Doing our part for diversity and inclusion at the Tribune-Review

“Be deliberate.”

Those words served as a theme in the Tribune-Review’s participation over the past six months in an experimental Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) cohort with the American Press Institute and other Pittsburgh news outlets.

Our mission in joining the program was to create various goals for increasing the Trib’s commitment to diversity — internally within our staff and in our coverage areas.

The discussions were not always easy.

During a neighborhood listening session in November, we heard residents’ negative perceptions of the media, how many felt ignored and how reporters only show up in communities of color for crime coverage.

We examined our own newsroom’s homogeneous makeup: We’re largely white and in need of diverse perspectives in our news coverage decisions and staffing.

So what can we do to make changes?

“Be deliberate.”

Before the cohort began, the Trib already had started down this path.

We created a diversity scholarship program designed to offer opportunities for exceptionally talented journalism, communication or English writing students who are culturally, ethnically or racially diverse. The scholarship, offered to high school seniors headed to college, includes financial assistance of up to $7,500 a year for four years, a guaranteed annual summer internship with the Tribune-Review and an offer for full-time employment upon graduation.

So far, the Tribune-Review has had three such interns.

One of our goals moving forward is to find ways to broaden our reach and attract more applicants. We plan to partner with high school guidance counselors around the region and work with the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation in that endeavor.

Another goal is to send reporters into diverse communities for conversations about news coverage and feature stories that often go untold.

Finally, we plan to hold our own community listening sessions in various neighborhoods across the region.

During a Jan. 24 meeting, American Press Institute CEO and Executive Director Michael Bolden succinctly summed up the challenges facing many news operations.

“Diversity is not an adjunct to other work or concerns in the news industry, not if we care about the people in our communities or the perspectives they have,” he said. “It is an imperative to sustainability, especially in our country, which grows more diverse every day.”

We could not agree more.