Revisiting the Courier & Press’ diversity pledge in 2022 – Courier & Press

Once a year, Gannett asks its local newsrooms (including the Courier & Press) to update readers on a 2020 pledge the news organization made to better reflect its communities.

At the Courier & Press, our 2022 diversity report is a mixed bag. Our racial make-up 92 percent white and 8 percent Black represent the largest two segments of what Census data says is Evansville's population (86 percent and 6 percent, respectively).

When it comes to gender diversity, the Courier & Press falls short. Last year, our newsroom was one-third women, and that fell in 2022 to just over one-fourth.

More:Gannett newsrooms making steady progress in overall diversity

Two departures from our leadership ranks over the past 12 months, including Cindi Andrews' move to senior news director at the Indianapolis Star, have left us without women in management roles. Andrews was the first female executive editor in our newspaper's history.

When we've had career opportunities open at the Courier & Press, we have pushed to make sure we explore a diverse, deep pool of talent to fill each role. Still, as with many industries, local journalism has dealt with upheaval in the labor market and the accompanying worker shortages.

But we'll keep working at it. Different perspectives and different backgrounds help us see issues in more ways. That leads to a clearer picture, which we can then, hopefully, present to you as more effective (and more accurate) community journalism.

Evansville Courier & Press:2022 newsroom diversity snapshot

Those of us working in the Courier & Press newsroom today know that the concept of diversity stretches across several categories race, ethnicity, age, gender andthought and we need to reflect those differences in our coverage.

We have a journalist on staff whose role is to examine culture and diversity in the community, a position that we created in 2021. It has helped us to be more intentional in our approach to examining issues that affect people of color and others who may feel underrepresented in local media.

Tri-State diversityTri-State's racial makeup is changing. The 'why' is complicated.

As Andrews wrote in last year's update, and I wholeheartedly support: "Ultimately, we want to know that we're writingfor,notabout,various segments of the population."

You'll notice we still run few jailhouse mug shots. That's a policy that seems like an even wiser choice now after a local sheriff told the Courier & Press that he considered mug shots to be for "entertainment value" and that he arbitrarily removed the mug shot of a government body's attorney following his June arrest.

Know that whatever progress we makeor don't makein our reporting, hiring and reflection of our community, we will report back to you about it in a year.

We are accountable to you.

Ryan Reynolds is interim editor of the Courier & Press. You can reach him via email at ryan.reynolds@courierpress.com or follow him on Twitter, @ryanreynolds.

Read the original post:

Revisiting the Courier & Press' diversity pledge in 2022 - Courier & Press