Journalism’s elephant in the room

By Jon Yarker, head of editorial development at Rhotic Media .

I’ve been increasingly writing about social mobility within financial services. This has forced me to look closer to home and recognise that journalism, too, is still lacking in diversity.?

Like many professions, journalism is male-dominated (53%) and predominantly white (87%) according to data from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) .

One could argue this is a symptom of poor social mobility, with numerous barriers existing for budding journalists to confront. Only 6% of journalists have low-level, or no qualifications compared to 33% of all UK workers. The trend is the same with social class.

The vast majority (80%) of journalists have parents in one of three highest occupational groups, compared to just 42% of all UK workers.

The reality many don’t want to acknowledge is clear: journalism remains an elitist shop.??

The benefits of a more accessible newsroom are clear. First, these would better reflect the communities they report on (and report to). Unconscious biases would be removed, allowing for more objective journalism and potentially make journalists easier for audiences to connect with and trust.

Second, social mobility brings tangible financial benefits to organisations. According to social mobility charity The Sutton Trust , if the UK’s numbers were comparable with Western Europe this would create a 9% increase in GDP.?

At Rhotic Media , we want to play our part. We are actively making changes to open up the industry and are signatories to the Social Mobility Pledge , which has seen us embed several initiatives to encourage recruitment to our sector from non-traditional backgrounds. This includes 10,000 Black Interns , which involves taking on a person of colour in a paid internship to equip them with valuable experiences and skills. We are also a partner agency of Reboot and we support their fantastic work in tackling issues obstructing progress in racial equality.???

Going further, we run a multi-award-winning degree apprenticeship scheme designed to support apprentices’ academic and professional development. I oversee this as head of editorial development, a function specifically carved out to ensure time and resources are dedicated towards not only day-to-day training but enabling social mobility as a whole. This includes providing mentoring, representing the agency at industry events, and even speaking at schools about journalism.

Last year, our continued work on this saw Rhotic recognised at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards & Community , winning the John Caudwell ‘Blaze Your Own Trail’ award.??

Taking real steps to allow journalists from all backgrounds to progress through the industry will hopefully inspire others and lead to widespread change. That is why we have already started.

If you'd like to learn more about any of Rhotic's initiatives, please get in touch.

?