Recruiting for inclusion: a guide for media organisations

This is a lightly edited version of an article that first appeared on Inclusive Journalism Cymru and has been republished with permission

Salary ranges dependent on experience. Workplaces with no accessible facilities. All (cis, hetero, white, able-bodied, middle-class) male newsrooms. When does inequality begin in the workplace and how can we counter some of its effects?

Even as media organisations continue to devise bespoke diversity schemes for early career applicants, stories still abound that reflect the tensions between the sector's stated goodwill and on-the-ground realities encountered by journalists, who are often either driven to burnout or out of the sector altogether.

It may not be possible to reform the media sector in one fell swoop, but simply involving candidates from minority groups or individuals cannot, on its own, hold the key to change: instead, the process has to start with the gatekeepers themselves, and this is what we have tried to show in this guide for media organisations.

We are just beginning to understand the picture of the journalism sector in Wales, not least thanks to work like the recent exercise in Mapping Public Interest Journalism published by Cardiff University in partnership with Inclusive Journalism Cymru. The data speaks volumes, painting a sector plagued by forms of structural inequality reflected in its demographic makeup and a media landscape that does not fully represent the scope of Wales’ communities. 

• Read more: Mapping public interest journalism in Wales

This guide emerges from conversations with Wales-based journalists held during the Inclusive Media Development Lab organised by Inclusive Journalism Cymru and partnering with other organisations, including the Institute of Welsh Affairs, in September 2023. The topic was of particular interest to me – I have been on both the employee and employer side of recruitment, sitting on small panels for early career recruits, and have also drawn on some of this experience to write the guide. However, this guide is intended as a piece of collective writing that draws on the experiences of early career journalists in Wales to advocate for change. 

The Welsh workforce has characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable. Of the journalists surveyed through the Mapping Public Interest Journalism report, only a third were in permanent employment. In addition to other aggravating factors such as a lack of accessibility for vulnerable people, it is unsurprising that many have left or considered leaving the sector. 

Our message is clear: media organisations will be the direct beneficiaries of becoming more welcoming workplaces. As a result, they must reflect on their employment practices and cannot leave it up to young journalists from marginalised backgrounds to carry the weight of embodying change by ‘diversifying’ the makeup of their workforce. This process has to start from recruitment onwards.

Talking with other freelancers, a lot of the tools we came up with to transform this process were simple and often amounted to transparent, clear and respectful communication: about salary expectations, the interviewing and feedback process, accessible arrangements and amenities. Another important tool, which is evident from sector surveys, is for newsrooms to get to know who makes up their staff and retain data on the people who successfully get jobs in journalism today, and to learn from this process. This is pretty basic stuff, and yet Reuters’ recent Changing Newsroom survey showed that only 43 per cent of newsroom leaders they interviewed felt their workplace had a plan to improve the diversity of their workplace. 

Too often, organisations rush through this process, encouraging 'diverse' applicants to take advantage of their opportunities. In this guide, we suggest that recruitment should instead be approached as an exercise in trust-building, drawing on outreach and relationships – a process championed in Wales by activists, such as Mymuna Soleman in her Privilege Cafe. 

But as audiences have turned away from conventional media, as the rise of carbon-intensive AI technologies are currently being weaponised against journalists, threatening them with disposability, it is more essential than ever to build relationships of care in the newsrooms.

Freelancers have been advocating for their rights for years, but we believe much of the change rests in the hands of those who hold power over recruitment. Of course, a guide cannot be exhaustive, but with this we hope to make a usable start for employers who want to reflect on – and shift – the power dynamics of their newsrooms. 

Read the full guide here.

Marine Furet is the online editor for The Welsh Agenda, one of Wales' leading current affairs magazines published twice a year

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