RTDNA/Hofstra Study Shows Minority Newsroom Staffing Up, Women Down In 2010

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The RTDNA continues to release findings from its annual RTDNA/HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY study of newsroom staffing, and the latest release by BOB PAPPER is about the increase in minority staffers in radio newsroom and the drop in women working in radio news in 2010.

PAPPER pointed out that "the bigger picture remains unchanged," noting that "in the last 21 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 9.5% ... (but) the minority workforce in radio is actually down from what it was two decades ago."  16.5% of radio newsrooms have minority staffers, with major and large-market stations more likely to be in that category, and minorities make up 7.1% of the news work force, with an average number of minority staffers being 0.2.  3.9% of radio news workers are African-American, 2.6% are Hispanic, and 0.6% are Native American.  Noncommercial radio was a major contributor to the overall number of minorities in newsrooms.

Women made up 22% of the radio news work force, and 31.9% of radio news staffs included women.  The average number of women on staff was 0.8.  The percentage of women on staff and of news directors (10.7%) fell from 2009, which itself was a large drop from 2008.

The numbers for radio GMs were unchanged, with whites making up 94% of the total.  6% were minorities and 18.1% were female.

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