Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot won’t grant interviews to white journalists. Not to be outdone, journalists at NPR are encouraging their fellow journalists not to interview so many white experts:
Journalism has a problem with source diversity. That's why I am SO proud of this resource. All the experts here are @NPR-vetted. You can search by location or field.
Use it to tell fuller stories. And end each interview with: "Who else should I talk to?" https://t.co/Tv5ja4fSfx— Saeed Ahmed (@saeed_ahmed) May 19, 2021
If you’re a journalist and are thinking of interviewing a source who happens to be white, maybe NPR will get you to reconsider.
Conveniently, you can search for “diverse sources” by state as well as by area of expertise. This way, you’ll be able to more easily avoid talking to white people who also might know a lot about things like … math and science and politics and other issues that pertain to people of all races.
OK, you know, the more we think about this, the less exciting it seems.
My ancestors came from England and Scotland. Would I qualify to be admitted to this? Or would I be excluded because of my ancestry? If it is the latter, then this is a naked case of racism. https://t.co/NxQ87AyckY
— Tom McClellan (@McClellanOsc) May 19, 2021
Why is some discrimination more equal than others?
NPR-vetted experts, foh https://t.co/KZiujXdkko
— 🤗 Peaches & Dawgs (@NewYearsDani) May 19, 2021
I assume no conservative voice invited? https://t.co/W5rOhNpoek
— John Feehery (@JohnFeehery) May 19, 2021
Recommended
Ideological diversity is just not as important in journalism.
You can get the whole range of opinions here – from Left to extreme Left
— David (@dimakat) May 19, 2021
Very special.
Journalism sure does have a problem. It's dead. NPR is just one of many propaganda outfits completely lacking in ideological diversity.
— Tom Kasperski (@TomKaz) May 19, 2021
Umm… Journalism has a problem with integrity and not being a propaganda machine. Not everything is a diversity problem. 🤦♂️
— Wes Orton (@4ever0range) May 19, 2021
To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with seeking out diverse sources. But NPR’s commitment to diversity appears to be all about racial diversity, as though race should be the defining characteristic of a potential source. Don’t intellect and knowledge trump race when seeking out experts? What if the issue in question has nothing to do with race? Isn’t there more to people than race?
If an expert on a particular subject happens to be a person of color, that’s great. But don’t they deserve to be considered based on qualities other than race?
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