The Observer Staff Diversity Report Fall 2021

Staff Diversity Report Fall 2021

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Letter From the Editors Notes on Data Collection Statistics Key Insights Recommendations

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Letter From the Editors Dear Reader, The Fordham Observer’s mission statement to be “the student voice of Lincoln Center” is not fully attainable unless our content and newsroom can accurately reflect the diversity of our campus. As we currently stand, they do not.

This is why we are releasing the Staff Diversity Report, as the first step in a long process of reexamining the current makeup of our staff and structures at The Observer, so that we can take active steps toward this mission. Only transparency can breed accountability, and it is only by acknowledging where we are that we can take steps to get to where we need to be.

As an industry, journalism has historically lacked diversity. We believe our job as editors is to proactively correct this. By creating an inclusive space and instituting equitable systems, we can empower a diverse range of student journalists to pursue what they love and to cover Fordham University in its totality. In this report, you will find a transparent examination of t he diversity of our staff — examined along lines of ethnicity, sexuality, financial need and other factors — as well as a reflection on our efforts to move toward a more equitable newsroom and newspaper.

One of the most glaring disparities in the makeup of The Observer e-board is that there are no students who identify as Black or African American, while students of white and Asian descent are over-represented.

Diversity Reports are an emerging trend among student publications across the country. We owe a particular debt to The Daily Northwestern at Northwestern University; The Daily Orange at Syracuse University; The Minnesota Daily at the University of Minnesota; and The Flat Hat at the College of William and Mary for their examples and leadership. Our efforts are not complete, and by releasing this report, our goal is to track our progress on an annual basis so that we can make diversity, equity and inclusion an integral part of The Observer’s mission. Thank you for reading.

Best, Katrina Lambert | Editor-in-Chief

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Notes on Data Collection As a student newspaper with club status with the Office for Student Involvement at Lincoln Center, The Observer’s Diversity Report highlights the demographics of its e-board. This includes the editors (both full and assistant) who direct our coverage, in addition to team members that focus on maintaining The Observer’s operations (Business, IT). The statistics below were compiled using an internal Qualtrics survey during the period of October 18-29. The survey was sent to 39 people, 35 of whom submitted responses. This is a staff participation rate of 89.7%.

Not all respondents answered all questions, leading to a variable number of choice counts per individual question.

Students are elected to The Observer’s e-board during elections that are hosted during the spring and the fall. During spring elections, an entirely new e-board is elected, including a new Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor. Fall elections are used to fill empty positions, largely those of assistants. Special elections are held as needed to fill positions due to resignations or time-sensitive vacancies.

Due to the structure of The Observer’s elections, the majority of The Observer’s e-board (21/39) is composed of the Class of 2023. If an editor is elected to a position in the spring, their term runs from April to May of the following year. As such, this Diversity Report largely reflects data from e-board elections held in the spring of 2 021.

From April 2021 to October 2021, three members of The Observer’s e-board resigned from their positions, and as such their demographic data is not reflected here. I n addition, four students joined The Observer’s e-board between April 2021 to October 2021 due to vacancies. While they were not elected as part of our spring elections, their data is reflected in this report.

The Observer is composed primarily of students at Fordham Lincoln Center, more specifically Fordham College at Lincoln Center. While this was not included as a question in the survey, three out of the 39 members of The Observer’s e-board are students at Fordham College at Rose Hill. Four out of the 39 members are students at the Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center.

In our report, we seek to compare the makeup of our data to the makeup of Fordham University. Comparison data is pulled from Fordham Fast Facts (https://www.fordham.edu/info/20088/fordham_facts).

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Fordham University: • 57.3% Women • 42.7% Men • No data provided on nonbinary students or students who identify in other ways.

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Respondents could choose more than one response for this question.

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Respondents could choose more than one response for this question.

Fordham University • 67.0% White • 12.2% Asian • 4.4% Black/African American

• 0% American Indian/Alaskan • 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

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Fordham University • 16.3% Hispanic/Latino

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These are the individual responses of the seven respondents who answered "Yes" to the question on page 10.

