Review: All-White panels are the norm on WAMC's 'The Roundtable', and that is not a reflection of broadcast area demographics
Two posts released in the lead up to the election provide data and charts showing 'The Roundtable' falls short of WAMC’s own diversification policies
In case you were busy during the chaos leading to the election and the sorrow of its aftermath, here are 2 posts I released over the past month that assess how well The Roundtable implements the diversity policies of its publicly funded managing station, WAMC, based in Albany New York. Both posts analyze data covering a year of Roundtable episodes and provide evidence that Roundtable production practices do not fulfill standards defined in WAMC’s (federally mandated) policies on diversity. Those policies call for “[d]iversifying our workplace, content, and audiences” and to “practices that are designed to fulfill the station’s commitment to diversity” and “programs that celebrate the diversity of our broadcast and live audience.”
The first post evaluates diversity in WAMC content by measuring the average daily racial balance on Roundtable panels and tracking shifts in daily racially balance over time. I found 68% of episodes features all-White panels and 28% featured majority White panels. As the post explains, Panels featuring equal racial parity or non-White majority “constituted a minor (<5%) deviation from the normal pattern of all-White panels.” Looking at shifts in inclusion over the past year, the post finds 3-5% declines in diversity with White inclusion varying between 88-94%. The findings also contradict claims by regular panelist Nic Rangel1 on The Roundtable’s 9/19 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion episode: “The Roundtable has gotten much more diverse in the last year, year and a half,” she stated.2 Rangel presented no evidence to back her claim.
Cartoon by the amazing Davian Chester, known for his awesome series @Real_Toons.
The second post examines how well The Roundtable celebrates the diversity of WAMC’s broadcast audience by comparing daily racial inclusion patterns with the racial demographics of WAMC’s broadcast area and home community, the City of Albany, New York. I found that average daily White inclusion on Roundtable amounted to a 14-25% inflation of their 75% proportion of the broadcast area. Average inclusion of all other racial/ethnic groups on daily Roundtable panels dramatically shrank in comparison with their proportions in the broadcast area: Black panelists -25%, Asians -85%, Latino/a -70%, Arab/MENA -28%, and American Indians received no inclusion. The measure of average daily racial inclusion obscures a deeper imbalance: All Arab/MENA panelists appeared in the final weeks of the study, marking their absence across 11 straight months following the start of the Israel/Gaza war.
In sum, both posts raise serious questions about Roundtable producers commitment to WAMC’s diversification policies. Findings of baseline White dominance across more than 95% of episodes, stagnant or declining diversity over time, and White inclusion disproportionately above broadcast area demographics show that Roundtable production practices fail to fulfill fundamental policy criteria specified by WAMC management and board. The data, alongside management and producers’ refusal to publicly address these issues, raises the troubling possibility that the diversity policies are empty statements required for federal funding and to market the station to audiences who may actually care about racial justice and yearn for news grounded in the lived experience of racially diverse working-class people — the very groups that the Democrats largely failed to attract this election.
WAMC’s new CEO Sarah Gilbert can be reached at sgilbert@wamc.org
The Roundtable’s producer Sarah LaDuke can be reached at sladuke@wamc.org
Roundtable host Joe Donahue can be reached at jdonahue@wamc.org
Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York
Rangel spoke at a live panel on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Her comment occurs at about 1:23:00 in the audio recording provided by WAMC. Rangel is one of my favorite panelists. (https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-09-19/9-19-24-live-panel-at-the-linda).