustainability of healthy, equitable and trustworthy local news ecosystems.

Philanthropy has a responsibility to be inclusive, intentional and transparent about how funding from this initiative is distributed. It is no secret that BIPOC-led organizations are awarded less grant money and are less trusted with how to spend that money when compared to white-led institutions. A recent Lenfest Institute/National Trust for Local News study of 103 publishers of color and outlets serving “racial, ethnic, or linguistic communities” revealed that 53 percent of them will be out of business in less than five years if current revenue trends persist.” In effect, that would undermine the stated objectives of the Press Forward initiative.

Our organizations have come together to advocate on behalf of Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and other people of color who have historically been neglected, misrepresented or tokenized. Engaging our people and our communities in Press Forward will be vital to its success and credibility. In many of the country’s most populous regions and cities, communities of color account for the majority demographic.

We are pleased to see that the funding priorities of the Press Forward initiative include “improving diversity of experience and thought.” As this initiative unfolds and decisions are made about where support is directed, we want to be clear: Racial and ethnic diversity, equity and belonging must be among the pillars of its foundation. An equitable distribution of resources and opportunities ensures that underrepresented voices are heard and elevated by journalists, leaders and publishers who know them best.

What we mean by this is:

• Align funding priorities with the demographic shifts occurring across our nation by investing in trusted leaders, publishers, journalists and organizations serving communities of color.
• Consider as a foundational criteria for all newsrooms that their organizations, including leadership, are reflective of the communities they serve.
• Break the cycle of disinvestment and the disproportionate investment in white leaders and organizations with under-representation of people of color.

Racial and ethnic diversity fosters trust between media outlets and underrepresented communities. When people see themselves and their experiences reflected in the news, they are more likely to engage with it and view journalism as a credible and valuable resource. We know from research done by the Trust Project that one of the indicators of trustworthiness on the part of news consumers is the inclusion of diverse voices.

If philanthropy is not intentional about addressing historical funding inequities and the processes by which they persist, it is complicit in the harm they inflict. At a time when we are seeing intentional and structural attacks on marginalized communities gain momentum in our society, this would be unacceptable.

Significant investment in the people, publications, and organizations that serve an increasingly diverse society must be made with clear-eyed intention. We commend the support many of the foundations that are part of this initiative have contributed to news ecosystems. We stand ready to help this effort any way we can; we are watching it with enthusiasm, with vigilance and concern.

As philanthropic stakeholders dedicated to supporting the growth and sustainability of local news, your commitment to these values can help shape not only the future of journalism, but also the broader fabric of our society.

Thank you.

Signed,

Professional Membership Associations

• Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Executive Director, Asian American Journalists Association
• Nicole Dungca, National Board President, Asian American Journalists Association
• Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Executive Director, Indigenous Journalists Association
• Christine Trudeau, President, Indigenous Journalists Association
• Ken Lemon, President, National Association of Black Journalists
• Yvette Cabrera, President, Board of Directors, National Association of Hispanic Journalists

Vision25: Racial Equity in Journalism Partners

• John X. Miller, Chair, Board of Directors, Maynard Institute
• Evelyn Hsu & Martin G. Reynolds, Co-executive directors, Maynard Institute
• LaSharah S. Bunting, CEO and Executive Director, Online News Association
• Erika Owens, Co-Director, OpenNews

Media Contacts

For media inquiries: andrews@aaja.org, jmedina@naja.com, press@nabj.org, asherry@nahj.org, mreynolds@mije.org, karolle@journalists.org, info@opennews.org

Open Letter in the News

Since joining with other journalism affinity organizations and sending this open letter to Press Forward, our collective efforts to ensure equity in news funding have been covered in journalism industry news across a multitude of platforms.

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Sept. 20, 2023
• Hacks/Hackers, Sept. 21, 2023
• Forbes, September 25, 2023
• Inside Philanthropy, Sept. 28, 2023
• Poynter, Nov. 3, 2023
• Online News Association, Nov. 15, 2023
• Poynter, Nov. 29, 2023
• Nieman Lab, Dec. 2023
• News at Knight, Dec. 22, 2023
• Proximate Press, March 2024
• Poynter, April 22, 2024
• Editor and Publisher, April 23, 2024
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 25, 2024
• Better to Speak, April 30, 2024
• Editor and Publisher, May 21, 2024

ABOUT THE MAYNARD INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM EDUCATION

For more than 45 years, the Maynard Institute has fought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations and convenings. Founded by Robert C. Maynard, the Institute promotes diversity and antiracism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices. We are creating better representation in U.S. newsrooms through our programs , which gives media professionals of color the tools to become skilled storytellers, empowered executives and inspired entrepreneurs. Donate to support our programs.

