A diversity of voices and views leads to greater creativity and higher quality content, which in turn is good for business in an era when the media is fighting to remain financially viable and culturally relevant. Despite this, the media industry is still highly homogenous. In the US, newsroom employees are more likely to be men, white, and less diverse than the overall workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of US Census Bureau data from 2012 to 2016. While racial, ethnic, and gender diversity is higher among younger employees, the makeup of many newsrooms does not reflect their audiences, or their target audiences. Some, however, are actively working towards changing the status quo. The New York Times launched its Gender Initiative to cover gender more deliberately and engage a more diverse audience. Outside Magazine has committed itself to becoming a more diverse and inclusive outlet from top to bottom, ensuring editors of each vertical are running an equal number of stories written by men and women and featuring women and diverse body types in photography and art. At The Lusaka Sun, a standalone publication owned by the Daily Nation in Zambia, some 70% of employees are women. That has been a deliberate decision. According to the Daily Nation’s executive editor, women reporters are better at getting in contact with and gaining the trust of other women in the community, making them feel comfortable enough to share their stories and experiences with the paper. (See Lusaka Sun, Zambia)
