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We commonly say “I’m not hiring” or “I don’t have money to make an impact” and all these may be true.
But, as SXSW opens PanelPicker, CES calls for speakers, and conferences like NAHJ18 and ONA18 are quickly approaching, I wanted to share some practical things YOU can do to make a difference.
I have done each of these – multiple times for years. I have no money. I have a kid to fund. I am not hiring anyone. But these simple ways can have large impact.
If you truly care about inclusion and diversity in our industry – or any other industry – try a few of these tips to help make a real impact.
Please let me know if you have other tips and if you have done these too. We have more influence than we think.
]]>Since I first attended the Student Campus when I was in community college to planning the curriculum for this year’s conference in Miami. I have run the Student Online Project for more than five years, help organize what was then called the “New Media Tracks” and served on the board for a few years.
And after much thought, I have decided to throw my name into the race to be the Academic At-Large officer serving on the national board.
tl;dr version:
I need your help. If you are an NAHJ member in good standing, please email this nomination statement to elections@nahj.org and r.hernandez@usc.edu. Thank you!
I [Nominating Member Name], an employee of [The Company the Nominating Member Works for and Their Position] support the candidacy of Robert Hernandez for Academic At-Large Officer in the election of the NAHJ Board of Directors.
This statement counts as my virtual signature and I have included my full contact information below.
Date:
Phone:
Email:
The long version:
First, I have to admit I normally preach about new leadership to head up organizations like ours because we need to evolve and change to reflect the world we work and live in. We need modern leaders for these modern times. Not the same old talking points and passive organizations from years past. Why look back when we need to move forward?
Because of that thinking, I was reluctant to serve on the board again. Why should I return when there should be new faces that can lead?
So much has changed in my career since I served. In all honesty, I feel like I was a kid when I was first on the board, trying to normalize the digital’s role in journalism just over 10 years ago. That sounds crazy, but that was the struggle for journalists working online.
Now, after two decades in this industry, I think we need bold leadership that delivers on empowering our members. We can’t complain about the lack of diversity. A hashtag is not enough. We have to empower ourselves, because we are the ones who will fight for us and for inclusion.
I think the training I have organized for our conference is in line with the changes and the direction we need to go in.
I think I do bring a perspective that NAHJ needs.
And, I’ll be honest, if the bylaws allowed it…. I’d be running for president of NAHJ this year.
Our bylaws are out of date. You don’t get corrupted by taking a different type of media job. Once a journalist, always a journalist. Once a passionate member of NAHJ, always a member of NAHJ.
People who know me know that I am a reluctant academic. I am more a hackademic. But if that is the only spot I can run for to serve on the board, then so be it.
I stand with NAHJ.
Just as NAHJ has stood with me. Throughout my entire career adult life.
I hope you vote (our turnout rate is horrible!)… and you consider voting for me to continue to serve NAHJ.
Gracias,
Robert
]]>I had been invited to speak at a different newspaper publishers association in the past.
It didn’t work out. (I got uninvited when I told them my topic.)
But NENPA was committed and even wrote a piece on what I was going to say in my talk.
This talk, for me, was years in the making… one that I imagined giving when I was in the newsroom and one I wanted to give if I have a newsroom leader asking for advice.
Here, for those interested, is my talk*:
[ Hour and 15 minutes ]
Direct link: http://youtu.be/Hc6ZwLKDLP4
* Sadly, the projector changed the color of the slides… it’s not perfect, but it’s the content that matters, right? Right??
For those not interested in watching the entire video, here’s an animated GIF of the nutgraph from my talk:
]]>If I follow you on Twitter, you may have noticed that I’ve have added you to a Twitter list: Male or Female.
There’s also a private list for People of Color*.
Before you freak out, let me explain what I am trying to do.
A few weeks back I heard a great segment on On The Media with Buzzfeed writer Katie Notopoulos, who created a holiday called Unfollow a Man Day. The piece originally aired on the tl;dr podcast.
Check it out:
This ‘holiday’ came from Notopoulos’ decision from realizing she was following a ton of dudes on Twitter, rather than other females.
She explains it here: Why I Created The #UnfollowAMan Movement
Anyway, that got me thinking… for about a year, I have consciously been trying to diversify who I follow on Twitter.
I never want to be caught in an echo chamber, and I have learned that I get a beneficial edge when I hear outside voices, instead of hearing the same people from within the journalism industry.
But while my diverse follow was a conscious act, I still don’t know if I have struck the right balance.
So, why not find out?
And that’s where these lists come it.
I’m starting a new Twitter/Diversity experiment on myself… I’m putting everyone I follow on a gender list to see the difference and ratio.
