Project looks to increase diversity of sources

September 27, 2011 | Filed under 2011: New Orleans

Project looks to increase diversity of sources

By Ashley Carnifax
The Working Press

Journalists around the world could soon have extensive access to sources and Web links to help them write diverse, inclusive stories, thanks to Society of Professional Journalists member Sandy Frost.

Frost, who is coordinating the project, hopes to update SPJ’s diversity sourcebook to help educate journalists about minority populations and how best to cover them.

Frost is a member of SPJ’s Diversity Committee and its Western Washington Professional Chapter.

Sandy Frost, who serves on the Diversity Committee, explains her plans to revamp the Rainbow Diversity Sourcebook. The project is expected to be completed within fiour months. Corinne Chin/ The Working Press

Frost said the project is important because a lot of information in the existing sourcebook is outdated. An updated resource guide would help journalists include people from diverse backgrounds in their stories, she said.

“That’s what I’m most excited about,” Frost said, “to get that spirit of inclusion out there.”

Google Trends would be used to better define categories and make the search for information more intuitive for journalists.

Once categories are re-evaluated, Frost wants volunteers to help review and identify the websites for top organizations, along with any style guides or suggested language the groups might have.

Frost, who has a transgendered child, used gender issues as an example of how journalists would use the guide.

Journalists would go to the category on gender issues. By clicking on the link for transgender, they would then find the name of a potential source, along with a listing of relevant organizations for the transgender community.

Frost said the project could be completed in four months, depending on how fast the volunteers get the work done.

She said prior discussions about the project within SPJ led to concerns about the cost and time commitment.

Frost said the project wouldn’t cost the organization a dime because each volunteer would be expected to commit only five to seven hours to the project.

522 Comments

Kexuan
February 6, 2012 • 10:35 am

Validate blggoing? What is to be validated? One would be misguided to go to a blog to find information for a research project, or legal advice, or a medical diagnosis, or…. A blog is a place that may provide stimulating or thought provoking information, or simply an entertaining read of someone’s creative writing, but not a place to find “facts!”I think that attorneys laughed at the judge’s joke because in the world of attorneys, facts matter. Another thought on your comments regarding the relationship between Blogging and Journalism. Journalist were once respected for reporting the facts of a story, without personal or political inference. Journalist are often viewed by many today as the simple minded minions who are hired to paint the essence of a story with the biases and prejudices of the institution that provides their income. Blogs are accepted as a place to express one’s opinion, belief, or observation, and many blogs may provide factual information. The fact is, blogs are not accepted as a warehouse of scholarly publication.So what is it about a blog that you want to “validate,” as if being “validated” somehow implies that blggoing should be accepted as a source from which one may find the “gospel” of truth and fact. It simply isn’t…at least in it’s current state.

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Project looks to increase diversity of sources

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