NEW BOOK RELEASE — From the Kettering Foundation website: We live in a time of deep distrust―of each other, the media, and institutions of all kinds. In this volume of essays, innovative journalists from newspapers, public radio, civic media groups, and new media collectives examine how we’ve reached this point. The loss of newspapers and fracturing of the information ecosystem have weakened our sense of a shared identity, but many people have long felt excluded, misrepresented, and unable to see themselves and their experiences reflected in news reporting. These essays highlight opportunities that are emerging as old practices give way to the new demands of an engaged, diverse, and restive public. They call on us to create a more inclusive democratic narrative that better captures the rich diversity of our nation and its complicated history.

Martin G. Reynolds, “Dismantling Systemic Racism in News”

During the summer of 2020, the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sent shockwaves across America. Newsrooms and the journalists in them also felt the shock. Martin Reynolds, former managing editor and editor in chief of the Oakland Tribune and co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, was one of them. Even though he saw himself “in Floyd, in Taylor, and in the faces of countless other people of color who had been slain by police,” his initial instinct was to maintain his objectivity and to frame these events through the lens of a media professional and not a Black man with a Black son. Reynolds examines this experience and suggests some ways the dismantling of systemic racism in newsrooms might begin.

Read more about the other essays on the Kettering Foundation website and get your copy today!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Oakland, Calif. (February 17, 2023): The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding diversity in the news media and dismantling structural racism in newsrooms, announced today the news organizations selected to participate in the Equity and Belonging Newsroom Transformation Program are The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and GBH News in Boston.

The pilot program, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, pairs news organizations with consultants who have a wealth of experience training journalists on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) issues. The goal is to help transform workplace structures, organizational cultures and news coverage to be more inclusive and reflective of the United States.

“With this pilot, we’re trying to see if we can operationalize the concept of belonging,” said Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute. “This is very challenging work because it requires an individual and collective unwinding of internalized biases and perceptions that have made news organizations toxic places for so many, particularly people of color. We see this work as a journey. What’s exciting about working with The Gazette and GBH News is that each organization is starting at a different place along this journey and we are excited to work with our consulting teams to help them make significant progress.”

Celebrating its 140th year in continuous operation, The Gazette is an employee-owned newspaper with 30,000 daily subscribers. Based in Cedar Rapids, the second-largest city in the state of Iowa with a population of 138,000 residents, The Gazette also covers Iowa City, which is home to the University of Iowa. The communities range from a mix of industrial employees and a sizable refugee population from Sudan.

“We are focused on local enterprise news that looks to solutions rather than just pointing out problems,” said Zack Kucharski, executive editor and employee owner of The Gazette. “We know that we can improve in representation on the staff and in coverage practices to best reflect the diversity of our community, while also working to give these populations a voice and build trust.”

The Gazette, which has participated in previous diversity programs, applied to the Maynard Institute’s pilot program to gain momentum in order to transform their newsroom culture and business practices. As part of the pilot program’s embedded consultant model, The Gazette will be paired with a group of DEI experts based in Southern California, from CRB Global & Rich Diversity Consulting.

“We are excited to take a team-wide approach, as there are challenges across many of the topical areas that we cover, and we need everyone thinking about this,” Kucharski said.

“Working to build norms and benchmarks and have consistent practices will also allow us to measure progress, and that’s an important piece of making this part of the culture of the organization,” he said.

Similarly, GBH News is invested in sustained cultural change. Located in Boston, GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in the United States as the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX. The vision of GBH News, which reaches more than 400,000 people weekly across all platforms, is to transform into one cohesive, audience-focused news organization by creating an anti-racist, radically inclusive and culturally responsive newsroom without walls to better serve an increasingly diverse and curious population. A team of DEI consultants who represent Global Equity Collective will help GBH News work toward that goal.

“We re-envisioned our beat structure to create distinct local stories of the day in collaboration with a wider audience,” said Lee Hill, executive editor for GBH News. “By 2027, our newsroom will closely mirror the city of Boston, which is rapidly changing demographically. Internally, we have to ensure that we are culturally responsive. We created two working groups focused on equitable professional development and belonging.

