ASNE diversity survey: meager participation but progress among those reporting

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The American Society of News Editors released its annual diversity survey. The survey gathers responses from newsrooms that are print and digital-only. It seeks to look at the demographics of participating newsrooms. 

Out of 1,700 newsrooms that were requested to give feedback, 293 responded, which is less than a 20 percent participation rate. ASNE said the participation rate is too low for the results to generate statistical conclusions.

However, the study did find some interesting things.

More digital-only newsrooms participated this year than in 2017, and these newsrooms had more minority and women employees than legacy newsrooms that have been around for decades.

Although these results are encouraging, Karen Magnuson, co-chair of the ASNE diversity committee, hopes that more editors respond because the survey can measure progress.

To keep reading about why diversity is important in the newsroom and to look more closely at the results of the survey, click here.