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In the past week, diversity in the newsroom has become a huge conversation in Seattle and all over the country. Seattle’s amazing Hollis Wong-Wear (one of our 2015 Smartest Global Women) wrote this powerful account of her experience being “sidekicked” and then “sorry, not-sorried” when The Seattle Times profiled her in December.
Jose Antonio Vargas launched the #journalismsowhite hashtag on Twitter which trended nationally and has sparked lots of conversation about the power of diversity in the media.
Check out this story from the Washington Post on diversity in their newsroom, and this post from one-time Globalist and now Stranger writer Ansel Herz exploring Hollis’ story and diversity (or a lack thereof) at The Stranger.
This is what we’re trying to change, every day, at The Seattle Globalist.
We are proud that 40 percent of our writers are people of color; 20 percent of our writers are foreign-born. We are proud to have a majority female staff, an editorial staff that is 66 percent women of color, and a staff and board that includes people of color and White people, people who are gay and straight, cis gendered and trans, immigrants, non-immigrants, parents, non-parents, journalists, non-journalists, citizens, and non-citizens.
And we know there is a lot more work to be done, inside our organization and out.
Today we’re launching a crowdfunding campaign through Beacon Reader to get more immigrant voices into the newsroom and into the media conversation.
And you can have a huge impact. When we reach 100 backers — that’s 100 people making a donation in any amount — we’ll unlock $5,000 in matching funds. Please make your gift today, and help elevate diverse voices through media!
Yes, #OscarsSoWhite. But we must also examine why #JournalismSoWhite: https://t.co/P6sqOPkhKD @emergingUS pic.twitter.com/dVfNaaUdk2
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) January 22, 2016