— Robert Hernandez (@webjournalist) August 29, 2014
By going through the 960+ people I follow and doing an inventory, I can achieve a couple of things:
1- What is my actual ratio? If I am preaching diversity and parity, am I practicing it too? I don’t know, and that’s what I am looking to find out. This self-experiment really is an audit.
2- In the interview with Notopoulos, she said she realized that some stories that were seen as newsworthy coming from “Twitter buzz,” were only a buzz for men. Meaning, because she followed dudes, dudes’ topics dominated. For me, inversely, I want to see what topics are not buzzing in my stream… or who is it buzzing with.
There is such a thing as Black Twitter. Latino Twitter, non-English Twitter… but most users don’t know (or care) because they follow people and communities they know… or reflect their experiences.
Side note: I wrote this post at 11:30PM-ish, because some people were weirded out by being added to a list. And one person, I feel, began to project some assumptions on what I am trying to do… hence this quick post.
But, let me be clear… just like Twitter, this is for me. I use Twitter for a tool that benefits my knowledge. And now I am using Twitter lists to benefit me as well. I am dying to know the results of this self-imposed audit and see if I can spot any patterns. I am coming in with NO ASSUMPTIONS, open to whatever results may come.
And, for the record, I don’t care if this is scientific or not. This is me grouping subjective follows along gender lines and see if anything emerges. I’m a hackademic, not an academic.
Now, after reading this post, I want to invite/challenge you to do the same thing. Find out if your stream is skewed by following one community more than another… hell, find out if you have a bias. Let me know if you try this thing… and, of course, feel free to share your thoughts on what I am doing. I’m trying to be open and transparent… and I am coming with good intentions.
UPDATE: At 12:21AM, I renamed my lists to be Gender Audit Proj: Female and Gender Audit Proj: Male, to be clearer on what I am doing.
NOTE: I started this “self-experiment” late this evening on a whim… and my brain is turning into mush as I add *everyone* to a list… so I assume I have made some errors. If you spot one, please let me know… thank you!
* The People of Color list is currently set to private, because there is a chance I add or leave out someone accidently and I don’t mean to offend.
// UPDATE & ADDITION (5/14/15)
A student recently told me about TWEE-Q, which analyzes which gender you retweet more. If you think about, having a balanced gender feed is a great step, but how you engage with the feed is an important metric.
What’s the point of following a balance if you only engage with one side?
So, I ran my Twitter name through the web app and got this result:
“@webjournalist retweeted 48% men and 52% women.” I am proud of this result!
// OTHER AUDITS
Feel free to tweet me your audit results as well!
@webjournalist Audited my follows. 255 male, 115 female, 90 other (spoofs and, mostly, collectives/institutions, eg publications
— King Kaufman (@king_kaufman) August 29, 2014
My twitter-feed gender audit results: 149 male, 121 female, 120 other (group/spoof/etc). @webjournalist pic.twitter.com/G0TtLP0UFc
— Wendy Sawatzky (@wendysawatzky) August 29, 2014
@webjournalist My gender audit: Following 446 men, 409 women. Thanks for the idea.
— April Burbank (@aprilburbank) September 2, 2014
Completed #genderaudit: I follow 409 men vs 289 women, or 59% vs 41%.
(Twitter analytics guessed 71%/29%)
— Daniel J Bentley (@DJBentley) September 3, 2014
After today's gender audit, I put together this blog post about what I did and what I learned: http://t.co/N8fQ6LWsOQ #changetheratio
— Amy L. Kovac-Ashley (@terabithia4) September 12, 2014
]]>In 1996, while a student at Pierce Community College, I attended my first journalism conference: Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC).
Now, nearly 20 years later, I returned to be its keynote speaker.
This was an intense, historical talk for me… and I knew I wanted to document it. So, while the audio isn’t perfect, I did a screen capture of my talk.
NOTE: The first 30 minutes is my talk, the second 30 minutes is the Q&A.
Thank you to JACC for inviting to speak.
And thank you to everyone who has changed my life. I mention many of you.
I did not do this alone.
The video (unedited):
Some of the pics from the event:
1946-2013
Raul was my professor.
Raul was tough.
I am not sure how I passed that investigative reporting class at San Francisco State… but he taught me about the integrity, the power and responsibility of journalism… and of those who practice it.
Raul was a mentor.
Raul was a friend.
The image above was from the back of the card handed out at his memorial held in Berkeley on January 12, 2014. It’s an excerpt form his journal, written in the early 1980s:
Yes. It is difficult, but not impossible if your heart and mind remain open to life, to people and to the possibility that Love can be. Not difficult, if you are willing to risk, to grow, and perhaps to hurt.
Raul was truly a great man… a mentor to so many… a role model, on many fronts.
He will be missed.
