In five years, the @nytimes newsroom has hardly diversified. This is what failure looks like:

Since 2015, zero increase in Latinos in the newsroom, African Americans went from 7% to 9%, and Asians from 8% to 10%.

Let's be truthful—that's dismal! https://www.nytco.com/company/diversity-and-inclusion/2019-diversity-and-inclusion-report/

What's baffling, the Times buried the lede, highlighting progress on the business side, while downplaying almost no progress in the newsroom—where representation is most important.

As communities of color disproportionately suffer the impact of COVID-19 and face unprecedented attacks by the Trump administration, these diverse perspectives have never been more important. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/magazine/racial-disparities-covid-19.html

The news stories we read aren't just shaped by those answering questions, they're shaped by those asking the questions.

So representation in media isn't just about symbolism, it's about ensuring diverse perspectives and stories are told—and told with the nuance they deserve.

The @nytimes and other news orgs with the same problem need to:
1) improve recruitment, retention, and promotion policies and practices
2) help build a stronger pipeline of diverse journalists
3) hold themselves as accountable as readers expect them to hold others

The @nytimes does a lot of excellent work in the face of tremendous challenges. That work would only be improved by increased diversity and representation in the newsroom.