AEJMC Trailblazers of Diversity Interview with Gerald M. Sass
- Introduction
- He was born in Webster, New York. He was a farm boy in the 1930's. Later, he moved to Rochester.
- He was born on May 3, 1932.
- He attended a private Catholic high school in Rochester. After, he attended Niagara University. He got a bachelor's in social sciences. He received his master's at the University of Chicago.
- He got accepted to Cornell University through a fellowship. But, he was married with a second child on the way. He never completed his dissertation.
- His first job was at General Dynamics working in human resources. He was there for 6 years.
- General Dynamics was a major government contractor. They were reviewed annually.
- In 1966, he began working with Gannett as a personnel director for the Rochester newspapers. In 1971, he was moved to corporate staff.
- He says he had major responsibilities in areas he wasn't familiar with. He did a lot of journalism school recruiting and working with editors.
- His mentor was John Quinn, who he says was dedicated to bringing diversity across the Gannett company. Sass carried this dedication to his recruiting. He says it was a great challenge and he enjoyed it.
- Priorities of the Gannett foundation wanted to be changed; they wanted a study to be done on journalism education to see where priorities lay. Sass volunteered to conduct the survey.
- He did the survey in 1973 and made a report to the foundation.
- Back then, language for diversity was "support for minorities."
- The foundation was recruiting a director of education, and Sass got the job.
- The first diversity efforts were at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The first one was at Howard University in 1974.
- They also helped with HU's career conference. He says it was a great program with seminars and interviewing.
- He says news editors were the gatekeepers. They were deciding for society what should and shouldn't be covered. If you can bring a mix into the newsroom that reflects the population, you're much more likely to present a more valid picture.
- The newspapers and wired services had a built-in pipeline. In order for change, the both ends of the pipeline had to be looked at.
- Unconventional sources of journalists were brought in. He mentions the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
- Recruitment was encouraged at HBCUs. Developing sources took time.
- They also helped journalism schools with scholarship programs and summer workshops.
- He calls John Quinn the "conscious of Gannett." He was able to get support from editors and succeed in recruiting.
- He says white males dominated the journalism industry.
- He talks about his interest in diversity. He mentions a paper he did, "The Common Good" that was on equity and fairness.
- He says he had college experiences that provided him insight. One was when he was a senior at NU and was applying to graduate schools.
- When he got a graduate scholarship to the University of Chicago, his education was questioned because he had gone to NU.
- Back then, diversity was an issue of race. Newsrooms wanted black reporters to cover civil unrest.
- He mentions HBCUs that Gannett was working with. He says at one point they were working with the National Black Media Coalition.
- When Gannett got involved with the Institute for Journalism Education (IEJ), they had a broader concept.
- In the mid 1970's, Hispanics were targeted. Gannett was introduced to the California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA). He says it was a fascinating experience for him.
- He says journalism schools deserve credit for bringing more women into the newsroom.
- Women in management was another issue. Newsrooms weren't ready for women to take leadership roles.
- He thought of grants as "venture capital investments."
- He talks about the concept of change. You need risk and push.
- He goes back to the pipeline concept. He says civil unrest affected newsrooms.
- Minority students didn't have support from their parents to become reporters.
- He was involved in getting grants approved for minority programs.
- When they were forming the doctoral program at North Carolina, they took professionals and put them through a rapid course. He says there was always a mix.
- Half of the awarded scholars were minorities. "Virtually everything we did had some element of diversity in it."
- He estimates tens of millions of dollars awarded over those years.
- He talks about his experience with John Quinn trying to keep a program alive. Robert Maynard became another mentor to Sass.
- Quinn and Sass were told the program was ending at Columbia University because goals had been met. Sass wrote a proposal to keep the program alive.
- Sass says he went to 14 consecutive graduations for the program.
- Going to graduation was a chance for him to "recharge his batteries." He says the enthusiasm was contagious.
- Training editors was just as important as training reporters.
- ASNE had a goal of reaching a certain percentage of minorities in newsrooms. Sass says it was unusual that they set a numerical goal.
- The annual survey was the first step and he says there was some reluctance from editors. They didn't want to publicly go on record about their newsroom statistics.
- In 1979/1980 ASNE started a program on regional workshops.
- ASNE eventually hired a full-time staffer responsible for promoting minority programs.
- Sass thinks that the majority of newspapers had good intentions and gave good effort. But running a newspaper isn't like running General Motors.
