NC Diversity Audit

This page was published on 11/28/22

Newsroom diversity has long been recognized as critical to the mission of local news. However, gathering an accurate understanding of diversity in newsrooms has proven a difficult undertaking due to low response rates.

In 2022, Elon University’s NC Local News Workshop and UNC’s Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media partnered on a diversity audit of North Carolina’s newsrooms. The audit is an outgrowth of the Workshop’s Media Equity Project.

Dive into the data Dive into the report

On Thursday, Jan. 12, join us for two webinars on the NC Diversity Audit:

Recordings will be available after these sessions. Please email cislm@unc.edu with any questions.

  • About 70% of staff in participating newsrooms were white, consistent with similar surveys of newsrooms.
  • More than 40% of respondents working at news organizations earn less than $50,000 per year.
  • 30% of respondents said they had some kind of disability, but only a few had sought accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Recommendations for journalism employers
  • Recommendations for journalism support organizations and universities, including journalism schools
  • Recommendations for individual journalists

CISLM Director Erica Beshears Perel and NC Local News Workshop Executive Director Shannan Bowen:

  • Summarize the report and recommendations
  • Recap the high-level findings
  • Highlight where we can go from here.

Any questions about the research or findings?

Reach out to CISLM Research Director Jessica Mahone