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Financial Aid - What levels of financial aid do you qualify for?

Please select all that apply.

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8 27 14 3

Pell Grant

None

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Would prefer not to disclose

Fordham non-need-based academic scholarship Fordham need-based academic scholarship Fordham need-based grant

Work study

Direct unsubsidized loans

Subsidized loans

Field

Choice Count

Subsidized loans

9

Fordham need-based grant

8

Direct unsubsidized loans

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Work study

3

Fordham need-based academic scholarship

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Fordham non-need-based academic scholarship (Dean's Grant, National Merit/National Hispanic Recognition

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Program Scholarship, etc.)

Would prefer not to disclose

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None

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Pell Grant

2

Respondents could choose more than one response for this question.

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Socioeconomics - Do you hold a (non-work study) paid job or internship? This does NOT include jobs held as a part of a work study program, but DOES include non-work study jobs held at Fordham University. This also does NOT include unpaid internships.

44.12%

55.88%

Yes

No

Would prefer not to disclose

Choice Count

#

Field

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Yes

44.12%

15

2

No

55.88%

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3

Would prefer not to disclose

0.00%

0 34

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Key Insights In general, women make up a greater share of The Observer’s e-board than men when compared to the makeup of Fordham University. Students who identify as nonbinary or other comprise approximately 10% of The Observer's e-board.

The percentage of Observer e-board members who identified as LGBTQ+ was 29.41%, while 64.71% identified as straight.

White and Asian students are overrepresented on The Observer’s e-board compared to the demographics of Fordham University.

White students comprise 72.97% of The Observer's e-board, whereas 67.0% of Fordham University undergraduate students identify as such. Asian students comprise 18.92% of The Observer's e-board, while only 12.2% of Fordham undergraduate students identify as such. In this report, The Observer did not ask students to identify if they were international or domestic students, and hence our results do not distinguish between the groups.

Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino students comprise 5.41% and 20.59% of The Observer's e-board, respectively, compared to 0.1% and 16.3% of Fordham University undergraduates as a whole.

The Observer underrepresents Black students compared to the makeup of Fordham University, with 0 Observer e-board members identifying as Black. Black students comprise 4.4% of the Fordham University undergraduate population, according to Fordham's publicly released information.

Almost a quarter of Observer e-board members consider having a paid job or paid internship, including a work-study role, as necessary to maintaining their current livelihood. Seven said that they hold more than one such role.

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Recommendations 1. Expand the Demographics Included in the Diversity Report a. This first iteration of The Observer’s Diversity Report focused on sexuality and gender, race and ethnicity, and financial circumstances.

Future iterations would be well apprised to include questions on commuters vs. residents, international vs. domestic students, and firstgeneration students vs. non-first-generation students. If possible, the report should also attempt to analyze the makeup of its contributors (non-e-board members).

2. Include Reporting and Coverage in the Diversity Report a. This first iteration of The Observer’s Diversity Report focused on the demographics of its e-board. Following the example of The Minnesota Daily and The Daily Orange, future iterations of The Observer’s diversity report should include analysis of the breadth and quality of its coverage of marginalized populations and groups.

3. Explore Compensation of The Observer's E-Board a. With a quarter of The Observer's editors considering having a paid job or paid internship necessary to maintaining their current livelihood, The Observer should continue pursuing opportunities to compensate members of its e-board for their work on the paper, either monetarily or through academic or internship credit. Currently, Observer e-board members receive no academic credit or financial compensation for their work on the paper, making the club a difficult work option for students with other commitments.

4. Lessen Time Commitment of The Observer's E-Board a. The structure of The Observer entails a significant time commitment.

This has been to the detriment of its members and the ability of the club to recruit from the campus community. To benefit commuters and students with other obligations, The Observer should continue to reduce time commitments that prevent student involvement.

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Page template design by Owen Roche. All graphs made by Qualtrics. Design by Grace Getman.

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