Hit a universal theme, sprinkle in cultural details

Several years ago, I wrote a story about the first team of deaf cheerleaders being selected to participate in the biggest cheerleading competition on the West Coast, at Disneyland. (07/31/08)

Go Beyond the Sights and Smells at Ethnic Festivals

It's summertime, fellow journalists. It's hot, school's out, the news cycle is slower, and it feels as if your editors dispatch you to a hokey festival every weekend. (06/06/2008)

When Culture is Sadly Overlooked

The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, has written hundreds of stories over the years about a large group of Vietnamese-Americans in San Jose, who lately have been lobbying to name a retail shopping strip area after the former capital of their ancestral homeland. (4/9/2008)

Pay Attention When Cultural Beliefs Are Part of Crimes and Courtroom Dramas

Pay Attention When Cultural Beliefs Are Part of Crimes and Courtroom Dramas

New Approach to Increasing Cultural Diversity in Journalism, Cover it like a Beat

Lots of reporters know how to cover beats like cops or City Hall. A crime happens, you call the police and victims to get the story. The city's council's weekly agenda comes out, and you attend the meeting and write a story about a new law being passed. (01/07/2008)

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JOIN OUR BLOG DISCUSSION
Come join Sally Lehrman, a professor and journalist who writes regularly on race, gender and identity issues and Maynard Institute President Dori J. Maynard as we talk about the best and worst of media coverage and diversity. Add comments and give us your thoughts.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Maynard Institute gears up for its coming celebration of Black History Month

Much of today's media coverage breaks the country into black and white, North and South, male and female. Doing so fails to capture the complexity of American life that journalists need to portray.

Based on the late Robert C. Maynard's belief that the five fault lines of race, class, gender, generation and geography are the most enduring forces shaping lives, experiences and social tensions in this country, the Maynard Institute's Fault Lines framework helps journalists build a more diverse source list, have more voices in stories and determine which fault lines are at work in complex issues.
[more...]
Black History Project
Stories of the African American journalists who broke into media during the '60s and '70s.
Caldwell Journals
An account of the pioneers who broke the color barrier in America's newspapers
Ed Bradley
View video from his interview as part of the Black Journalists Movement Project

Black History Month and Beyond documents and preserves the stories of those courageous African American journalists who broke into general circulation media during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. [more...]

Martin Reynolds
View an interview with Martin Reynolds, Managing Editor at the Oakland Tribune.
Media Academy
View video from the Maynard Media Academy at Harvard University
Chauncey Bailey
View video and more from the Chauncey Bailey Project
History Project
Stories of the African American journalists who broke into media during the '60s and '70s.
Caldwell Journals
An account of the pioneers who broke the color barrier in America's newspapers
Ed Bradley
View video from his interview as part of the Black Journalists Movement Project