As part of an experimental directed research course, led by Félix Gutiérrez and myself, nine students had access to the legendary Los Angeles reporter’s personal archive, which was donated by his family to the university.
These students were among the first at the university to review the items, most was which were unknown to us, as part of the class to try to tell the private story of a public figure.
As the students indexed and digitized the content of these boxes, each one of them identified a story to tell to help bring this historical figure’s past come to life.
The work resulted in this rich site, which includes an interactive timeline (it looks amazing on a tablet).
The students were:
Elaine Baran, Melissa Caskey, Juan Espinoza, Regina Graham, Gustavo Gutierrez, Grace Jang, Elena Kadvany, Bianca Ojeda and Frances Vega
Learn more about the project here.
]]>A lot more.
Simply put, that’s why I am running for re-election to stay on the Online News Association‘s Board of Directors.
As I said when I first ran, I believe ONA needs to be the center organization leading and guiding our industry forward. That goal and need is as strong as ever.
A core part of my work — from teaching/training to #wjchat to Learn Code for Journalism to Tech & Tools to Horizontal Loyalty — is in sync with the organization’s mission: empower journalists to move our industry forward.
I’m proud of the work we have done in the last two years with the board. The organization has added more training, offered more scholarships, expanded its programs and has taken important steps to solidify itself as an essential part shaping the future of journalism.
But please don’t think it’s easy.
It takes a lot of work and I am fortunate to work along side with incredibly smart and passionate board members and staffers that give it their all. You have no idea. (If you see them at ONA12, please thank them for their work. Hell, buy them a drink!)
I feel that I contribute to the organization. I bring diversity — culture, age, ethnicity, location and experience — to the group. I bring my Web/tech background and experience to the organization. And I… how do I put this? I’m that guy … that one who asks tough questions to keep us honest and hold us accountable. Some of you saw that with the Patch thing. It was not a fluke. Ask my peers, they see it in our board meetings.
We face other challenges too.
As an organization, we need to find scalable ways that tap into the diversity of our members’ skills/experiences to share them and help them grow.
Web journalism is a broad term. Because we are inclusive, it’s an incredible strength for ONA. But if we don’t take advantage of it correctly, we look unfocused and diluted.
I think ONA needs to be the place that brings the diversity of Web journalism together to grow stronger together… and I’d like to continue to be at the table to make this happen.
Please help shape the future of this organization and journalism by voting.
And, if you think me worthy, please consider voting for me. I’d truly appreciate it.
Thank you,
Robert
Read my bio here
Richard Prince‘s Journal-isms reports that Hartford Courant has killed it’s embarrassing Google Translate site. If you recall, I wrote about the horrible site last month.
Instead the Courant has developed Noticias, “a 100-percent Spanish language news site produced by our newsroom,” said Gary Weitman, spokesman for the parent Tribune Co.
Glad they came to their sense. And I sincerely wish them luck in their new venture.
]]>Como una cortesía para The Courant, por demostrando ignorancia y falta de respeto a su propia comunidad, déjeme decir: lo cagaron.
If you were to translate this using Google Translate, guess what… it would be wrong. Anyone who is bilingual wouldn’t be surprised. But they would be surprised in hearing that a news organization would solely depend on using this primitive service as their “Spanish-language strategy.”
Sadly, this isn’t a joke: Hartford Courant’s Spanish site is Google Translate by Poynter
But, instead of just being disgusted or insulted by The Courant’s “strategy,” let me offer some tips for an actual strategy:
2. I know resources are tight, as an affordable alternative to hiring more staff, partner up with the local Spanish-language news organizations. Believe me, they are there. And they’d love to help you inform the community. (Hey Courant, have to tried working with Connecticut’s Latino News Source: ctlatinonews.com?)
3. No Spanish-language news organization in your town? Look again. Think radio, newsletters or neighboring towns. Any of these will be better than an automated site.
4. Still confused? Reach out to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists to find local members in your area, including Spanish-language news organizations.
5. But, let’s say there are no Spanish-language news outlets. Partner up with the largest, Spanish-language local business. They know their community and are fully aware of the information network that is functioning now.
Lastly, apologize to the fastest growing demographic in your community for treating them with such little respect. It’s not a smart business move to belittle them, especially if you want to tap into their growing influence.
I preach experimentation, risk taking and embracing failure. You experimented and took a risk… and you failed. Oh, did you fail.
Learn from your big mistake and start genuinely engaging with your own diverse community.
Do you have any tips for The Courant or any other news organization trying to serve its Latino community? Please share them in the comments.
Oh, and if you are wondering, here’s how I’d translate my statement:
]]>As a courtesy to The Courant, for displaying its ignorance and lack of respect to its own community, let me say: you fucked up.