Diversity may not happen in school journalism if you’re not intentional.

The student body at Santa Clara (Calif.) High School speaks five different languages with no one ethnic group surpassing 50 percent. Maya Suryaraman, teacher/adviser to The Roar school newspaper, strives to weave sensitivity and diversity awareness into the very fabric of the school newspaper.

“It’s ridiculous at this point in time not to reflect diversity; increasingly we are a multi-diverse nation,” she said. “I just think a student’s ethnicity brings a different experience to the table. I recruit students personally to bring diversity to staff of The Roar. A diverse staff naturally brings a diverse product.”

Diversity is a pressing issue for major media, evidenced in a report on the future of diversity in the news conducted by The American Society of News Editors. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the report, posted in April 2012, saw it as a 21st century imperative to ensure that all of America’s communities are covered accurately and thoroughly through media members of all ethnicities.

“Commitment to reflecting the total community has to be as much of our industry’s standard of excellence as First Amendment principles,” said Karen Magnuson, co-chair of the ASNE Diversity Committee and editor and vice president of News of The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

Steve Elliott, the founding director of Cronkite News Service’s print and digital journalism program at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, said, he makes consideration of diversity in all of its forms part of his operations manual, syllabus and grading rubric. He also distributes and explains the Maynard Institute’s Fault Lines and includes discussions about diversity when going through article ideas, potential sources for articles, how articles were reported and how articles are written.

“Key questions in these discussions include: Are we perpetuating any stereotypes? Are we reporting in a way that accurately encompasses the diversity of our community, including casting as wide a net as we possibly can in terms of sources?” he said.

This is something he began as Arizona bureau chief for The Associated Press, which partnered with the Maynard Institute on a project to promote diversity in coverage.

“I find it is even more valuable applied to journalism by students because it makes diversity part of teaching,” Elliott said. “As for high schools, I can see these discussions promoting diversity within a campus because you’re dealing with a defined group with common interests.”

Cody Roberts teacher/adviser for Blue & Gold school newspaper and online publications dailybuffalo.org and milby.org in Houston, said diversity only works if it is embraced.
“Our school embraces the cultural differences, then as students become adults they can respect the differences,” said Roberts, whose student body is composed of 90 percent Latino and 10 percent African American.

Roberts said students get involved building diversity awareness through monthly cultural celebrations such as Black History, Women’s History, Asian History and Hispanic History months.

“I think cultural diversity is educational in itself,” he said. “Those events, as well as AIDS Awareness Week and the Gay Straight Alliance are given coverage in the
Blue & Gold.”

“I want them to be able to interact with anyone without having to stereotype him or her,” Roberts said.

Robin Phillips, the digital director for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, at the Cronkite School said, “diversity expands people’s worlds.”

“You must be intentional to be inclusive,” she said. “People want news, information, connection and to hear from trusted sources.”

Phillips said she is intentional with diversity by linking to blogs or websites to get different perspectives, something that can be done with school publications.

“Social media directly connects to students, parents, faculty and staff,” she said. “Have your students make a blog, take a survey, get an expansive viewpoint.”

“You cannot structure diversity,” said Eduardo Bernal, senior reporter for
La Voz Arizona, a Spanish language weekly with a circulation of 65,000. “It should be natural and organic,” he said.

Bernal said the study cultural aesthetics of art, music and history builds sensitivity and awareness of diversity.

“Read local papers, discuss and critique news articles, read!” Bernal said.

“You must be deliberate, to bring diversity to your staff,” said Retha Hill, executive director of digital innovation at the Cronkite School. “Talk to the parents of students you want to recruit, let them know that journalism improves verbal skills, broadens their child’s knowledge of current events. Diversity should be reflected in your content. Look at your staff and see who is missing and aggressively recruit, they’re there. Get out there and beat the bushes.”

Before teaching, Suryaraman was a journalist for 15 years, largely doing education reporting at the San Jose Mercury News. She was influenced by her former managing editor, David Yarnold, who championed diversity in the newsroom and product. The paper did a diversity audit, and the results were shared with staff.

“Next year I would like to do a diversity audit,” Suryaraman said. “Because it works!”