Biz journalism needs more journalists of color

Christopher Nelson, a freelance journalist and graduate student at the Georgetown University Law Center, writes on the National Association of Black Journalists website about the lack of journalists of color he encountered when he attended the Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference last month.

Nelson writes, “Given the importance of reporting on the economy, including jobs numbers, the growth or lack thereof of national and international companies, consumer spending, tax policy, trade policy, and myriad other issues, it was quite startling. So I decided to explore the topic of diversity in business reporting.

“As an African-American journalist, I decided to look at this in terms of the state of the black business journalist.  From personal experience, I know members of the National Association of Black Journalists who cover business news, including: Kortney Stringer, retail editor, the Associated Press; Michelle Singletary, Personal Finance Columnist, the Washington Post; Alfred Edmond Jr., Editor at Large, Black Enterprise magazine; Sharon Epperson, senior commodities correspondent and personal finance correspondent, CNBC; and Valerie Coleman Morris veteran business news anchor, just to name a few.

“Yet, I wondered why there aren’t more faces that reflect America’s growing diversity?  ‘The thing about blacks and business journalism is we need to be there,’ said Shartia Brantley, a segment producer for CNBC’s ‘Street Signs.’

“Back in late 2008 media columnist Richard Prince used his column to explore whether the state of the economy would make business reporting more attractive for journalists of color.”

Read more here.