“In 2022, GBH News began a mandatory Source Diversity Survey,” Hill said. “As part of this, our journalists ask each person we interview questions about their race, gender, age, location to ensure that GBH News becomes more infused and informed by the diverse communities we serve.”

Felecia D. Henderson, director of cultural competency at the Maynard Institute, said the Equity and Belonging Newsroom Transformation Program will provide an opportunity to meet each news organization where they are in their current cultural journey and lead them toward sustainable, equitable change.

“We are excited to partner with The Gazette and GBH News to give them the tools that will have lasting impact inside their organizations and with their communities,” Henderson said.

About the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education

For 45 years, the Maynard Institute has fought to push back against the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations and convenings. Founded by Robert C. Maynard, the Institute promotes diversity and antiracism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices. We are creating better representation in U.S. newsrooms through our programs , which gives media professionals of color the tools to become skilled storytellers, empowered executives and inspired entrepreneurs. Visit the Maynard Institute website to learn more.

Questions?

CONTACT:

Felecia D. Henderson
Director of Cultural Competency, Maynard Institute
fhenderson@mije.org

Martin G. Reynolds
Co-Executive Director, Maynard Institute
mreynolds@mije.org

Read the press release on PRWeb.

Applications are now closed.

Is your news organization ready to establish a more equitable workplace and provide better coverage of underserved communities? Subscribe for email updates about our next program application period.

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What makes this program unique? The Equity & Belonging Newsroom Transformation Program leverages an embedded coaching model to help news organizations better inform underserved communities and establish workplace cultures of belonging. Our goal is to help newsrooms become more equitable and inclusive in their reporting, workplace, and in the communities they serve. The team of consultants piloting the program curriculum will work closely with Maynard Institute facilitators who are steeped in the Fault Lines® training methodology. As the extended application deadline approaches on October 14, we asked the program’s consultants why they think organizations should apply. Read their bios to learn more about their expertise and check out their quotes below.

Foster innovation and nurture a sense of belonging at your organization

“Too often diversity efforts are performative. We want to operationalize belonging so that BIPOC and folks of diverse backgrounds can thrive and contribute even more meaningfully to the growth, sustainability and credibility of the outlets where they work. We want to show that when organizations invest in equity and inclusion, working relationships between people improve, there is less labor strife, attrition and toxicity. Newsrooms that center the concept of belonging foster innovation, better journalism, and more importantly, the capacity to build or repair relationships with communities. We are excited to see what we can create through this program.”

Martin G. Reynolds, Co-Executive Director of the Maynard Institute

Increase the potential for revolutionary impact in your community

“Newsrooms face multiple levels of revolution internally and externally: from changing community and newsroom demographics and social and political tensions, to differing generational expectations about inclusion, work and journalism ethics. This program offers the opportunity to examine your dynamics, learn about who you are, how you work together and what your impact has been and could be on each other and in your communities. This holistic, in-depth approach aspires to help journalists of today face complex challenges with empowering insight and tools.”

Mei-Ling Hopgood, Maynard Institute program researcher and Professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication at Northwestern University

Ensure your organization’s long-term sustainability

“Newsrooms are feeling the pressure and urgency when it comes to understanding and implementing best practices surrounding DEI. We are excited to support organizations as they grow in their knowledge and implement sustainable, long term investments towards strengthening the equity and inclusion in their respective newsrooms.”

Kate Sultuska, Global Equity Collective

Further your organization’s brand and goals

“What would it mean for your news organization to be deeply understood and deeply challenged to grow in its diversity goals? Our mission is to partner with you in that process through the Newsroom Transformation Program program. Our team holds expert credentials in journalism, law, professional leadership, counseling, management, social policy, and advanced DEIB training. This background makes us uniquely positioned to understand your newsroom’s internal DEIB challenges and opportunities, as well as the essential community connections and impacts a newsroom must negotiate in today’s world. DEIB has an important role to play in your institution’s news voice and identity, and we promise to be a collaborative guide on that journey.”

Carol Ross-Burnett, CRB LLC

Acknowledge the urgency and societal demands for transformation

“There’s never been a more urgent time for newsrooms to grapple with inequity in their own businesses and in society. We are proud to be part of this important initiative.”

Anasstassia Baichorova, Global Equity Collective

Contribute to assist media outlets for a brighter future

“This initiative presents a great opportunity to bring experts in the field together to lead two news organizations toward sustainable, equitable change. Our goal is to test methodologies, re-test, and document the processes of both pilot programs in order to replicate the work to assist future media outlets that want to make meaningful change.”

