LSU recently centered itself in a national discussion on one of the mass media’s hottest topics with an attempt at defining “diversity.”
Professional journalists and representatives of mass communication schools from around the country met at Lod Cook Alumni Center on Saturday as part of the Manship School’s National Task Force on Diversity in Mass Communication Curriculum.
Ralph Izard, associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research for the Manship School, organized the forum to help establish LSU as a leader among American universities in prioritizing the importance of diversity.
The task force’s nine members met for a six-hour discussion that included formulating a definition of the term “diversity,” incorporating diversity into faculty and class instruction and nationally organizing positive attitudes about diversity.
Michael Lomax, president of Dillard University and president and CEO-elect of the United Negro College Fund, made opening comments addressing the breadth of the task force’s endeavors.
“This is a big topic you all have undertaken,” Lomax said.
Panelists struggled to form a single definition of diversity.
Descriptions and experiences were numerous, but panelists recognized the historical exclusion of certain racial, ethnic, religious and cultural groups in mass media.
Saundra Keyes, editor of The Honolulu Advertiser, stressed the importance of classroom instruction on how to deal with groups and situations that are diverse simply because they are different from what a student is used to. She said students and professional journalists must have “awareness” to report on the full community.
“This is about accuracy,” Keyes said.
Accounts and opinions about the panelists’ own experiences as a result of their personal heritages varied as much as definitions of diversity.
Lomax worked for a publication targeted at the Los Angeles black community that was owned by his family. Neil Reisner, New Editorial Products director for the Miami Daily Business Review, told about his experiences as a Jewish person covering a Catholic community.
Felix Gutierrez, a professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Journalism, discussed “categories” and the importance of media being “inclusive” of all aspects of society.
“We must recognize that race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and any categories that are beyond our control still are ways people are categorized,” Gutierrez said. “These categories have as much diversity within the categories as there is between those in others.”
Task force members did not come to an exact consensus on a definition of “diversity,” but all agreed that proper education on why cultural differences exist and how to deal with those differences is necessary to fully cover a community.
Mass communication schools must make concentrated efforts to change attitudes among faculty members and students to promote understanding of differences, panelists said.
Izard said he was “delighted” at the progress the task force had made in furthering national discussion on diversity.
“What we’ve done is create lots of work for ourselves,” Izard said. “The challenge is to make commitment into action.”
Jack Hamilton, dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication, said the conference will help not only LSU but other universities address problems with recognizing diversity.
“One of the things I appreciate is how hard they are trying to work on these issues,” Hamilton said. “It was a good conference.”