"The Case for Diversity in PR"

Last week, October 14th through the 18th, I attended the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) National Conference. When asked to write a business brief, what immediately came to mind was one of the breakout sessions during the conference that particularly struck a chord with me. Instead of taking the ‘typical’ route of researching something in news media I thought it would be more effective to write from first-handed media experience.
This specific breakout session was among several to choose from; however this session left a long-lasting impact on me. It also motivated me more toward my goal of one day being a public relations mogul that empowers women and minorities.

This session was called “The Case for Diversity in PR”. The speakers of the session were Laarni Dacanay and James E. Wright. Laarni is a Diversity Communications Specialist for NBCUniversal as well as the Co-Chair for the NBC Diversity Committee. James is a Diversity & Inclusion Strategist and a Trainer/Speaker for NBCUniversal.

The session began with a timeline of the progress media has made over the last century. It showcased things like the “first colored person on air”, “first lesbian kiss on screen”, “first African-American lead” and other groundbreaking moments for cultural minorities in media, specifically NBC and their affiliates.

The speakers then conducted several ‘warm-up’ excises to make us more comfortable and help us realize how much we use labels for people, even ourselves. After the warm-ups they proceeded to show us several examples of when minority portrayal has been successful (ex: Fast and the Furious series) and examples of when they have been less successful or a complete failure, in terms of including diversity.

I asked James what he would suggest to someone trying to increase diversity and battle stereotypes in media; his response was that “more people like us” need to demand to take over the industry and make certain ALL races, sexes, national creeds, etc are not only thought of but also included in all processes (writing, producing, executing, etc) of the media/communications industry.

Although this seminar was well-liked by the audience and did not cause much debate among us; it is vital that we, as a culture, strive toward more diversity and minority inclusion in all aspects and mediums of media. This session caused me to see ‘the bigger picture’ and realize we must make such cultural changes in the industry. It is our job as the upcoming generation of young professionals to make certain the workplace and products that we endorse or advertise for are culturally, racially, economically, and socially inclusive.

I know that personally I will take what I learned in this session and apply it to more aspects of my life. I will be sure to discuss this issue with other professionals already in the industry as well as my peers who will directly effect who is represented in the future. I acknowledge the progress we have already made, however it is still alarming when you look at the racial demographics of the United States and compare it to the racial and ethic portrayal on the news, in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc.

Moreover, all I can suggest is that we face this problem head-on instead of acting as though it does not exist. Progress is still to come and hopefully we will see a dramatic shift change in our lifetime. The majority of the United States; which is racially, sexually, and ethically diverse, should not stand victim to the minority homogeneous population.

Sources:
http://www.ocprsa.org/member/459/laarni-rosca-dacanay
http://www.visualcv.com/jameswright