Felecia D. Henderson, Director of Cultural Competency at the Maynard Institute

About the Program – Applications due October 14

The Newsroom Transformation Program will provide two news organizations with the opportunity to develop the tools needed to implement a sense of belonging and equity in the newsroom. The goal is to create a professional learning experience that will benefit a media outlet. The Maynard Institute wants to help contribute to best practices in community journalism and to the implementation of the Fault Lines® framework.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. Application responses will be used to determine your training needs and how the training can build upon your existing knowledge, skills, and experiences. Learn more.

The Maynard Institute was fortunate enough to present two in-person events at this year’s NABJ-NAHJ Convention in Las Vegas. In addition to a cocktail reception celebrating the institute’s 45th anniversary, Felecia Henderson, an award-winning newspaper editor and Director of Cultural Competency at the Maynard Institute, organized and moderated a panel discussion titled, ‘The New Face of Executive Leadership: Black Women Smash Print Industry’s Glass Ceiling.’ This blog details some highlights and key takeaways from the standing-room only session.

Print industry’s history-making trailblazers

Last year proved to be history-making for Black journalists in positions of power. In 2021, six women were tapped to lead print news organizations as executive editor, roles traditionally held by white men. They are charged with coverage, operational budgets, hiring, retention and the overall health and viability of their organizations. In a wide-ranging conversation, seven ground-breaking women shared their journeys, issues they face inside and outside their organizations, and what they are doing to ensure more journalists of color have opportunities to succeed.

Panelists included:

• Rana Cash, executive editor, The Charlotte Observer
• Katrice Hardy, executive editor, The Dallas Morning News
• Mary Irby-Jones, executive editor, The Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.)
• Maria Reeve, executive editor, The Houston Chronicle
• Leisa Richardson, executive editor, The State Journal-Register (Springfield, Ill.)
• Monica Richardson, executive editor, The Miami Herald
• Debra Adams Simmons, executive editor-culture, National Geographic

Photo by Mark Russell / The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal

In addition to her role as Director of Cultural Competency at the Maynard Institute, Henderson has served as a coach on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging issues to more than 100 print and broadcast news organizations nationwide that participate in Table Stakes digital newsroom innovation programs. Prior to joining the institute, Felecia was Assistant Managing Editor at The Detroit News where she was a member of the senior management team responsible for newsroom operations. Henderson shared she was inspired to create the panel session for NABJ-NAHJ convention, in part, because of lack of attention to this key milestone.

“I conceived this discussion to shine a spotlight on the extremely talented, groundbreaking women who are leading print news organizations in 2022. There has been no full-scale story on this historic period in the journalism industry, and the women deserve recognition,” she said.

Holding the door open for the next generation of trailblazers

The ‘New Face of Executive Leadership’ session was designed to help participants take away strategies on earning or maintaining a seat at the leadership table. Key points ranged from addressing racist and sexist hate mail and social media vitriol, to tips for developing mentors and allies.

Henderson opened the session to a completely packed room. As attendees continued to stream in when there was standing-room only, she acknowledged that panelists Katrice Hardy and Mary Irby-Jones were forced to cancel their appearances at the convention.

Photo by Odette Alcazaren-Keeley

Henderson led with asking panelists about some of the positive experiences they have had as some of the first Black, female executives at their respective papers. Leisa Richardson of The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., said, “I have had the opportunity to shape the careers of BIPOC journalists. Relaunching careers or starting young careers.”

As executive editors, the panelists also emphasized their ability to impact diverse hiring and fair reporting practices on communities of color at their organizations. “To be able to shape coverage and hold the door open and wait to fill a job until the applicant pool is diverse is critical,” said Reeve of the Houston Chronicle, “and it’s not something you see unless there are executives of color.”

Monica Richardson of the Miami Herald echoed the importance of holding space and nurturing journalists of color, saying that she feels joy when, “journalists come to me and say that they have never had anyone else to go to before.”

The audience reaction was palpable upon hearing about the panelists’ experiences with overt and covert racism. Richardson, who is the first Black executive editor in the history of the Miami Herald, shared her decision to publicly address a piece of particularly egregious hate mail. She was concerned with backlash. “You have to be fearless in order to stand up to hate and racism and to say that this is not ok,” she said.

When Henderson transitioned to hear audience questions, journalists of all generations shared their gratitude for the sacrifices made by the trailblazers.

