NBC's Brian Williams criticized for his diversity comments

NBC's Brian Williams criticized for his diversity comments

By Robert "Rob" Redding Jr.

Editor & Publisher

Update: BLACK JOURNALIST RAP WILLIAMS ON DIVERSITY; TO MEET WITH NBC

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2004, 10:00 p.m. - A prominent black journalist today assailed new NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams for saying the world has "bigger problems" than promoting diversity in newsrooms.

"I don't know what bigger problems there are than diversity," said Wayne Dawkins, author of two books on newsroom diversity.

When asked about racial diversity in the newsroom in a recent interview with United Airline's November edition of Hemispheres magazine the incoming anchor said: "We have bigger problems. There are no black members of the U.S. Senate. We should keep some perspective on this. Nevertheless, I am constantly interested to hear of examples in our coverage where viewers think we got it wrong in one way or another because of a skewed viewpoint."

But, Wayne Dawkins - who is a member of the National Association Black Journalists (NABJ), an advocacy group responsible for promoting diversity in the newsroom, and author of "Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream" and "Black Journalists: The NABJ Story" - disagreed.

"We are talking about a medium that is most able to reflect the population," he said. "If anything, we should be getting better at what we are doing ... We should not be backsliding."

Williams' comments come after the Radio-Television News Directors Association found in a 2003 survey that women and minority staffing in local radio and television newsrooms has declined for the last two years.

The 45-year-old Williams began anchoring the most-watched newscast on television tonight, after being hand selected by his retiring predecessor Tom Brokaw, 64.

"I don't take [his comments] with any malice or anything," Dawkins said. "I think he is just woefully misinformed."

Update: BLACK JOURNALIST RAP WILLIAMS ON DIVERSITY; TO MEET WITH NBC

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