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MODULE 3 WHAT IS DIVERSITY AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

To define journalistic opportunities that will lead to more diverse coverage.

Despite our differences - ethnic, political, age, gender, religious, or economic - we are all members of the communities in which we live and work; we all wish to be considered members of the greater community.

It is the common threads of our lives that diversity coverage is designed to address. Doing so engenders understanding, tolerance, and a cohesive community structure with room for debate, disagreement, and even discord with an underlying value of respect for the differences among individuals, groups, and communities. If people don't see themselves in the media, they will not come to see themselves as a part of the community in which they live. If journalists are to cover the entire community, they must develop ways to ensure that all members of the community are reflected in the coverage. For example, recent history shows that the reporting of government policy without providing room for diverse voices to be heard regarding those policies has fed racism, sectarianism, and ethnic hatred in many nations.

Leader asks: What are the critical issues of diversity that you believe are not covered by the news media?

The seminar leader should write all responses on large sheets of paper in a place that all participants can see.

The seminar leader can ask the group to provide recent examples of how the media have helped to strengthen or weaken communities through their coverage. Examples may be local or from Rwanda, the Near East, Canada, Western Europe, etc. In addition, the seminar leader should probe for specifics regarding the reporting that contributed, ultimately, to strife and warfare. The seminar leader should also make the point that the historical connection to the conflicts provides a backdrop that is formidable to overcome if the media's only recourse are stories about the strife, its history, and the politics of both the conflict and any efforts toward reconciliation.

First, we must step back from the clashes and conflicts and take a look at everyday life. The seminar leader must reach back to the previous module and remind the participants that strong diversity coverage begins with the coverage of everyday life. We are looking for ways to include all people in regular, everyday coverage in the most basic way. For example, if people begin to read names that are identifiably from non-majority ethnic groups - names of women, names of persons who are from different racial or religious groups - they will begin to feel that they are a part of the national dialogue and debate.

Once the media has expanded its use of sources from various groups, when the news media tackle topics which squarely address social conflict, the credibility of the news media will grow as the readers and viewers recognize that there is an interest in including the views and experiences of all segments of the community.

Many newspapers and broadcast organizations, whether in Europe, Africa, Asia, or the Americas, have for decades served primarily as the arm of reporting what the government has decided and how those decisions will be carried out. In the model of inclusive, diversity journalism, the government statement takes a back seat to telling the story of how government policy and practice has an impact on various members of the community. The journalist works to allow voices from the community to tell the story of government action or inaction.

Once those voices from within the community are heard, we enhance our ability to include larger numbers of people in the debate; the media becomes a forum for the debate that may, over time, allow society to solve its problems in the interest of all its members.

To start, the seminar leader should ask the participants to provide a list of subjects that reflect everyday life. Examples to help elicit discussion:

• Health
• Education
• Personal finance
• Children and their development
• Religion or faith

The seminar leader should have examples of news stories from some of these categories to provide to the participants. Using those articles as the basis of analysis, discuss how the stories could have been expanded to include more elements of society - by age, ethnic group, disability, gender.

Example: A story on prenatal health care. Are there any doctors who are from minority or ethnic groups? Are there women who are doctors as well as patients? Are there any religious issues that need to be considered when discussing prenatal care? Who could have been used to create a sense of inclusion in a story on this topic? How would you locate those diverse sources?

If 30 per cent of the population in your community is made up of women between 25 years of age and 40 years of age, What possible impact might that fact have on coverage?

A few answers to help spark the discussion:

These are women who are of childbearing age. They will be interested in matters of health and education as well as information regarding parenting strategies. They will be interested in developing government policies related to health, education and welfare and will want to know how those policies will affect their every day lives.

Leader asks: Are there any other subjects that they might be interested in? Note that this segment of the population's interests will shift once they are no longer of childbearing age. Once they pass childbearing age, what might they be interested in? The seminar leader should suggest that the participants use their own lives as benchmarks for discussion along the following lines.

Are these subjects covered in your newspaper, radio or television broadcasts? How frequently and how would you evaluate the quality of the coverage? What would you do to add content to your news reports that would meet the information needs of this particular group? By considering the information needs of this group are you also providing information of interest to men?

Bear in mind that deciding areas of interest for particular groups does not necessarily mean that others will be excluded.

If 20 percent of your community population is over 65 years of age: What possible impact might this data have on coverage?

A few answers to help spark the discussion:

Travel and leisure activity; personal finances (making ends meet after one is no longer working); planning for retirement; health concerns. What other information about this group would be helpful in your efforts to provide coverage of interest to this group of people? Do they travel? Does the travel focus on particular areas of the country or neighboring countries? Does the travel depend upon the ethnic background of the people in this category? Does it depend upon the economic status of the people in this category?

If the demographics indicate that 30 percent of the people in the area are under 25 years of age: What possible impact might this data have on coverage?

A few answers to help spark discussion:

The Arts (particularly music); personal finances; health and well being. What other information about the interests of this group might be necessary to determine whether there are areas of coverage that the newspaper should be aware of or should consider increasing? Sports and leisure activities? Relationships? Does your newspaper cover these topics?

The leader should use examples from the review of participants' newspapers and broadcast samples to expand on the focus of this module. The questions can be very specific as related to the ethnicity, age and gender issues within any country or region where the seminar is held.

Workshop Exercise:

The participants are divided into groups of four. Each participant takes the newspaper, radio or television broadcast of another participant and reviews the news product to ask questions about representation of key constituents based upon anecdotal demographic information shared amongst participants. As the participants ask each other questions about the diversity of their audience and the news product, an informal demographic profile is provided based upon what is said. Each participant should take notes during the discussion for reporting back to the entire group.

Anecdotal demographic profile.

What information is not known that would help determine whether the newspaper is covering all segments of the community.

The results of the review and the small group discussion are presented to the entire workshop. Notes should be taken regarding areas needing improvement to increase diversity coverage for discussion during a later module.