Debra Adams Simmons, who also serves on the Maynard Institute board of directors, closed by praising the community that the group of panelists have forged. “We may have been some of the first, but we will not be the last.”

Don’t miss our next session at ONA22

Shortly on the heels of the NABJ-NAHJ Convention, the Maynard Institute will be joining Online News Association conference in Los Angeles to continue our Vision25 Pay Equity series on Thursday, Sep 22 – 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PT. This session is a follow-up to the August 11th webcast featuring guest speakers from Media2070. The Online News Association, OpenNews and the Maynard Institute have come together to create Vision25: Building Racial Equity in Newsrooms, a catalyst in a social change movement that seeks to build journalistic institutions where newsrooms are actively anti-racist and collaborative, and journalists of color feel like they truly belong. Learn more and register for the event.

Martin G. Reynolds in conversation with Manolia Charlotin and Lewis Raven Wallace of Press On in episode four of Vision25 Belonging in the News

Vision25’s Belonging in the News returns next week with acclaimed journalist and editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, Versha Sharma as our guest. Register for the next Belonging in the News discussion — we promise our guests don’t hold back! In honor of the 2022 return of our popular virtual event series in partnership with OpenNews and the Online News Association we’re sharing a compilation of some of our favorite mic drop moments from the past episodes.

One of the goals for the Vision25: Building Racial Equity in Newsrooms collaboration is to establish ‘institutions of belonging.’ The term describes actively anti-racist news organizations where journalists of color have a sense of agency and belonging in the newsroom. We believe that institutions of belonging are part of the solution to creating a diverse, equitable and trustworthy press.

Mic drops on busting the myth of objectivity

1.“If our standard is to appear to be objective, our standard becomes to lie to our readers.”

These journalism institutions should have their values clearly stated somewhere. If truth-telling is a value then no journalist working for an institution should get in trouble for telling the truth.” –Episode 3, Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and correspondent for CBS News

2.“We’re trusting heterosexual, white men of privilege who have been consuming mainstream narratives about immigrants for years to do ‘objective’ reporting on that issue and hire reporters on that issue… And all of the media we are consuming is through that filter. That is bad journalism.” –Episode 2, Maria Hinojosa, executive producer of Latino USA and creator of Futuro Media Group

3.“We[journalists] have been trained out of our humanity. When you are trained out of your humanity, you can’t see that you are taking a piece of someone’s respect and dignity by ‘objectifying’ them.” –Episode 4, Manolia Charlotin, Co-founder of PressOn

Martin G. Reynolds in conversation with Maria Hinojosa

Mic drops on shifting the power structures

4.“Journalists need to hold powerful people accountable–the powerful people within our own journalism institutions.” –Episode 4, Lewis Raven Wallace, Co-founder of PressOn

5.“Newsrooms today don’t reflect our communities, they reflect power.”
-Episode 1, Nikole Hannah-Jones, reporter for The New York Times Magazine and creator of the 1619 Project

6.“Radical imagination is something that exists and that is alive and breathing as a practice in marginalized and oppressed communities, and the way they are going about change is to reimagine the systems they are impacted by.” –Episode 4, Manolia Charlotin, Co-founder of PressOn

Mic drops on catering to white audiences

7.“We’re seeking the white audience by not telling the truth about racism, and black people are going, ‘What is this nonsense?’” –Episode 3, Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and correspondent for CBS News

8.“The critic’s job is to help people understand what questions they should be asking; how to use food and restaurants to start a larger social conversation.” –Episode 5, Soleil Ho, Restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle

9.“We [journalists] cannot compromise our values of truth and fairness to seek the validation of bad faith actors.” –Episode 3, Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and correspondent for CBS News

Martin G. Reynolds in conversation with Wesley Lowery.

Mic drops on finding belonging in the newsroom

10.“The sense of feeling you belong will make you a better journalist.” –Episode 2, Maria Hinojosa, executive producer of Latino USA and creator of Futuro Media Group

11.“The 1619 Project would not exist if I was not being treated as if I belonged in the newsroom. You have to treat me as an equal who is worth investing in.”
-Episode 1, Nikole Hannah-Jones, reporter for The New York Times Magazine and creator of the 1619 Project

12.“Hip hop taught me everything–it led me to writing about the fine arts, it led me to covering President Obama, and it led me to writing about resegregation. Hip hop’s the glasses I wear–I see everything through it.” –Episode 6, Jeff Chang, author, journalist and a senior advisor at Race Forward

