Equity, diversity and inclusion a priority for Fox47 News 

Residents report feeling they are well-represented, news director says 

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FOX 47 News Director Jessie Williams said a local mother who recently lost her young child to gun violence approached a FOX 47 News reporter at a press event about violence in Lansing and said: “I appreciate that you didn’t just show up for this part. You covered what happened to our kids, you covered the aftermath of that, and now you’re here.” 

“This is the kind of win we’re after,” Williams said. “Research shows a lot of communities don’t feel like they are well-represented and if they are represented on-air or in content, it is in a negative way. We were given the chance to really make this matter, and so that is what we did.” 

FOX 47 News, launched January 2021, is owned by E.W. Scripps Co., whose corporate equity, diversity and inclusion team was created in April 2018. Its efforts focus on goals in four areas: racial and ethnic diversity, gender representation, LGBTQIA and military veterans. Williams shaped the FOX 47 News team according to the company’s explicit goals.  

“We’re racially diverse, we have people who come from different parts of the country, journalists who like different genres of journalism,” she said. “Everyone at the table brings their perspective, the things that they are passionate about, and the things in their lives that make them who they are.” 

In addition to deliberately shaping a diverse team, FOX 47 News embeds reporters to develop stories from within neighborhoods; it claims it has more reporters than any other news outlet in mid-Michigan. Reporters then do the work of several people, each performing as their own cameraperson, editor and reporter — and some then return to the studio to also anchor the news. 

“Moments that make my heart sing are when reporters come back and say that people are stopping us on the street and saying that they feel well-represented, as who they are personally, or their neighborhood is represented. That’s the number one goal,” Williams said. 

Multimedia journalist Luisa Wiewgorra is an immigrant with a German accent who anchors the morning news broadcast. Williams said concerns about hiring on-air talent with a thick accent did initially cross her mind. But “I am going to hire top talent regardless of her accent,” she noted. 

“When it comes to showing how someone’s life experiences make them better at their job, Luisa is a perfect example,” Williams said. “She’s done amazing reporting on international students at Michigan State University. She can cover those topics with a level of empathy and understanding that I would never be able to.” 

On the evening before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FOX 47 News broadcasted interviews that Wiewgorra conducted with local Ukrainian immigrants. Wiewgorra said she appreciates having the opportunity to widen the view of Europe for local audiences and to help humanize global events. 

“I want our viewers to empathize with what is happening among people in other countries and people who come from other countries,” Wiewgorra said. 

Senior multimedia journalist Tianna Jenkins helps steer FOX 47 News’ equity, diversity and inclusion committee and invites members of the community to speak with their team at the station.  

“We want to hear how they believe the community is portrayed in the media and the types of things we can be doing to make ourselves better in our coverage,” Jenkins said. 

Jenkins said her team has developed a “diversity Rolodex” with hundreds of community sources to help ensure they are inclusive of all of the people who can speak on any given topic. 

Jenkins said she values working in a newsroom that invites daily conversations around representation of the community. 

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, newsrooms across the nation came under fire as social justice protests decried the lack of diversity in media. 

Workers in the news business were more likely to be white males than other occupations, according to an analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center. Now, a shift is happening in newsrooms across the nation. A Medill Media Industry Survey in late 2021 found 71% of media members said initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion were having positive impacts in their newsrooms. 

One Black employee at FOX47 News sought anonymity to speak candidly about her employer. 

While Scripps offers equity, diversity and inclusion training, she does not believe that the work is highly valued at the local level because the heavy workload involved in acting as reporter, cameraperson, and editor is not lightened when training sessions are offered. 

“What is happening is that you have to make a decision: Do I want to attend this diversity training, or do I want to make sure my story doesn’t fall through?” she said. 

A significant issue, the woman said, was the power structure of newsroom decisions. 

“These people you see in front of the camera are not making decisions about what is news and what is going to be covered. You have only white people making those decisions. This is not just our newsroom, it happens all over the place,” she said. 

As a Black person, she has had to challenge white leadership to bring her own voice to her coverage.  

“We see things through two different lenses. I cannot see the world through the eyes of a 40-something year old white guy. And I guess he can’t see it through my eyes either,” she said. 

In response to these criticisms, Williams said building a team that is reflective of the many perspectives in the community is an ongoing effort. Of three people on their leadership team, one is a person of color. Scripps hosted nine trainings in 2022 alone, and Williams agreed staff needed time and space to participate in this work. 

“One of Scripps' leadership practices is encouraging the team to ‘challenge the process.’ Our newsroom practices this regularly, which is a good thing. I am dedicated to building a newsroom culture where everyone feels safe to challenge the process in a respectful and productive way,” said Williams.  

 

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