After record high, minority representation in local radio news drops
Aug. 13, 2025 — The latest RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey found that the minority workforce in radio lost the 5% gain it made last year — back down to 16.6% from last year’s record high of 21.5%. All minority groups fell across the board.
The drop this year came from commercial radio, which fell from 19.4% journalists of color last year to just 8.9% this year. Non-commercial radio remained fairly steady at 23.8%, nearly identical to last year’s numbers.
The percentage of minority radio news directors continues to fluctuate. Two years ago, the percentage of minority news directors was down 1.5, last year up 1.7, and this year down 2.3 to pre-pandemic numbers.
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About the Authors
Bob Papper is Research Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University and has worked extensively in radio and TV news.
Keren Henderson is Associate Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University and has worked as a news producer and video editor.
Tim Mirabito is Assistant Professor of Broadcast and Digital Journalism at Syracuse University and worked in television, radio, print and online media.
This research was supported by the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
About the Survey
The RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2024 among 1,918 operating, non-satellite television stations and a random sample of 4,763 radio stations. The television response rate is different for every question, but valid responses came from as many as 1,406 television stations (73.3%) and 599 radio news directors and general managers representing 1,632 radio stations. Some data sets (e.g. the number of TV stations originating local news, getting news from others and women TV news directors) are based on a complete census and are not projected from a smaller sample.