What Makes Me Happy
African-Americans As Television Anchors Television news programs are much like those in any other part of the United States. Their efforts to be a source of information as well as entertainment are sometimes more, sometimes less successful. There are some, however, who are not happy with one feature of most national news: its news teams are predominantly white. Vernon Stone, a professor at the University of Missouri, has been following the numbers of minority journalists in television news. He found in 1999 that 82% were white and only 18% were members of minorities. Stone estimates that the numbers stayed roughly the same throughout the 1990s. Studies like Stone's indicate a rising need for more diversity in staffs of broadcasters while the industry's insiders claim that affirmative action practices are discriminatory and unnecessary. In media, what is said should matter more than how those who say it look like. From that perspective, counting white and non-white faces on TV might seem pointless. But when it comes to minority television reporters – namely African-Americans – a different appearance can also mean a different background and knowledge. "Diversity is more than about race," said Russ Mitchell, one of CBS News’s handful of African-American television anchors. "Diversity also involves philosophy and life experiences." Mitchell, who currently works as an anchor for CBS’s The Saturday Early Show, believes that having a diverse newsroom means that people and issues are understood and placed in the appropriate context.