Belonging in the News with Versha Sharma

In the April 2022 episode of Belonging in the News, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute Martin Reynolds, discussed belonging with award winning-journalist and the current editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, Versha Sharma. Teen Vogue, a web-only Condé Nast publication, pivoted to become a strong voice on social justice issues in recent years. The discussion explored:

• having a sense of agency in the newsroom
• belonging as a journalist of color while reporting for a major US publication
• what feels like to be a “first” and Versha’s experience as first South Asian American woman to helm Teen Vogue

The event is one hour. The last 15 minutes was open for audience questions as part of a moderated, post-event party for members of the audience to flesh out any of the comments or themes from the live discussion. This post-event discussion was hosted by executive members of Vision25 in the chat on our Crowdcast livestream after the event ended. Watch the recording.

The Online News Association, OpenNews and the Maynard Institute have come together to create Vision25: Building Racial Equity in Newsrooms, a catalyst in a social change movement that seeks to build journalistic institutions where newsrooms are actively anti-racist and collaborative, and journalists of color feel like they truly belong. Learn more here.

As the mystery of Gabby Petito’s whereabouts unfolded in 2021, news media clamored to cover the story. Partially chasing the clicks of the social media users who went viral trying to determine her whereabouts when Petito was announced missing, national and local news prioritized the story and especially when tragically, her remains were discovered. The Maynard Institute was contacted by the media outlets listed below to comment on the outsized coverage the case received.
Gwen Ifill is often credited for coining the term “Missing White Woman Syndrome” during her remarks at the Unity: Journalists of Color journalism conference in 2004. Sociologist Sheri Parks, another African American woman, also spoke about the media practice on CNN in 2006.

The term missing white woman syndrome refers to “the observed disproportionate media coverage, especially in television, of missing-person cases involving young, white, upper-middle-class women or girls compared to the relative lack of attention towards missing women who are not white, women of lower social classes, and missing men or boys.”
Pushing the industry to do better

The Maynard Institute was founded more than four decades ago to address these disparities in media coverage. In 2005, shortly after the term “missing white women syndrome” was coined, Dori Maynard, President of the Maynard Institute at that time, was interviewed for NBC News on the subject.

In 2021, the Maynard Institute was again contacted to weigh in how the news media perpetuates an imbalance of coverage related to missing persons cases. Co-executive director Martin Reynolds was tapped to contribute to discussions about the media’s approach to the Gabby Petito news story, as listed below.
In one of the panel interviews, Martin was joined by Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell, Documentary Filmmaker & Research of the Black Women Television News Managers, who detailed exactly why the mission of the Maynard Institute to diversify newsrooms is so relevant. Dr. Greenwell said “I did a study of forty Black women news managers in television. They intervene on that pattern and really try to make sure that Black women are given the same dignity as other women.”
New York Times articles

How the Case of Gabrielle Petito Galvanized the Internet
News Media Can’t Shake ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome,’ Critics Say

“What I’m most concerned about is the amount of coverage, and if you look at newsrooms, the coverage decisions are made in places that continue to be disproportionately white,” said Mr. Reynolds, whose organization works with journalists of color.
AFP Yahoo News article

Gabby Petito’s disappearance captivated the world. Why?

“The people who are in the roles of making decisions about what could be news lack diversity,” added Martin Reynolds of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, in addressing the disparity.
CBS New York segment

National Media Coverage Of Gabby Petito’s Disappearance Raises Questions About Attention For Missing People Of Color

“This isn’t to say that these journalists are bad folks or that this isn’t a worthy story … What I think is really essential is the understanding of the choices that we make as journalists are an articulation of value.” Reynolds said.
The Special Report with Areva Martin talk show

The Special Report with Areva Martin: Missing White Women Syndrome

Additional Panelists included:
Dr. Michelle N Jeanis, Professor of University of Louisiana & Missing Persons Crime & Media Researcher
Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell, Documentary Filmmaker & Research of the Black Women Television News Managers
The Mercury News

Where’s Frank Somerville? Silence irks activists, stirs questions about suspension

Excerpt:
Community groups have yet to hear from KTVU about Somerville’s complaint: improving coverage of stories about missing and murdered women of color.
The public silence from Channel 2 and Fox, its parent network, has fueled community frustration over the ostensible reason he was suspended — a reported dispute over his push to add a brief commentary on racial inequity to the end of a straight-news story about the disappearance of social media influencer Gabby Petito, whose case had attracted a firestorm of media coverage.
Martin Reynolds, co-executive director for the Oakland-based Maynard Institute, which promotes diversity in America’s newsrooms, said Somerville’s reported solution, to tack a commentary on at the end of a straight news story, would have been “lazy,” as opposed to assigning a full story on the topic. Reynolds, a former editor at the Oakland Tribune and Bay Area News Group, said it would have resulted in the “very disparity (in coverage) he was seeking to address.”
But Reynolds also faulted KTVU for fueling the controversy by not meeting with activists to discuss their complaints about coverage, saying that journalism organizations must offer “a level of transparency and accountability.”
For additional media inquiries, please reach out to us at info@mije.org.

