altDiversity

With all the talk about newspaper readership shrinking in tough times, and amid lots of handwrining about how the Internet is killing print, one of the elephants in the room is that media that cater to more diverse readerships, as well as specific under-served minority communities, are growing dramatically. At its recent expo in Atlanta New America Media released the results of a new study that should give all “mainstream” and even alt-weekly outlets pause. Here’s just one of the findings:

The number of adults reached by ethnic media has increased by approximately 16 percent during the last four year.

There should come as no major surprise for those who keep up with both demographic and generational trends in the U.S. For one thing, as I talk about elsewhere on this blog, younger media consumers *expect* diversity in their media. They may not want to sit around and discuss diversity all the time — after all, why should you need to *talk* about something so basic!? — but all of the research backs up the obvious: they care about diversity in media. Yes, including young white media consumers.

Our experience here at the Jackson Free Press at least anecdotally (we believe decisively) backs up the idea that today’s media consumers (and advertisers) respond to diverse media (which includes stories, images and advertising messages). Our paper’s revenue has continued to steadily grow, as has our readership. We strongly believe that is in no small part due to our dedication to diversity throughout our newspaper and our Web site. In other words, we believe strongly that diversity is good for business. And all of the studies back us up, so hey.

Business of Diversity, Demographics, Millennials content, Ethnic Media, Millennials, New America Media

I just found this article from 2007 on the Newspaper Association of America site. Called “Finders, Keepers,” it’s relevant to the complaint I often here from alt-weekly editors: When they hire a good staffer of color, the he or she often doesn’t stay long, and either leaves the alt-media world or gets hired away by another publication. Of course, the retention problem applies to all good staffers, and it’s particularly pressing in a world where young workers feel much less loyalty than in generations past. The article has good food for thought for retaining all good workers, as well as employees of color. Not surprisingly the key is communication, with a focus on peer-to-peer straight talk:

To keep employees, Taylor says, companies should continually gather, track and report turnover data, link retention to key performance measures, set retention goals for every leader and reward progress.

In addition, companies should realize that while good pay and benefits still top the list, more workers report that a healthy work environment, schedule flexibility and a fair, supportive and communicative boss are increasingly important, he says.

“It’s not just about pay, but also a work environment that’s fun and engaging and a boss I like as an individual, and who coaches and develops me,” Taylor says. “The leader is a more critical variable: ‘Yes, of course my job matters, but my leader matters, too. And if I work for a jerk, I’m not hanging around.’ ”

Leaders must communicate openly with their staffs and do what they say they will do – every day – to earn employees’ trust and respect. “It’s a continuous process,” he says. “If you continuously miss commitments and not do what you say you’re going to do … you’re going to erode trust over time.”

As for particular problems retaining people of color, the answer is even more communication, instead of less, which is what we too often see:

s for keeping employees of color, he notes that peer-to-peer relationships are a big factor. “Who do people go to first if they’re unhappy at work? Their friends at work,” he says. “So how can you influence those conversations to be constructive, not destructive?

“We train the boss to ask the employee, ‘If I ever do anything that is inappropriate, or if I break your trust, or if something bothers you with your job, would you commit to seeing me first? And I will commit to acting on it,’ ” Taylor adds.

“We also train the boss to say, ‘If any of your colleagues comes to you with a problem, would you please encourage them to come and see me?’ Now we are beginning to influence that peer-to-peer conversation.”

Millennials, Workplace Culture Hiring, Retention, Straight Talk

Listen to a Dec. 5 radio program by Washington state youth about the need for media diversity, including segments about:

* Youth are looking critically at the media and many are not happy with how they are portrayed in the media. Listen to voices of Washington youth speak about what they would like to see and how they would like to change media representation. (Sami Muilenburg, Seattle, WA)
* An interview with Joe Torres, lobbyist for Freepress who speaks about the need for a critical mass of minority voices in our media landscape. (Gavin Dahl, Boise ID)
* KPCN is the only union owned radio station in the Northwest. We listen to the president of Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United speak about how they planned to use their airwaves. (Sue Supriano, Eugene, OR)

Millennials Millennials, Radio