While many newspapers across the country appear to be making efforts to bring more minorities into the ranks, newly released data from the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) shows that for non-white journalists, still hired at a fraction of the rate of white reporters, retention is critical because their base is significantly smaller to begin with.

Last month, ASNE released its 26th annual census of daily newspapers showing that in 2002, 489 minority reporters were hired as compared to 1,786 white reporters. By the end of last year, while less than half of the non-white staffers (201) left their posts, the white reporting staff lost numbers that nearly equalled those hired (1,770). However, with 90 percent of all U.S. newsrooms staffed predominantly by whites and 40 percent of the newsrooms having no minority staff at all, the exodus of white reporters does not raise the same level of concern at ASNE. On the other hand, officials at ASNE who advocate racial parity in newsrooms across the country, say that even though this year’s numbers indicate slight improvements in non-white hiring and retention, if just a handful of minority journalists leave, the impact on the newsroom is much greater and the goals for parity that much harder to achieve.

"Retention has been the primary focus of the ASNE news committee over the past three years," says David Yarnold, ASNE diversity chairman and editor and senior vice president of the San Jose Mercury News. "We’ve learned that journalists of color leave the newsroom more often than white journalists because they don’t feel the newspapers share their same values. We’ve got to make sure that journalists of color have access to the opportunities to cover important stories; that they have strong relationships with senior management so they are not rendered invisible; and that they are encouraged to bring their diverse points of view to their work."

The Inquirer and the Daily News fared reasonably well in the ASNE survey, with both papers among the 200 papers nationwide where the composition of the staff most closely reflects the community it serves. But even though he supervises a staff of nearly 500 professional journalists, Inky editor and senior vice president Walker Lundy says that only two members of senior management are non-whites. He does say, however, that a recent increase in the number of minority reporters is now reflected in the paper’s content.

"Last year, we did quite a bit of hiring and diversity was in the forefront of our effort," Lundy says. Of 53 new hires, 15 were black, Latino or Asian. In total, minorities comprise 18 percent of the Inky editorial staff (not including clerical workers). "I think the readers judge us on what they see in the paper. Our minority readers can now look at our paper on a regular basis and see themselves in the stories."

Arlene Morgan, a former Inky assistant managing editor, currently oversees the "Let’s Do It Better" workshop at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. The workshop, says Morgan, is designed to highlight newspaper articles that present minority issues as an integral part of overall reporting. Hiring more minorities at newspapers is admirable, Morgan says, but it’s the content -- not the numbers -- that speak to a publication’s failure or success.

"Retention in the newsrooms [for non-whites] is not good and I believe that’s because of the culture of the newsrooms," she says. "Our objective [in the workshops] is to train white editors to recognize their leadership responsibilities. We believe that’s where the problem is. Black reporters feel that if they seek out stories that reflect their sensibilities they’ll be pigeonholed or accused of having an agenda. But they should have the right to do stories about their communities with the same integrity as white reporters who are doing stories about their communities."

George Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Inc., and the only African-American reporter of the 700 accredited press corps members invited to daily briefings at U.S. Central Command headquarters during Operation Iraqi Freedom, says that too often black reporters in predominantly white newsrooms don’t get rewarded, despite their skills and years of training.

"There’s an enormous number of African-American journalists with 30 years’ experience or more who are being chased out of the business because they don’t advance commensurate with their skills," Curry says. "As a result, they are not getting the opportunity to run large corporations. While the ASNE survey does show increases in some areas, there’s really nothing to applaud. Nearly half the newspapers in the United States still don’t have any African Americans on their staffs -- at all."