Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Columbia Journalism School

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

#CJSInclusion

Below is a compilation of the Journalism School’s work to date. We invite members of the Journalism community of faculty, staff, students and alumni to help us achieve our goals by sharing their ideas and partnering with us. Please share your thoughts and ideas here.

Our Mission

Columbia Journalism School’s purpose is to educate students from all over the world to become conscientious, accomplished professional journalists. The school equips them to perform a vital and challenging function: through evidence-based reporting, to find out the truths of complicated situations, usually under time constraint, and communicate them to the public in a clear, engaging fashion. The school also produces and disseminates research about the changing contexts — legal, economic, technological, social — in which journalism takes place, with the aim of helping to shape the future of the profession and of training leaders in scholarship about our field.

Our Core Values

Underlying the ethical, accurate journalism we strive to teach are some core values. We believe that all human beings have dignity, that cruelty is never justified, and that power must be held to account; that a multiracial, multicultural democracy requires vigilant and consistent reporting on the rights and experiences of all people; that verified and contextualized facts are the building blocks of truthful reporting; and that journalism’s obligation is to the public and that it must remain independent and transparent about its methods and affiliations and responsible for its errors.

New

In the J-School's new podcast, six professors take a step back to examine the historical context of today’s news, looking at how race, gender, class, immigration and American empire impact the stories we cover and how we tell them. The podcast is part of our larger Diversity, Equity and Inclusion course, which includes panels and talks on how we can recognize and overcome our implicit biases, who gets to tell whose stories and how to be critical of dominant narratives. Listen now.

Messages from the Journalism School

Anti-Racism Readings

 

Resources for Reporting on Anti-Asian Violence

Covering Protests

Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award

The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award honors the late New York Herald Tribune reporter, and recognizes outstanding achievements in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States. See work of winners over the years: https://journalism.columbia.edu/tobenkin#Past_Winners

Partners

The Ira A. Lipman Center For Journalism and Civil and Human Rights

Providing leadership for the journalism community by informing and shaping the ways in which we understand race, diversity, civil and human rights. For more information, visit: https://journalism.columbia.edu/lipman-center

Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

  • Advocates ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; compassionate, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists; and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers.
  • Educates journalists and journalism students about the science and psychology of trauma and the implications for news coverage.
  • Provides a professional forum for journalists in all media to analyze issues, share knowledge and ideas, and advance strategies related to the craft of reporting on violence and tragedy.
  • Creates and sustains interdisciplinary collaboration and communication among news professionals, clinicians, academic researchers and others concerned with violence, conflict and tragedy.

For more information, visit: https://dartcenter.org/

Healing

Michelle Giordano, M.S. Community Counselor, recovery advocate and Internet activist, compiled the list of resources below in order to ensure People of Color have access to culturally competent mental health resources:

Southeast Addiction Center

Live Another Day

Detox Local

 

Prof. Kia Gregory compiled the following resources in the wake of the March 2021 Atlanta shooting:

Examining Oppression in the Asian American Community

#StopAsianHate, Resources for Taking Action and Taking Care

Asian Mental Health Collective

Asian Solidarity Workshop

Our Experience

Asian Lifenet Hotline

 

The Columbia School of Social Work compiled the list of resources below in collaboration with the Black & Latinx Student Caucus at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. This list draws inspiration from an article written by Zahra Barnes titled 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country.

Events

The New Journalism on black background

Race in America: Covering Far-Right Extremism, sponsored by the Ira A. Lipman Center

Reporting during the rise of anti-AAPI aggression: Reporting and coping tips for Asian and Asian-American students and their allies, from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Race in America: Covering Violence against Asians, sponsored by the Ira A. Lipman Center

The New Journalism: Rethinking the News in the Wake of COVID and George Floyd, sponsored by the Columbia Journalism Review.

Picturing Black Deaths: A conversation with Emily Bernard and Jelani Cobb

Black Lives Matter, Protest, and Creating Change, hosted by the Office of University Life and moderated by the Journalism School’s Prof. Jelani Cobb, director of the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights, which promotes research and reporting on race, diversity, civil and human rights.

Covering Race and Criminal Justice: Ko Bragg, Sean Campbell and Eileen Grench in conversation with June Cross.

Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice: Mark Rochester, Editor in Chief, Type Investigations in conversation with the Dart Center's Bruce Shapiro

Career Development

The Office of Career Development trains, supports and aggressively advocates for every student regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, geography, religion, disability, academic and extracurricular interest, family circumstance, sexual orientation, gender-identity, or socio-economic background.  

Our office is committed to helping all students navigate the job process, find mentors and negotiate equitable salaries. Our one-on-one counseling is tailored to each individual, and we aim to help every student discover their path, identify and explore a variety of opportunities and highlight their strengths and skills. 

We have gathered the resources here to help students confront the unique issues and career challenges they may face, evaluate the commitment of potential workplaces to diversity, equity and inclusion and to connect with affinity groups, allies and mentors.

