Editorial: Highlander’s diversity report

Prioritizing accurate student representation

Every year, Highlander addresses a multitude of stories regarding race, gender, and culture through hundreds of articles implementing student body voices.

Strong levels of diversity are central in any newsroom to represent the voices of its readers and uphold honest, holistic reporting; Highlander is no different. By analyzing journalism student demographics compared to the overall Carlmont breakdown, we discovered multiple areas our publication can improve.

Based on school-wide data, the percentage of white staff members was nearly proportional to white Carlmont students, standing at about 47.6% and 49.5%, respectively. Asian students make up 33.8% of our current journalism staff compared to the 22.3% Asian students enrolled in Carlmont overall.

While the percentage of white students in journalism is proportional to the Carlmont population, they make up the largest demographic of the Highlander staff. In the overall comparison of Carlmont demographic data, two racial/ethnic groups are also disproportionately underrepresented within the journalism program. For instance, Hispanic/Latino students only make up 6% of the staff despite making up 14.3% of the total Carlmont population.

Although our articles covered a wide range of diverse cultural topics and traditions last year, we still lacked an even representation of student body voices. In our past February issue, we highlighted Black voices by sharing their stories in the center spread. Unfortunately, it was evident that a united effort to make Black voices heard was limited outside of that one issue.

Given there are no Black journalism students in the program, it is clear that sources in each article must aim to cover a broader range of the student population, particularly underrepresented groups. Ultimately, it should not be a one-time effort to make these voices heard.

Highlander still has work to do in other areas of student diversity. Only two of Highlander’s editorial board members are male, while ten are female and one is nonbinary. While female journalism students tend to come into leadership positions within Highlander at a much higher rate, the publication would benefit from a more balanced range of perspectives.

Beyond this, the Highlander editorial board observed that writers tend to interview peers in their same grade level. This practice leads to upperclassmen making up a disproportionate demographic of student sources. Freshmen and sophomores are consequently interviewed less, which is a factor we must challenge for the sake of providing diverse perspectives.

Publications must be balanced, accurate, and diverse. But if we are not representative of the populations they serve, how can we uphold that commitment?

Highlander is dedicated to being a well-rounded and inclusive publication that properly reflects Carlmont’s student body. However, it is clear that we still have more work to do to improve representation. The journey to gain a diverse range of student voices starts with recruitment and targeting a broad range of classes, clubs, and organizations in which freshmen are involved. Reaching out to underrepresented groups to engage with the media arts program would set the publication on a strong path toward diversity. Intentional outreach will be vital in creating balanced articles with a wide range of sources.

The journey to improve diversity in journalism starts at the student level. With enough momentum, the changes Highlander makes as a student newsmagazine will eventually translate beyond the high school level as we move into the professional world of journalism.

As a community-based publication, we encourage our readers to reach out regarding any future topics they hope to be covered within upcoming issues.