Some of the first journalists to specialize in reporting on race were … white men. They doggedly covered the civil rights movement for local and national outlets, bringing needed attention to the ways America’s social and political systems were stacked against the nation’s black citizens.
These days, the race beat still exists, but it’s occupied by a more diverse group of journalists who cover topics through the lens of minority communities for national newsrooms.
How do today’s race beat reporters approach their assignments? What is their role in advocating for more diversity where they work? And why is there still the need for a race beat?
GUESTS
Tanzina Vega, National race and inequality reporter, CNN; author, UPPITY: Women, Race and Class in America
Errin Haines Whack, Race and ethnicity reporter, Associated Press
Julia Craven, Race and civil rights reporter, Huffington Post
Hank Klibanoff, Journalism program director, Emory University; author, “The Race Beat”
For more, visit http://the1a.org.
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