Diversity: Racial politics at college newspapers

Justin Elliott, former executive editor of the Brown Daily Herald, has a provocative post on Campus Progress.org about the racial politics of college newspapers.

Elliott says that college papers tend to be staffed mostly by well-off white and Asian students and that the lack of diversity can sometimes lead to editorial blunders.

"Why do these editorial mistakes follow from the lack of diversity on staff?" he writes. "Because in campus journalism, where there are few press releases, word of mouth is everything. Thus when the campus paper is run by students from a certain demographic, coverage tends to mirror the concerns and perspectives of that demographic."

The post has attracted a lot of interesting comments. Check it out.

Also for tips on changing the makeup of your college newspaper staff, check out our earlier post, Diversify your newsroom.