Why now? Here are the statistics

10 July 2020

Only 13% of UK journalists are from non-white ethnic groups (NCTJ Diversity in Journalism report, 2022)
Newsroom processes ‘continue to be exclusionary and racism is commonplace.’ Black journalists are pigeonholed, face racism and discrimination, and feel there is a lack of support. Representation of minority communities is weak in UK media (Ethical Journalism Network, Structural Racism in UK Newsrooms, 2022)
80% of UK journalists come from the highest social classes, compared to 42% of the general workforce (NCTJ, 2022)
43% of Britain’s top 100 journalists were privately educated, compared to 7% of the general population (Sutton Trust Elitist Britain report, 2019)
39% of professionals in the media (including newspaper columnists, high profile editors and broadcasters) went to Oxbridge, compared to <1% of the general population (Sutton Trust, 2019)
33% of newspaper columnists went to private school and Oxbridge ((Sutton Trust, 2019)
Working class representation in journalism has hit a record low. Socioeconomic status is the only area in which the UK news industry is becoming increasingly unequal (NCTJ, 2022)
92% of news media professionals went to university (Sutton Trust, 2019)
89% of UK journalists have a degree or higher level qualification (NCTJ, 2022)
19% of UK journalists have a work-limiting health problem or disability (NCTJ, 2022)
6% of workers in UK TV and radio are disabled (Ofcom Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Television, 2019)
6-8% of workers in UK TV and radio identify as LGBQT+ (Ofcom Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in TV and Radio report 2022)
LGBTQ+ journalists face a hostile environment in the UK; 82% reported being subject to online harassment and abuse (Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, Are media organisations adequately protecting LGBTQ+ journalists from harassment and abuse? 2022)