Inspired by the diversity found in a West Texas newsroom

By Joe Lacdan
Special to chipsquinn.org

Posted: March 27, 2008

Joe Lacdan

For many Chips Quinn journalists, seeing the number of minority reporters and photographers gathered in one place at orientation in Nashville or Washington, D.C., must be eye-opening.

For some of us, including me – a Filipino-American who grew up in the Midwest and who had worked mainly in predominantly white newsrooms – it was the first time we were surrounded by so many journalists of color.

That experience with diversity continued into my internship newsroom at the San Angelo (Texas) Standard Times.

A 2007 report by the American Society of Newspaper Editors showed that minorities accounted for just 13.6 percent of the journalists working in newsrooms across the country. That figure was down slightly from the previous year.

Those numbers were not reflected in the Standard-Times newsroom last summer.

The publication was the only E.W. Scripps Company newspaper at the time with a Latino-American publisher and editor in chief. My city editor was part Hispanic. Two staff photographers, including the photo editor, were African American, and one photographer was Hispanic. One intern I worked with was a fourth-generation Latino American.

We had people of color on our copy desk and in our advertising department. Even my newsroom "buddy" had a Hispanic heritage.

Not only did I have the opportunity to work in a diverse newsroom, I also got to interview many people of color for my stories. In the heart of West Texas, San Angelo has a large Hispanic community.

It did not hit me until late in my internship that I experienced something few journalists will get to experience.

Last summer was a breath of fresh air.

I had often felt that I was traveling alone as a journalist of color, expecting to find barriers directly or indirectly caused by race during my career.

It was inspiring to work among such diversity as the Standard-Times newsroom offered.

The experience likely will push me to work even harder.

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