Pensacola News Journal commitment to diversity remains strong | Column

I came to readers with a promise last year to double down on our commitment to serving our entire community — to being more inclusive, more representative of our community and more inviting to all.

It was a commitment made not just by the Pensacola News Journal, but by all USA TODAY Network newsrooms, which are made up of more than 200 local publications and USA TODAY. 

One year later, we are sharing our progress in strengthening the diversity of our newsroom staffs with the release of our 2022 Diversity Census.

This information, a snapshot as of July 1, 2022, includes the gender and racial makeup of our news workforce and our coverage area, as well as for managers within our newsroom.

As you'll see, we've changed quite a bit, as has our community.

Closer look: Diverse newsroom remains key to telling Pensacola's stories

Little did we expect a year ago that our community would grow — and change — even more as the ability to work remotely opened the floodgates in the Panhandle to an even broader and more diverse melting pot of cultures.

Who can resist the bustling downtown, gorgeous beaches and growing movement that is leading to a walkable, bikeable community that is connected to neighborhoods, shopping and outdoor amenities?

Bottom line — our population is more diverse than ever. And at the Pensacola News Journal, so are we. 

We've made incredible gains over the past year, not just in the quality staff we hire, but in the focus of their work. 

More:Gannett newsrooms making steady progress in overall diversity

In the past year, we have created an equity reporter position and hired Kamal Morgan to help tell the diverse stories of our community. We created a community development beat to focus on community growth and change in our neighborhoods across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. We established a digital advisory group to help inform staff of the stories and nuances of community issues that we frankly might have otherwise missed.

And when it came time to fill these roles, we made sure to cast our net far and wide to get the very best journalism talent our community deserves.

As a result, our staff has grown more diverse. In fact, 50% of our journalists in the newsroom are journalists of color, including 50% of our top leadership. Our gender balance still lags behind, however, with just 25% of our newsroom female. 

Why is this important? Because these numbers represent real people and real experiences. They represent all that we have in common, as much as they do the differences that exist in any peer group. Unique challenges, values, strengths, privileges and biases are often a part of being surrounded by people who look and act just like you. 

It is vital that our staff represents the community we serve, or we will fail to serve our community accurately. This is not by intent, but human nature. We see the stories in the churches we attend, the neighborhoods we live in and the streets we drive. We see the challenges that our own families are experiencing and the successes of our neighbors.

Among my promise to readers last year was that our commitment to diversity was not yet another "movement" that we would forget as new priorities came along. Accurately representing our communities, our stories, our strengths and opportunities is vital to serving our community well.

That won't ever go away.