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Shari Graydon from Informed Opinions speaks to journalist in the Toronto Star newsroom on June 11, 2019 about the Star’s project to increase our use of female and diverse sources.
It’s time for media to finally reflect the community it serves
“When an entire group of people is underrepresented in the daily narratives that describe our world, we come away with an incomplete or inaccurate depiction of our reality.”
Shari Graydon from Informed Opinions speaks to journalist in the Toronto Star newsroom on June 11, 2019 about the Star’s project to increase our use of female and diverse sources.
Here is a timely and vital message for Canadian media striving to demonstrate our trustworthiness to our readers and audiences: “You can’t have trust if you don’t have representation.”
That is a key conclusion of a new report called Reflect Reality by United for News, a global coalition of media, NGOs and businesses committed to supporting and sustaining media around the world. This is a report of critical relevance to the Star given its participation in recent months in a pilot project led by this coalition to find strategies to increase female expert sources in the news.
The Star’s project, Mirrored in Media that I told you about last summer, is an ongoing newsroom-wide effort to increase the number of women we quote and cite to 50 per cent and, importantly, to increase the diverse voices overall in the Star.
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On this weekend when we mark International Women’s Day, it bears repeating the dismal fact that globally, only 19 per cent of experts cited in news stories are women, a reality that has changed little over the past two decades. The percentage is somewhat higher in Canada but, by anyone’s measure, the voices of women in Canadian news rarely makes it to 30 per cent.
While I cannot find any global — or even Canadian — measure of the diversity of news sources beyond gender, it’s not overstatement to tell you that most news organizations in North America fail in achieving any significant measure of broad representation of the communities they seek to serve.
In this time when considerable research tells us that news audiences are expressing unprecedented levels of mistrust and downright dismissal of media overall, the Reflect Reality report draws a clear connection between trust and inclusion, stating unequivocally, “Another trend breeding distrust is an enduring lack of diversity and representation in media.
“Around the world, media are continually shown to exclude or misrepresent marginalized and minority groups in the news,” the report states. “This means that many people do not receive information relevant to their experience and circumstances — causing them to disengage and distrust the media.
“While there are many factors needed to restore trust, one key, addressable element is ensuring that news and information reflect the communities they serve,” the report concludes.
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This report also makes clear the business case for news organizations to make greater efforts to be more inclusive, noting, “in the business world, there is mounting research showing a correlation between gender equality and diversity and a company’s financial performance.”
Star Editor Irene Gentle, who, like me, believes strongly in the need for diversity in the news and initiated the Star’s efforts to participate in this project, is one of the global editors the report quotes on this imperative. As she said in the report, “Given that half the potential audience is female, and another half is not white, the question of diverse sources is existential. You will not exist if you cannot reflect the audience.”
Reflect Reality details the Star’s efforts to increase news source diversity and includes the voices of several Star journalists, including me. As well, it provides strategies and best practices from more than two dozen news and individuals from around the world who understand this issue matters beyond journalism.
Indeed, it matters to the way we all perceive the world we inhabit.
Rightly, it makes the connection between equal representation and journalism ethics and accuracy, an issue I have written about in past. As the report puts it so well: “When an entire group of people is underrepresented in the daily narratives that describe our world, we come away with an incomplete or inaccurate depiction of our reality.”
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I would like to tell you I am optimistic this excellent report and the work it details will be the great, big initiative on this issue that will finally make the difference. But I have to fight my cynicism that this problem will ever be solved, given it has been an issue of discussion in journalism and society for so long.
So, I will end with the optimistic words of Jennifer Cobb, director of United for News.
“Imagine for a moment that women experts were fully represented in all media. Women and girls would be empowered and emboldened to fully participate in society, adding untold talent, skills and wisdom to a world that desperately needs them. Culture would shift and adapt as stereotypes are smashed. And the news and information we all consume would be inclusive of diverse voices, rebuilding trust in the critical resource of reputable media.”
We can imagine, yes. We can hope, yes. Better yet, we must do.
Kathy
English is chair of the board of the Canadian Journalism
Foundation and former public editor for the Star.
