A diverse staff is immensely important to a newsroom. As such, the ODYSSEY Media Group has worked to recruit a diverse group of individuals from our feeder middle schools. “Recruitment is an ongoing process for us, and as such, we are committed to continually creating a staff environment that is representative of all aspects of our school community,” the OMG’s Diversity and Representation Statement states. Illustration by Sam Harwell, Graphic by Lea D’Angelo
Diversity and representation are crucial importance for modern-day media organizations, which is why the ODYSSEY has taken steps to ensure they are codified into our policies.
Media coverage of diversity, equity and inclusion has skyrocketed in the past century.
Today, the media is a large part of what makes the acronym DEI universally known (and unfortunately, controversial). One needs only to type the three letters into the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Associated Press websites to see a cascade of articles discussing the topic.
But while there are articles aplenty written by the media about DEI, rarely are there articles written about the media’s implementation of those ideas.
In fact, a February report from the Nieman Lab showed that graduates of Ivy League universities were “wildly overrepresented” in the New York Times’ newsroom. This created an obvious blindspot in the published content from the country’s largest media organization.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have become more crucial in modern-day media organizations and it has become clear that more is needed when it comes to representation. In keeping with this, the ODYSSEY Media Group has developed our first Diversity Statement to guide our coverage. “Journalism is a powerful medium. It has the ability to uplift voices, make change and bring accountability to those in power. It’s important that we, the ODYSSEY Media Group, as the student news organization for Clarke Central High School and the broader Athens community, use this medium purposefully,” The Diversity and Repersentation Statement states. Graphic by Lea D’Angelo
Moreover, there is little public information regarding the equitability of media organizations’ areas coverage – taking the New York Times as an example again, their diversity statement focuses on their already unrepresentative staff makeup far more than the areas they cover.
Put simply, more is needed from media organizations concerning representation within their work.
In that spirit, the ODYSSEY Media Group has recently updated and implemented our policies concerning DEI and representation. We did this so you, our readers, understand our coverage goals and the place we want to be as an organization.
Firstly, the ODYSSEY has developed our first Diversity Statement, which is complete with goals for not only our staff makeup, but for our stakeholders, coverage and recruitment. This document guides our reporting as we consider best practices for our coverage.
Secondly, the ODYSSEY has created a new position to ensure the accuracy and purpose of our stories. Peter Atchley is the ODYSSEY’s first-ever Diversity and Representation Editor, and he is tasked with overseeing our coverage to ensure it meets our outlined expectations.
“More is needed from media organizations concerning representation within their work.”
We welcome feedback on our new policies and encourage you to read and understand them for yourselves – full versions can be found at odysseynewsmagazine.net. You can contact us for feedback at editors@odysseynewsmagazine.net.
We understand that representation is an ongoing process that will never be perfect. However, we want to be fully transparent so you understand the purpose behind every story, every layout and every photo on the page.
