Star aims to reflect Ventura County's diversity, inclusivity

The County of Ventura is a diverse and inclusive place, and so the daily newspaper covering this great region should reflect those values.

In fact, at the Ventura County Star we believe it's key to our success and makes us a workplace where employees are valued and feel empowered.

We are committed to building and sustaining a workforce that reflects the diverse communities from Santa Paula and Ventura in the west to Oxnard and Camarillo on the plain, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks in the east and the places in between.

As you've seen us do in the past three years, we publish the makeup of our newsroom staff. It's part of our commitment to an inclusive culture. That same commitment is being carried out across the USA TODAY Network, which is made up of more than 200 local publications, including The Star, and USA TODAY.

See also:Gannett newsrooms making steady progress in overall diversity

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.

The staff at The Star is 66.7% white, 22.2% Hispanic/Latino and 5.6% Native Hawaiian and overall 33.3% are women. The leadership at the newspaper is 75% white and 25% Native Hawaiian, and we also happen to have a 50-50 split with men and women. 

Comparisons to community demographics are now drawn from the 2020 Census. That tells us The Star has a way to go to better reflect the community. 

Census data says Ventura County is about 46.8% white, 39.3% Hispanic/Latino, 8% Asian, 3.3% two or more races, 1.7% Black, 0.3% Native American and 0.2% Native Hawaiian.

Yet in the last year, we hired two Ventura County natives. We take pride knowing these new reporters share a unique understanding of the region through their work. We hope we can build upon this success. 

We also shared stories this year like education reporter Isaiah Murtaugh about a student-driven mural of Dolores Huerta at Ventura High and another story about a rally in support of immigration reform in Oxnard by reporters Brian Varela and Cytlalli Salgado. We also brought you local events like Brian's on the Japanese style taiko drumming performance for Asian and Pacific Island Month.

Ultimately, a diverse and inclusive workforce helps us better connect and serve you, our readers and our community partners.

Stacie N. Galang is news director of the Ventura County Star. She can be reached at 805-437-0222 or stacie.galang@vcstar.com.