The Online News Association, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and OpenNews are committed to dismantling systemic racism in the journalism industry and transforming news organizations into institutions of belonging.

The past few months, we have worked behind the scenes scheming (the good kind) and strategizing new efforts through our Vision25 collaboration. We’ve convened newsroom leaders, spoken to funders and even brought together many of the people who were newly minted in their news organizations to address diversity, equity and belonging.

The conversations have been robust, revealing and troubling. In April, we’ll share some of what we’ve learned, including how the concept of belonging emerged as the aspiration we are pushing to see operationalized across the news industry.

Meanwhile, we’d like to share with you five opportunities to participate in Vision25 this month—through a fellowship, an event, a coalition, and resources to ensure information equity. And there is more to come.

5 ways to participate now

Maynard 200 Fellowship Program: Apply by March 5

The Maynard 200 Fellowship is the Maynard Institute’s signature professional development program for media professionals of color. The fellowship provides cutting-edge training and year-long mentorship for leaders, storytellers and media entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds guided by the expertise of a distinguished faculty across relevant disciplines. The program supports and emboldens the next generation of leaders, creators and founders of new media ventures. Diverse media executives advance belonging in their newsrooms, thereby advancing the goals of Vision25.

Apply to the Maynard 200 Fellowship by March 5
Maynard 200 Application Form

Maynard Institute’s Belonging in News series

The third episode of Belonging in the News is coming up on Wednesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. EST / 12 p.m. PST. Martin G. Reynolds, event moderator and co-executive director of the Maynard Institute, will discuss institutions of belonging with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and correspondent for CBS News, Wesley Lowery. In addition to discussing his experience investigating police shootings for The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” project, we will discuss his own journey to find belonging as a journalist.

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OpenNews is launching the DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms

Over 100 community volunteers have worked to create a digital community space dedicated to learning and taking concrete actions to create newsrooms and workplaces that are anti-racist, equitable and just. The space will serve as a place to work in solidarity across all levels of experience, on challenges members face in moving DEI forward in their newsrooms, and collectively creating strategies and resources to tackle those challenges. The development of this space has embodied the values of belonging that Vision25 is all about: OpenNews has intentionally designed the space with community leaders and members as a collaborative process. You can sign up to receive a notification when the community space, hosted on Slack, opens later this March.

Get notified when the DEI coalition community space opens soon

The Online News Association’s resource database for information access equity

The #ONAinfoequity database provides resources for journalists to engage communities that are historically under- or misrepresented in the media and ensure equitable access to information. Free Press’ Vanessa Maria Graber and ONA Board member Anita Li led over a dozen journalists to collaborate on this project through an ONA Community Circle. It’s a one-stop shop with guidance for identifying gaps in information access, making the case for community engagement to newsroom leadership and discovering ways to improve existing efforts.

Explore and share the #ONAinfoequity database

Support Vision25

Vision25 is a commitment by our three organizations to advance racial equity in journalism. But, to make this a reality, we need to do this together as an industry. If you’re interested in exploring funding or supporting this work, please email Irving Washington at irving@journalists.org to set up a conversation about our plans and how you can help.

Charlene Carruthers, author and strategist, was a panelist at MIJE’s Converse & Convene dinner.

WASHINGTON, DC – With trust in the media still recovering from an all-time low in 2016, the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education convened a group of journalists and other stakeholders Oct. 29 for a candid conversation about their roles in a democracy.

“We are all in our silos, and we cannot afford to be,” said Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director of the Maynard Institute. “These three constituencies are vital to our society as those seeking media justice work to address inaccurate portrayals, net neutrality and media consolidation, while movement or issue activists seek to change our society through organizing and public protest — and all this as journalists seek to tell the stories of humanity and hold truth to power.”

