Black Americans are underrepresented as newsroom employees in the U.S % of U.S employed adults who are Newsroom employees Note: Based on population ages 18 and older employed in the civilian labor force Non-Hispanic whites and blacks include only single-race respondents. For a definition of newsroom employees.
Black Americans tend to be underrepresented in U.S. newsrooms. While 7% of newsroom employees are black, 11% of U.S. workers overall are black, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2013-2017 American Community Survey data. There is slightly more proportional representation in local TV newsrooms, with the Radio Television Digital News Association finding in 2018 that 12% of those workers are African American. However, only 6% of news directors – who constitute the leadership of such newsrooms – are black, up from 2% in 1995.
Black Americans are underrepresented  | as newsroom employees in the U.S  | % of U.S employed adults who are  | Newsroom employees  | All U.S. workers  | 7%  | Non-Hispanic black  | 11%  | 76  | Non-Hispanic white  | 64  | 10  | Hispanic  | 17  | Note: Based on population ages 18 and older employed in the  | civilian labor force Non-Hispanic whites and blacks include only  | single-race respondents. For a definition of newsroom employees.  | see the blog post Newsroom employees are less diverse than U.S  | workers overall." Other racial and ethnic groups not shown.  | Source: Pew Research Center analysis of U.S Census Bureau 2013-  | 2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Public Use Microdata  | Sample file  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 