June 4, 2020The external report was commissioned by The Philadelphia Inquirer after an insensitive headline (“Buildings Matter, Too”) sparked a wider conversation about a lack of racial representation in the newsroom and throughout coverage. Staff, led by journalists of color, declared they had been “dragging this 200-year-old institution kicking and screaming into a more equitable age” and 44 of them took a “sick and tired day” in protest. The Inquirer’s top editor resigned a few days later.
The research released Friday consisted of an audit designed to “hold up a mirror” to existing coverage, one-on-one interviews, analysis of the staff’s demographic makeup, and recommendations to improve. Citing Wenzel’s previous work analyzing source diversity at WHYY as a model, the researchers identified 15,000 individuals who served as sources or subjects across Inquirer stories and other content, including photos, social media, and video.