‘Apartheid newsroom’: minority ethnic journalists still locked out of top jobs, report finds

‘Apartheid newsroom’: minority ethnic journalists still locked out of top jobs, report finds Exclusive: Survey suggests journalists from minority ethnic backgrounds feel excluded from influential posts and seen as ‘diversity hires’ Broadcast journalists from ethnic minorities are still locked out of top jobs and face a backlash after being perceived as “diversity hires”, according to a survey of UK television newsrooms. While there has been a sustained focus on racial diversity among Britain’s biggest broadcasters in recent years, the study concluded it had been “performed rather than embedded”, leaving minority ethnic journalists feeling excluded from influential posts and resented by colleagues. The report, commissioned by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and co-authored by Rohit Kachroo, ITV News’s global security editor, based its findings on a survey of 80 journalists, with follow-up interviews. “For many, the result has been stagnation, frustration, and in some cases exit from the industry,” the report said. “Yet even as racially minoritised staff report only limited progress, many are now experiencing a backlash from some white colleagues who believe they have lost out because of diversity, expressed through resentment, resistance, and attempts to roll back these efforts.” While interviewees acknowledged the programmes improved access, others said they felt such schemes had been implemented in ways that left them exposed to stigma as a “diversity hire”. One of the respondents, who said they had not benefited from a scheme, said: “The opposite if anything. People assume you’re a diversity hire when you’re there on hard work and merit. It’s a double-edged sword.” Another said: “It’s like an apartheid newsroom. You look left and there’s disproportionately too many people [of colour] because everyone’s on the lower rung. And you look on the other side, it’s like, everyone’s almost white.” One senior journalist said: “I work for one of the biggest ne...