 

GENERAL RESOURCES

 
Comprehensive resources gathered by Lam Thuy Vo, Disha Raychaudhuri and Moiz Syed with support from The News Integrity Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. 
Resources cover four key areas: 
  • Career growth: Grants and fellowships, mentor and peer programs, guide to navigating spaces and more.
  • Salary and benefits: Data, tactics and strategies for negotiating salary.
  • Accountability: Resources for improving newsroom diversity -- books, surveys, directories and more.
  • Training: Sources for developing new skills.
 
CCE provides tips, strategies and resources tailored to several groups of students, including:
 
 
Programs that connect young journalists with mentors. 
 
 
A searchable database of media outlets that primarily serve Black communities. Compiled by the Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS

Many of these organizations host events, post job listings and offer resources and access to mentors. They are excellent starting points for networking. Several of the national associations have student chapters at the Journalism School. You can see more details on this page.

 
Journalists of Color:  A Slack community to share discussions, resources and opportunities.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

JOB SEARCHING

Most of the organizations listed above include job boards as part of their membership. Here are some additional resources, including several sites aimed at editors who are searching to hire a diversity of voices in their newsrooms.
 
@culturedish: Jobs and discussion of diversity in science writing  
 
Binders Full of Writing Jobs:  A community for women and gender non-conforming writers of all backgrounds and experience levels to connect, network, ask questions, and learn from one another. See also Binders Full of Digital Journalists and Binders Full of Women on Facebook. 
 
Disabled Writers: Increasing disability diversity in journalism, includes database of disabled writers. See also @disabledwriters
 
Editors of Color: Includes searchable database of editors and links to multiple databases of diverse talent.
 
EveryStylishGirl: Networking, job opportunities and events for Black and Brown women interested in working in media companies.
 
JournalismNext.com: Job postings and community for minority journalists.  
 
Journalism Job and Media Newsletters: A general list of useful sources of information about jobs and general media news.
 
Journalism Job Resources: Listing compiled by the Society of Professional Journalists of general job resources, including job boards for a range of companies.
 
LADIO: A listerv for women who work in radio and podcasting. Jobs, freelance gigs, advice on radio/podcasting and more.
 
POC in Audio:searchable database. Sign up if you want to work in audio.
 
Women Photograph: An initiative focused on women and non-binary visual journalists.
 
Writers of Color: A searchable database. Follow @writersofcolor to track job openings and freelance opportunities.
 

ORGANIZATIONS PROMOTING DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN MEDIA

Emma Bowen Foundation: The organization focuses on undergraduates, but their job board may be of interest.  
 
Firelight Media: Promotes documentaries by and about communities of color. Support for emerging filmmakers of color.
 
Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting: Focused on increasing and retaining investigative reporters and editors of color.
 
Project Involve: Fellowships, grants and awards to minority filmmakers.
 
Public Media for All: Raising awareness of the need for diversity, equity and inclusion in public media. 
 
The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education: Trainings and programs to promote newsroom diversity and fair and accurate reporting that reflects all segments of society. 
 
The National Multicultural Alliance: A group of organizations supporting production of content about diverse and undercovered communities.
 
T. Howard Foundation: Promotes diversity in media and entertainment.

University Resources

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATION AND ASSESSMENT

Graduate Initiative on Inclusion and Engagement is part of Columbia’s commitment to diversity and success of all graduate and professional students.

 

Campus Conversations Initiative is a dialogue-based initiative from the Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging at Columbia centered on building community through conversation.

Office of Multicultural Affairs provides open trainings and resources on diversity and inclusion for the Columbia Community.

LGBTQ @ Columbia provides services and resources to the LGBTQ community including offering awareness trainings through the SafeZone Training program.

Sexual Respect Initiative helps to create a campus community guided by sexual respect and committed to ending sexual gender-based misconduct.

Center for Teaching and Learning has resources on inclusive teaching for graduate students and faculty including an online course Inclusive Teaching: Supporting All Students in the College Classroom.

Taskforce on Inclusion and Belonging at Columbia works to identify issues and develop responsive strategies that address students’ experiences both in and outside of the classroom.

The Provost's Office Statistical Abstract provides timely and accurate data pertaining to admissions, enrollment, degrees and certificates, tuition, financial aid, faculty, staff, and other institutional areas of interest.

COMMUNITY ACCOUNTABILITY

Reporting an incident (non-confidential resources)
If you have experienced an incident of discrimination or harassment you can report it to any of the offices below and it will be rerouted to the appropriate office.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action for incidents involving staff, officers or faculty. Click here to report an incident.

The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards oversees incidents regarding Discrimination, Harassment and Gender-Based Misconduct between students. Click here to report an incident.

CONFIDENTIAL RESOURCES

Columbia has several offices that are confidential and will not file a report. Please reach out to the following offices if you would like to speak with someone confidentially.

Next Steps

We are having ongoing conversations with faculty, staff and alumni and committed to taking concrete action in the coming months, including:

  • Publishing an annual Diversity Report
  • Increasing the diversity of the student body, starting with providing scholarships for students from Historically Black College and Universities
  • Increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff
  • Stressing issues of diversity and inclusion in our teaching
  • Addressing broader issues of climate