Veteran journalist Bobbi Bowman began her conversation with NPF Widening the Pipeline fellows by offering a word of thanks, from herself and her journalistic peers.
“I and many of my friends spent much of our careers fighting to diversify our newsrooms because diversity means accuracy, and accuracy is job one for journalists,” Bowman said. “To look at you all, you are the realization of our work, our hopes, and our dreams, and I just thank you so much for being here.”
In the early 1970s, Bowman secured a place in journalism history as one of the Metro 7 reporters who filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint charging the Washington Post with discrimination against its Black employees. Their action was among the first of its kind against a major newspaper, and it inarguably led to distinct change in many newsrooms.
Bowman’s career also included a distinguished stint as director of diversity with the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She has been a freelance author, a graduate student and family historian. While tracing the arc of her own life and professional journey, Bowman believes that the changing American demographic is fueling an incredible shift of consciousness. Journalists must grasp and communicate it to an increasingly fractured public.
“A hundred years ago, the results of the 1920 census hit this country like an earthquake, Bowman said. “Why? Because it showed for the first time the majority of people in the United States now lived in cities and not on farms. This was a massive shift in people, and most importantly, a massive shift in power.”
Bowman said the results of the 2020 Census hit America just as profoundly. “Because it showed for the first time, the only population growth was among minorities, folks who look like all of us in this room. And even more importantly, for the first time, the absolute number of white people had actually decreased in this country.
Journalists are navigating the brink of the “Next America,” Bowman said. “No country has ever undergone the historic demographic change this country will go through for the next 20 to 30 years. You all are already covering this story whether you realize it or not, and this is going to be the story that you’re going to really cover the rest of your lives.”
“You will cover a country and cities and communities that are no longer defined by one race. White people are now the minority in our two largest states, California and Texas, and other states are going to follow.
“When the population changes, everything else changes. The food you see in your grocery store, the restaurants you find in your neighborhoods, the children you see at your schools, the labor force in this country, is changing from white to brown.”
Changing population is about who has power, Bowman said. “When the population changes, who runs City Hall changes, who runs the Congress changes, and who controls who the President changes. If you remember only one thing from this session, I hope you remember Bobbi said, ‘Changing population is not about numbers. It is about power.’ ”
“Now, what caused this incredible change in 1920 and in the 2020 census? One word describes both of that, it’s immigration. Immigration has literally changed the face of this country. Every 60 to 80 years we have an ugly immigration fight in this country. It started in the 1840s when the Irish came and there were signs that said ‘No Irish and dogs allowed.’ Then we had another one. But every 60 to 80 years, we have an immigration fight in this country, and we’re in the middle of another one of our very ugly immigration fights. Every time we fight over immigration in this country, we’re fighting about race.”
“So in summary, you’ll need to tell your viewers, your readers, your listeners, the implication for them, for their pocketbooks, their community, and their children, as this historic population change occurs, because people are afraid of change. That’s what this is all about. People are afraid of change, particularly when it threatens their power.”
“That’s what we journalists do. We explain to people how the world around them is changing and why. Good luck covering this story. I am so envious that you all get to cover this incredibly historic story.”
Access the full transcript here.
The Widening the Pipeline Fellowship is sponsored by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation and Lenovo. NPF is solely responsible for the content.
