Minority News Hiring in Local Radio Trails TV Badly

The percentage of minorities working in local radio news last year is down even as the same statistic for TV hit a record high.
The Radio-Television News Directors Association said its 2006 RTNDA/Ball State University Annual Survey showed minorities comprised 22.2 percent of local television news staffs in 2005, compared with 21.2 percent in 2004. But in local radio, the minority workforce fell to 6.4 percent, down from 7.9 percent in 2004.
The percentage of minority TV news directors was 13.2 percent, up from 12 percent; in radio, the percentage of minority news directors was 4.4 percent.
The percentage of women in radio news fell to 24.8 percent from 27.5 percent in 2004, while the percentage of women radio news directors dropped from 24.7 percent to 20.4 percent.
Results do not include networks.