National data released last month by the Canadian Association of Journalists on newsroom composition shows that 78% of journalists identify as white, 4.6% as indigenous and 17.5% as visible minorities.

Conducted between March and August 2022, the survey is based on voluntary responses from 242 print, radio, television and digital media outlets, representing a total of 5,012 journalists.

According to the report, about eight in 10 newsrooms had no reporters who identified as Latino, Middle Eastern or Métis, and eight in 10 had no Black or Indigenous reporters. Nearly eight in ten companies also said they had no visible minority or indigenous representatives in their top three management positions.

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) acknowledges in the report that the data and the snapshot it provides have limitations — including the fact that not all newsrooms participated in the survey and that the data on affiliation for about a quarter of Respondents were unknown journalists.

John Miller, a professor emeritus at the Metropolitan University of Toronto who has campaigned for greater diversity in newsrooms for two decades, said he was disappointed with the poll results — which are “as devastating as last year’s.

“The responsibility lies with the heads of the various media, who need to understand that our population is constantly changing, and they too need to change to respond to society, where it is in terms of demographics,” he said in a recent interview .

Brian Daly, assistant professor of journalism at the University of King’s College, Halifax, agrees. “It’s just a matter of common sense. […] People of color will not want to buy a product if they don’t identify with it. »

” Do as I say… ”

The ACJ believes news organizations should be transparent about the composition of their newsrooms, as many of them “regularly report on the diversity of cabinet members and companies”. He also notes that similar data has been collected in the United States since 1978.

“The media should start doing the right thing before they tell society as a whole,” said Professor Miller.

There are more men than women in senior newsroom positions: 54.3% of top newsroom editors identify as male, 44.3% as female, and 1.3% as nonbinary.

Meanwhile, 83% of supervisors identify as White, compared to 2.7% Black, 3.5% Indigenous and 5.5% Asian, the poll shows.

The report also finds that diversity is higher among part-time workers and interns.

Andrea Baillie, Editor of The Canadian Press, said the results of this survey showed there was still work to be done.

“The Canadian press has taken various initiatives to add new perspectives to our newsrooms; it’s a top priority, she says. The diversity of our workforce is slowly changing, but we need to retain new hires, make sure they are heard and move them into leadership roles. »

CAJ President Brent Jolly says one of the biggest challenges in creating change is fighting this ingrained bias that hiring teams may have.

“Often people hire people who are like them. It’s very well documented,” he said, hoping the ACJ’s investigation “will serve as a call to action for those responsible.”

Peter Uduehi is a journalist and editor of African World News; He works in Toronto.