TV And Radio Minority Hiring Increases: RTDNA Report

TV And Radio Minority Hiring Up

Minority hiring in TV news and radio increased in 2012, according to a new survey from the Radio and Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).

The report, written by Bob Papper, stated that the total number of minorities working in television news increased by an entire percent from 2011, to 21.5 percent. Minorities working in radio increased more than four percent from 2011, to a total of 11.7 percent.

As in past years, Fox affiliates had the overall highest percentage of minority employees (28.2 percent) and NBC affiliates had the lowest (17.4 percent).

While minorities employed in television increased, the picture remained mostly unchanged for women, except in the TV news director category. Women account for more than 30 percent of the nation's TV news directors, a new record.

The study also found that Asian American women outnumber their male counterparts by almost 2:1 in television news. Asian Americans account for 2.9 percent of the television news workforce, a statistic that dropped since 2011.

The percentage of African American and Latino employees in television rose slightly to 10.2 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. There were larger gains for both minority groups in radio. African American employees in radio rose from 3.9 to 5.2 percent since 2011. Latino employees in radio increased by two percent since 2011, to 4.6 percent.

In radio, market size largely impacted the percentage of minority employees. A total of 2.7 percent of radio staffers were minorities in the smallest radio markets, and a total of 19.3 percent in the largest. As in television, stations in the West and South were the most diverse.

Despite increases in radio and television, Papper wrote that the larger picture has not changed for minorities:

In the last 22 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 10.4%; but the minority workforce in TV news is up 3.7%, and the minority workforce in radio is up 0.9%.

Click over to the RTDNA website to read the full report.

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