A group of more than two-dozen attended the Oct. 29 “Converse & Convene” dinner, the first of two gatherings sponsored by a grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Attendees included a diverse set of reporters, editors, educators, funders, activists and organizers. The event was fittingly held inside the Fourth Estate Room at the National Press Club and was facilitated by Keith Woods, NPR’s vice president of newsroom training and diversity.

Converse and Convene dinner attendees.

The dinner’s aim was to facilitate a dialogue surrounding a shared goal of more inclusive journalism, contextualized and informed by the people who are often excluded from the conversation. Its intent was also to build relationships and foster communication between groups that oftentimes must collaborate to tell stories no one else will.

Trust and confidence in mass media has risen 13 points from a dismal low of 32 percent two years ago, but it’s still 27 points below its high-water mark from 1976, according to annual Gallup polls.

Monte Young, Newsday

The role of journalism and journalists has changed over the last four decades. The traditional mold of journalists still exists, but present-day reporters are being undermined by an administration that dismisses critical coverage as “fake news” and casts them as “the enemy of the people.”

Even those who claim to be objective are under attack. President Donald Trump and the White House blame the fourth estate for an especially violent week in America that saw 11 people murdered in a synagogue, two African-Americans killed by a white supremacist and more than a dozen high-profile Democrats and donors targeted by a serial mail bomber who appears to be a fervent Trump supporter.

The blame game continues despite the fact that CNN has been sent suspicious packages in recent days and five people were gunned down at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, earlier this summer.

Dinner participants acknowledged the tension between each of their roles, and most agreed that a firewall should separate them. Veterans emphasized that the role of reporters is simply to tell the truth, a mission that sometimes upsets activists who struggle to have their stories shared or have their own ideas about how a story should look.

Reporters and editors made clear that while the end result may not always be ideal, they’re constantly fighting behind the scenes to produce under-covered stories and include language that’s often stripped away by copy editors who aren’t comfortable working through stories involving race and culture.

LaTosha Brown, Black Voters Matter

A split emerged when it came to bias among reporters. More experienced journalists upheld objectivity as a basic tenet of journalism, while others made the case for having bias and owning it — like the owners of television networks, TV stations and newspapers. As one millennial put it, having to choose between activism and journalism for her is like having to say whether she’s black or a woman: the two can’t be separated.

Activists said they want journalists to see how an imbalance in the foundation of journalism impacts their work, and they challenged the notion that there are only two sides to any story. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said people of color are often marginalized because stories have always been slanted in favor of the majority.

Brown took issue with the perceived value of a story and highlighted what she called the “sins of sensationalism,” the misconception that black readers only want to see sensational stories. She acknowledged that African-American reporters sometimes don’t want to be pigeonholed into covering the so-called “black” story but asked: “If you don’t take our stories, who’s gonna take our stories?”

“I’m not saying that there’s not other journalists that will, but there is a particular kind of framework and nuance and culture competency that you can capture,” she explained.

Editors noted that newsrooms respond to metrics. So one idea for activists to have a larger impact in media coverage is to promote the stories that do get told. High engagement and social media reach are data reporters and editors can point to when the higher-ups are wary of pursuing a particular story.

Craig Aaron, Free Press

It’s also important that each constituency understands — and learns — what the others do, attendees said. Like journalists, organizers are also trained. They learn how to agitate and interact with systems to transform them but don’t necessarily seek media attention for their work.

“We are oftentimes taught as organizers to not organize for media attention and to be wary of journalists and that our work is not for the sake of being visible or for the sake of the sensational story or anything,” said Charlene Carruthers, an author and strategist. “It’s to drive forth a strategy to achieve a desired change.”

Critics said TV networks’ exclusion of journalists and freelancers who don’t get booked because they don’t work at mainstream publications like The New York Times or Washington Post limits exposure to and muzzles reporters at smaller organizations who are subject-matter experts on local issues and topics they cover. They also lamented that TV networks are dominated by commentary instead of news reporting.

Participants presented a lack of funding as another challenge to storytelling. It’s tough to organize without money, they said, and hard to generate exposure without the proper resources in newsrooms to dig into issues.

The solution to any of these problems is unclear, but attendees believe a step in the right direction is more collaboration with one another and more conversations with the communities they serve. The idea that all three constituencies are working for their respective communities is the common cause that unites them.

Said Woods: “If we have a common interest in the people and principles we serve, then there’s something to be gained from talking across these titles and understanding what we have to offer to one another and testing the boundaries of collaboration.”