Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 24, 2020

The Tennessean newsroom must typify the changing demographics, not only in Middle Tennessee, but in our country, with an inclusive, diverse and equitable newsroom.

As our countrys demographics evolve, newsroom staffs nationwide need to reflect that change.

We need to become more diverse to mirror the people in communities we cover to be able to tell their stories better.

Since I joined the The Tennessean in December 2011, we have strivento diversify our team as we hire talented journalists.

The Tennessean newsroom must typify the changing demographics, not only in Middle Tennessee, but in our country, with an inclusive, diverse and equitable newsroom.

Celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan, second from left, joins Tennessean staffers (from left) Brad Schmitt, Kyleah Dunn and Juan Buitrago at Prince's Hot Chicken Shack as part of our quest to find the best hot chicken in Nashville.(Photo: Brad Schmitt / The Tennessean)

Over the years, we have welcomeddiversestaff members including LeBron Hill, an opinion and engagement reporter, and Juan Buitrago, a digital producer; andmanagers including Nicole Saavedra, who started as our assistant sports editor andwas promoted recentlyto deputy director of planning, and David Plazas, our opinion and engagement director.

RELATED: A closer look at The Tennessean's newsroom diversity data

Today, atThe Tennesseanand across the USA TODAY Network, we are making a public commitment to increase diversity in our staffing and management by 2025 to make sure our newsrooms and our journalism reflect our diverse communities.

Mirroring the community a media company serves is a long-standing hallmark of a strong newsroom, and something I learned as a young journalist 30 years ago from mentors committed to diversity.

The Middle Tennessee area we serve is 29.6% diverse, while The Tennessean newsroom is 20.9%diverse, so there is work to be done to meet our parity goals by 2025.

The Tennessean's David Plazas, left, and George Walker IV, right, speak during the "Costs of Growth and Change in Nashville" event at the Nashville Public Library in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017.(Photo: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean)

We see the demographic shifts, particularly in Nashville and surrounding counties, with hundreds of newcomers moving here each month.

For example, out of the 81,400 students enrolled in the 2018-19 school year at Metro Nashville Public Schools, 67.5% were Black, Latino or Native American.

Those students represent our future and the changing faceof our community.

To reflect that growing diversity, we have to recruit harder to find people of color, women and LGBTQ journalists.

We have to expand training for our journalists and learn from listening sessions and community town halls, hosted by our newsroom Diversity and Inclusion Task Force,headed by Plazas. For example, later this month The Tennessean will holda training session with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, and in September we will have a session with the Anti-Defamation League.

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We have to continue covering a range of topics, issues and people reflecting the diversity of Middle Tennessee.

From our 2013 series "Because of You" highlighting Nashvilles civil rights leaders to this years profile of Antioch High School student Kim Boih who earned a college scholarship, we need to celebrate national heroes and young role models.

But we also must shine a spotlight on inequities and find solutions as we are doing in our "Dismissed" education series, which included analysis of school suspensions and detailsgrowing racial inconsistencies.

GANNETT NEWS PRESIDENT:: Diversity and inclusion are choices, not just words. Today we reaffirm our mission.

In addition, were continuing The American South, an initiative focused on covering the South as a region but with a focus on people of color and diverse communities.

Our company also is launching Race in America, a new hub on USATODAY.com, to highlight and amplify our work on race and social justice.

Diversity is important in Middle Tennessee, in our company and in our newsroom. It is vital today to publicly acknowledge where we are at and our commitment moving forward.

Maria De Varenneis the executive editor of The Tennessean. Email her at mdevarenne@tennessean.com. Subscribe and support local journalism.

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Tennessean executive editor: We will reflect the diversity of our community in our newsroom - Tennessean

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