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Best colleges for broadcast journalism
Some Worry the Change is a Retreat
To insulate themselves from potential lawsuits, many higher education institutions are reacting to recent court decisions and legislation by rewording their written commitments to diversity.
In May, for example, the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) revised its "Standard 12," or diversity standard. Although some say the changes are insignificant, others fear that the change means that journalism schools will not work as hard to have diverse student bodies.
Mercedes Lyn de Uriarte, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, maintains that the change has so weakened the standard that schools can now dance around the need for diversity.
"There is now a willingness to be less vigorous in enforcing Standard 12. It's a form of timidity," she said.
The new standard reads as follows:
* Units should demonstrate a commitment to increased diversity and inclusivity in their student populations and faculties and to the creation of a teaming environment that exposes students to a broad spectrum of voices and views.
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* Units must have written diversity and inclusivity goals, and they must demonstrate specific results achieved toward accomplishing those goals.
* Units are encouraged to make effective efforts to recruit, advise, and retain minority students and minority and women faculty members for their intended career paths.
* Recruitment efforts must not be discriminatory in nature and must have as their objective enlarging the overall talent pool.
* Accreditation site visit teams will apply this standard in compliance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations.
Providing a Loophole
Some observers say that though the new standard sounds strong on paper, it is actually a retreat from the previous Standard 12. Uriarte says that she is concerned with the deletion of the following two clauses:
* Units must make effective efforts to recruit, advise, and retain minority students and minority and women faculty members for their intended career paths. They must also include in their courses information about the major contributions made by minorities and women to the disciplines covered in the unit.
* In course offerings across the curriculum, units must help prepare students to understand, cover, communicate with, and relate to a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial and otherwise diverse society.
Regarding the first change, Uriarte says that the revisions give the impression that somehow the previous standard resulted in discrimination against whites. Nothing could be further from the truth, she said, citing the 1996 enrollment statistics in schools of journalism to illustrate her point: 10,294 whites, 1,351 Blacks, 661 Latinos, 470 Asians, and 49 Native Americans.
"I don't see a pattern of discrimination against whites," said Uriarte.
Regarding the second change, she said that the previous standard was unambiguous. In her view, to say that the department "will seek out the broadest possible views" weakens the previous standard which called for departments to include people of color in their curriculums.
Diana Rios, professor of journalism at the University of New Mexico, worries that some white professors will use the new language as a "loophole."
"When people need an out, they take it," Rios noted.
In various committees she's participated on throughout the years, Rios said that such language allows professors to say that their only obligation is to recruit the "best," not minorities.
"I've seen it happen in journalism [committees]," she warned.
A "Brilliant Strategy"
Sherrie Mazingo, chair of the broadcast sequence at the school of journalism at the University of Southern California doesn't quite see it that way. She said the change is a practical response to a very real problem and doesn't see the revised standard as watered down. According to her, the revised standard emphatically calls for evidence of what journalism schools are doing in regards to diversifying their faculty and student bodies.
Critics who are displeased with the new standard are misreading it, said Mazingo. She does not dispute that it is an effort to stay within the law and to avoid lawsuits stemming from "reverse discrimination" legal challenges.
"It's actually a brilliant strategy," she said.
Mazingo adds that if a school is ruled to be non-compliant on several standards, including number 12, then it is granted a year to reach compliance with all the standards. This shows that the criteria for accreditation is tough, she said, noting that units are evaluated every six years.
Susanne Shaw, executive director of the ACEJMC agrees with Mazingo. She says that there was ample time for input and debate by the twenty-six professional organizations which are part of ACEJMC throughout the three-year review process. Before the change was made final in May, she said, there were only five minutes of discussion - and since then, there have been no letters of complaint.
Ray Chavez, professor of journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder says he can appreciate the dilemma. As a result of the political mood of the country, most - if not all - universities are scrambling to be in compliance with the law while vigorously pursuing diversity.
"It's a balancing act," Chavez said.
According to Chavez, universities that believe in diversity will push for it despite the anti-affirmative action mood of the country, whereas those who don't will use the potential for legal challenges to avoid pursuing an aggressive diversity agenda. The same will happen with Standard 12; some schools will find ways to be in technical compliance without actually pursuing a diverse faculty and student population.
"That's my concern, having units be in technical compliance, without substance," he said.
Aside from Chavez's professorial duties, he is in charge of ensuring that his department pursues an aggressive diversity agenda. As part of his commitment, he teaches various classes to Chicano and Native American high school students.
"I don't have to do it," said Chavez, who added that he does it because he believes journalism schools must take extra steps to increase the pool of students of color in communication and journalism.
Separate from ACEJMC's own efforts to increase diversity, pressure from the industry will continue to ensure that diversity remains a high priority of the organization, according to Chavez.
Vigorous Enforcement Needed
Dorothy Gilliam, a former president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) believes that Standard 12 has historically not been taken seriously by journalism and communication departments throughout the country. Over the years, NABJ, more than any other organization, has aggressively held journalism departments accountable to Standard 12.
Gilliam, who is the current NABJ representative to UNITY - the coordinating body of the four journalism organizations of color - said that as a result, Standard 12 is of the highest priorities for Unity's 1999 conference.
"We still need more people of color in the pipeline," said Gilliam.
Jackie Jones, assistant city editor for The Washington Post and NABJ representative to ACEJMC's committee, acknowledges the legal concerns of universities, but says that the four journalism organizations of color want Standard 12 to be vigorously enforced.
According to Jones, NABJ concerns itself primarily with two issues - "accrediting for HBCU's [historically Black colleges and universities] and how other schools measure up to Standard 12."
"What we look for are extremely egregious cases," Jones said.
Some departments recruit students and faculty of color but have trouble retaining them, she said. Part of the problem in retaining students is that there is often little in the curriculum that is of relevance to students of color.
NABJ pursues cases where schools have extremely poor track records in recruitment and retention and in cases where professors are denied tenure or fired. Jones points out that no unit has ever been denied accreditation strictly because of noncompliance with Standard 12.
Despite the wording changes, she says, the intent of Standard 12 is still pretty clear.
"We will see how it stands over time."
COPYRIGHT 1997 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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