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Eugene's Newspaper Pledges Increased Diversity In Staff, Reporting

front_whole_rg_building.jpg

In an opinion piece this week, the Managing Editor at Eugene’s Register-Guard says the newspaper- and its corporate owner- have made a pledge to diversity in staffing and reporting.

Michelle Maxwell said, for too long, many newsrooms, including her own, “have not reflected the communities they serve.”

She said the killing of George Floyd and the social justice protests that followed prompted a commitment from The Register-Guard -and parent company Gannett’s other 260 local publications- to increase diversity by 2025.

Maxwell writes the current percentage of multi-racial journalists in her newsroom reflects and even exceeds demographics of the communities. However, they “falter on gender.” Only 27% of full-time RG newsroom staff are women.

michelle_maxwell.jpg
Credit Michelle Maxwell/The Register-Guard
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This photo of RG Managing Editor Michelle Maxwell accompanied her 08/20/20 opinion piece featured online. She wrote the newspaper has made a long-term pledge to listen to all walks of life and show diversity in staffing and reporting.

The Register-Guard reports plans to annually publish the gender and racial makeup of the news force and management. In a snapshot from July 31st of this year, graphs show over 60% of the newsroom and 100% of leadership “declined to answer” or identify a race.   

Link to Register-Guard, August 20, 2020 online article:
https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2020/08/20/eugene-register-guard-2020-diversity-inclusion-newsroom-results/3396321001/

graph_2020_infogram.png
Credit 2020 Infogram
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The Register-Guard plans to annually share the gender and racial makeup in the newsroom. This is a snapshot of what data could be gathered as of July 31, 2020.

Tiffany joined the KLCC News team in 2007. She studied journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has worked in a variety of media including television and daily print news. For KLCC, Tiffany reports on health care, social justice and local/regional news. She has won awards from Oregon Associated Press, PRNDI, and Education Writers Association.
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