• by Melynda Fuller , August 6, 2019

As part of its $300 million initiative focused on strengthening local news and democracy, the Knight Foundation is investing $1.2 million in the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

The numbers speak to the need. The percentage of people of color represented in U.S. newsrooms dropped from 16.94% in 2016 to 16.55% in 2017, while only 13.4% of newsroom leaders in 2017 were people of color.

The Knight investment is intended to help newsrooms strategize solutions to end the diversity crisis. 

“Many news organizations, now eager to build digital subscription or membership programs, have turned their focus to audience engagement, only to find a need to repair broken connections to underserved communities that no longer trust them — a particularly difficult task when newsroom leaders and staff don’t reflect the communities they serve,” LaSharah S. Bunting, director of journalism at Knight Foundation, wrote in Medium.

According to the post, Maynard will launch its Equity and Inclusion Transformation Program with the funds. The program will place specialists in newsrooms to offer guidance about how to “better inform underserved communities and establish more equitable and inclusive workplaces.”

This goal begins by assessing a newsroom’s internal processes, workplace culture, connection to community, hiring and retention rates and leadership-management skills.

Once an assessment has been made, Maynard will work with the outlet to “devise strategies, plans and benchmarks to become more equitable and inclusive, and provide the necessary training and oversight to accomplish this goal.”

Maynard will also use the funds to work with newsroom leaders who are participating in the Knight-Lenfest Newsroom Initiative.

“This is a strong step forward in rethinking how we begin to address the failures in diversity…” Bunting wrote. “A robust, diverse press leads to a more informed and engaged public, and communities ultimately lose out when certain voices and experiences are routinely absent.

"News organizations must make it a priority to look inward and commit to solving diversity through strategic efforts that lead to transformative change.”