Media Lack Women, Minority Leaders, Survey Says

There has been little progress in hiring minorities and women for influential media positions in San Diego County, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report, listing results of a survey compiled by the county Human Relations Commission, was designed as a follow-up to a similar survey done in 1988. Most major media outlets, both electronic and print, responded voluntarily to the commission’s mailer.

“There is progress that is commendable, but I think we can all agree that there is a significant way to go,” said Mary Bixby, chairwoman of the media subcommittee of the human relations commission.

The survey was prompted by the “assumption,” according to the report, that San Diego media do not accurately portray minority and women groups and fail to give adequate coverage of them, in part due to the under-representation of minority groups. But the study did not explore issues of media bias, instead focusing exclusively on the employee numbers.

“We see this as one strand of a larger study, information that can be helpful,” Bixby said.

Although specific numbers are included for most companies, the report offers no analysis of the individual companies.

“It was not our intent to point fingers,” said Jerry Chagala, director of the Human Relations Commission. “We’re trying to draw attention to an overall situation.”

In the general media work force, the percentage of females increased by only 1%, to 43%, since 1988’s study, even though the U.S. Census shows women as 49% of the county population, according to the report. The number of minorities employed by the media increased 3%.

Hispanics were the only group to make significant progress, the study said. The representation of blacks and American Indians was essentially unchanged from the 1988 study.

Of particular note, the representation of Asians, one of the fastest-growing minorities in San Diego county, remained measurably unchanged. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Asians constituted 8% of the county’s population, but only 4% of the media work force is Asian.

The study includes a separate category for so-called “decision makers.” Although the media companies were allowed to define for themselves what constitutes a manager or “professional”--for example, making no distinction between the manager of janitorial services and a news editor--the study concluded that minorities and women are still “substantially” under-represented in the top-levels of the media.

Although the 1990 census shows whites as 75% of the county’s population, 88% of the local media’s decision makers are white, and the percentages of minorities and females in decision-making positions are well-below the county population percentages. There was only a 1% increase in the number of females and a 3% increase in the number of minorities in management positions, the study concluded.

Virtually all the progress in the male-female balance was made by the electronic media, and almost all the progress in the white-minority balance was made by the print media, according to the report.

Members of the media agreed that the study’s general view was probably accurate.

“I know that we have made some progress here, but we have a way to go, too,” said Ed Quinn, general manager of KGTV (Channel 10).

T. Pat Cavanaugh, publisher of the Star News chain of community papers, said that comparing small and large media companies is like comparing “apples and oranges.” He said many smaller companies are doing a better job of hiring minorities and women. The unfortunate reality is that minorities and women are often still available for less money, he said, and women in particular tend to be more stable.

“I don’t think anybody purposely goes about trying not to attract minorities and women, and I don’t think it is as much of a problem as it was 10 years ago,” Cavanaugh said. “I think the trend is more and more minorities and women are being hired in management positions.”

The Human Relations Commission’s recommendations were vague, confined to encouraging organizations to continue their efforts. Media outlets are hard-hit by economic hard times, and the committee purposely opted to avoid any calls for direct action to improve minority representation, Bixby said.

“It is an extraordinary challenge that calls for all the creativity organizations can muster to address the needs in an effective way,” Bixby said.

Bixby said the group intends to do another study in three years, and hopes to include more analysis of media coverage.