Mayor Adams pushes newsroom diversity with scholarships for NYC students

He sort of stumbled out the gate, and when he got off to a bad start, the rookie Mayor Adams did what any seasoned politician would do.

He blamed the media.

But Adams took it to another level. The city’s second African-American mayor, and the first in more than a generation, said the press was picking on him because he was Black.

“I’m a Black man that’s the mayor, but my story is being interpreted by people who don’t look like me,” Adams said at the time, before launching a rant about newsroom diversity.

The lecture didn’t go over well with editors and reporters, who wondered about the thickness of Adams’ skin.

But give Adams credit for this: He wasn’t just talking about the issue. He’s doing something about it.

Adams on Friday announced a new scholarship Initiative to increase diversity in journalism that will commit at least $500,000 in one year for students of color in New York City to emulate the people they read online and in the newspapers and see on TV.

“From Ida B. Wells to Jovita Idár, journalists of color have used the power of the press to shine a light on urgent issues and push our country forward,” Adams said.

“Unfortunately, too many newsrooms still do not look like the communities they cover, with Black, Brown, Asian-American, and so many other communities underrepresented in our press corps.

“This scholarship fund for students of color will help support students from New York City as they work to repair the inequities we’re seeing in newsrooms, building new pipelines for students to become journalists and increasing the diversity of this essential industry.”

If you have any doubt about whether or not Adams is on to something, consider that there was hardly a peep in the press about the mayor’s newsroom diversity announcement.

Certainly, there’s a lot going on in the city competing for the media’s attention.

Buses continue to flood the city with migrants. Violent crime plagues New Yorkers above and below ground. Education and child care issues keep parents up at night

But the makeup of the people who cover these stories is almost as important as the stories themselves.

Yet the media in general does a poor job reflecting the communities it covers.

For instance, while Hispanics make up 19% of the U.S. population, they account for only 8% of American journalists, according to surveys.

Similarly, Blacks make up 12% of the U.S. population, but account for just 6% of American journalists.

Meanwhile, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders make up 7% of the U.S. population, but just 3% of journalists.

The numbers are really worse than that. The stats only reflect people and news organizations that responded to the surveys.

In fact, a large portion of newsrooms’ employees are white, higher than the share of U.S. workers overall who are white.

And if you think a lot of time is spent talking about this in newsrooms, then you haven’t spent a lot of time in a newsroom.

At the same time, the persistent closures of local newspapers have sealed off long-standing pathways into the industry for students seeking internships and entry-level jobs.

Adams’ administration has already begun conversations with leading journalism schools across the country to ensure that as many New York City students of color as possible can get a foot in the door.

New Yorkers can donate directly online to the fund to help support the scholarships.

But here’s the fine print. If the scholarship eventually leads to a job covering City Hall, and you produce a story the mayor doesn’t like, he’s coming after you, too.

It comes with the job, and you shouldn’t want it any other way.