- He had little involvement in the radio and broadcast industry. He says radio and television were ahead of newspapers in the 1970's.
- He talks about the Federal Communications Commission. License renewal was an important factor. Newspapers weren't subject to this.
- He helped with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). "Just the presence of an organization like that, I found very appealing."
- When minority organizations were recognized and invited, the equation was changing.
- Groups like NABJ were a great recruiting tool for prospective high school and college students. And for having someone to relate to.
- There was pressure. He got a call from a colleague who had a suspicion that he was creating unions at the summer workshops.
- "We were putting power into the hands of some people that didn't have power before." When a mix is changed, there's going to be abrasiveness. If you're successful, you'll manage the abrasiveness.
- His first visit to a CCNMA meeting was exciting. He talks about the first proposal submitted.
- CCNMA had everything it needed but money, and he wanted to see the organization stretch. He says working with CCNMA was one of the high points of his career.
- He says CCNMA gave birth to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
- The formation of NAHJ. He says CCNMA didn't see themselves expanding as a national organization.
- After 1982, steering meetings began. He went to a Los Angeles meeting with a $50,000 check.
- Other organizations and foundations came in to help with funding. He says NAHJ exceeded his expectations in terms of the growth of membership.
- He recalls being in D.C. and seeing the dedication from everyone. Seeing them out there was an extraordinary thing.
- He says it was a major turning point because you could see accomplishments being made.
- The formation of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). He says there was a significant population.
- An agreement to go national was made. He says the last convention he went to was large and in Honolulu.
- AAJA launched their first overseas affiliate in Hong Kong. He spoke at one of the meetings.
- There was always a push to do better and not just settle with the status quo.
- There was a Native American Publisher's Association. A member was looking for funding and Dow Jones became their primary funders.
- There was a split in leadership and the association became the Native American Journalist Association (NAJA).
- His joined AEJMC to help his recruiting position at Gannett. He tried his best to get involved in AEJMC programs.
- In the 1970's, AEJMC was primarily a white male organization. The foundation gradually began to fund more programs in AEJMC.
- AEJMC joined forces with the accrediting council to have a requirement that reflected diversity. It was a long period of evolution for AEJMC.
- He mentions accomplishments made by Asian American journalists.
- AEJMC has divisions such as Minorities and Communication (MAC). They also have commissions on gays, lesbians, and transexuals. "There's visibility for virtually every piece of the population."
- The Freedom Forum decided to try a geographic presence in the western United States. They chose Felix Gutierrez to lead this.
- Sass first met Gutierrez through CCNMA. He says he had great talent and a gift for understanding people and helping to develop them.
- He talks about the formation of the Media Study Center at Columbia University. The idea was to bring scholars and media professionals together so they could work together on projects.
- He wrote a proposal and then looked at universities for a home base.
- He talks about a journalism educator at the University of Oregon. This person became the executive director for the media center and had great progress in journalism education.
- Today, the program is gone.
- In 1990, he chaired a program called "FF." This led to the change of programs at the Freedom Forum. One of the recommendations from a committee he was on was the possibility of a museum.
- He didn't think a museum could exist without the exit of programs like the Media Study Center.
- He talks about the creation and building of the museum.
- He talks about money and spending numbers of different programs.
- He wasn't part of the eliminating process since it happened after he retired in 1997. He says it had to be difficult.
- Sass is concerned about diversity in journalism. Traditional news outlets have diminished their importance. Most young people get their news online.
- He is also concerned that everyone is becoming a journalist with blogs and such. Information coming through isn't always true.
- How can we need maintain diversity when there is fewer and fewer major outlets for news.
- Journalism schools have made good progress in diversity. He would like to see more diversity in Ph.D. candidates.
- He sees unusual trends in society. He talks about individual freedom.
- Young graduates have more opportunities. There is more diversity in terms of race, gender, and sex. We have a long way to go, but many doors have been opened.
- He talks about diversity outside of journalism.
- He talks about newspaper cuts. We have to look at what's going to emerge from the internet.
- He talks about a quote from a colleague. There has been progress in law, but putting the spirit of those laws in the heart of the American people is challenging.
- There's a survey on the First Amendment, and 29% of the American population cannot name a single First Amendment freedom. And 40% of the populations thinks the First Amendment goes too far in protecting individual expression.
- Media literacy is an issue journalists have to keep in mind.
- He will always be grateful to everybody who supported his career. He had a talent for seeing talent in others.
- Frank Sotomayor concludes interview.