In September 2020, INN published a report on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in Nonprofit News based on survey responses from 117 nonprofit newsrooms. Our topline finding: nonprofit newsrooms are more diverse than traditional newsrooms – but there is a lot of room for improvement, especially for racial equity. Our hope is that these cases highlight actions and advice that other news organizations can adapt and use.
This series of case studies highlights steps that several nonprofit news organizations have taken to tackle diversity, equity and inclusion in staffing and coverage.
This series of case studies was made possible with the generous support of Knight Foundation and thanks to INN’s general support funders and donors.
We are publishing the case studies throughout April 2021. The best way to be notified when we publish the next case study is to sign up for INN’s weekly INNovation newsletter.
- See here for our full introduction to this case study series.
- See here for our case study, by Kelsey Gee, on how Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting created and acted on a DEI plan, including revising hiring and staffing practices.
- COMING SOON: A case study by Vignesh Ramachandran on how several nonprofit news outlets, including The Beacon, WABE and WFAE implemented source tracking methods to better understand whether their coverage reflects the communities they serve.
- COMING SOON: A case study by Ariam Alula on how Injustice Watch, a Chicago-based newsroom, launched a new editorial series to fill a coverage and narrative gap in its community.
About INN’s DEI resources
In tandem with our DEI case study series, INN recently launched the Racial Equity and Inclusion in Nonprofit News Program (REINN) for its members. Supported by the Knight Foundation and led by INN’s Sara Shahriari and several expert partners (including Inspiring Change), REINN offers frameworks, tools and implementation support for members seeking to advance racial diversity, equity and inclusion in their organizations and their journalism. REINN is an evolving program based on member needs and participant feedback. Please reach out to Sara at Sara@inn.org if you’d like to be involved.
If you have any questions about the DEI case study series, please reach out to INN’s research director, Emily Roseman at emily.r@inn.org.