How one business journal is diversifying sources in its stories

Rachel Sams, the editor of Albuquerque Business First, writes about how the paper is working to diversify the sources in its stories.

Sams writes, “Our newsroom has set group and individual goals for 2018 to help us connect with a wider variety of local businesspeople this year. Here are some of them:

“• Each reporter and editor has individual goals for how many new sources they need to meet each month, including goals for female sources and sources of color. Those goals correspond roughly with the percentage of minority and women-owned businesses in New Mexico, according to the Census (40 and 39 percent, respectively.) This year, our six-person news team will meet at least 150 new sources.

“• Each reporter on a beat will contact one additional source for a certain number of stories each month.

“• I will meet with key leaders in minority business communities to learn more about the stories and issues in their communities.

“• Reporting stories that reflect the diversity of your community starts with having a diverse mix of people in the newsroom, as one of our staffers noted. Our newsroom is more diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity than it’s ever been in my nine years at ABF. It’s my job and my mission to make it more diverse still. So I’m reaching out to diverse journalism communities this year to ensure they know who we are and the career path we have to offer.”

Read more here.