Hussein Library back on the menu!

Obama library, begun with lofty DEI goals, now plagued by $40M racially charged suit, ballooning costs

The Black-owned firm claims it was accused of underperforming in the project because of race

Michael Dorgan By Michael Dorgan Fox News

Published February 16, 2025 6:32am EST

Construction of former President Barack Obama's long-awaited library and museum in Chicago began with ambitious plans for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) but is now plagued by huge cost overruns, delays and a $40.75-million, racially charged lawsuit filed by a minority contractor.

From the outset, the endeavor touted DEI as a key part of enshrining Obama's legacy at the 19.3-acre site, where costs have ballooned from an initial $350 million to $830 million in 2021 based on its previous annual reports, with no publicly available figures available for updated projected costs. The project set out "ambitious goals" for certain construction diversity quotas, with its contracts to be allocated to "diverse suppliers," 35% of which were required to be minority-based enterprises (MBEs).

"With these aggressive goals, the foundation is hoping to set a new precedent for diversity and inclusion in major construction projects in Chicago and beyond," the Obama Foundation wrote in a 2017 press release.

Barack Obama and presidential center

Former President Obama and his presidential center. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg, left, and Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, right.)

The importance of DEI was cited on several occasions in an explosive lawsuit filed last month by Robert McGee, the Black co-owner of II in One Construction. The firm is a minority-owned business subcontractor that provided concrete and rebar services for the center.

It is not clear what role DEI quotas played in the hiring of II In One as a subcontractor. II In One was one of three firms that made up a joint venture called Concrete Collective. The other firms included another minority firm called Trice Construction Company along with W.E. O’Neil. Together they formed a 51% minority-led joint-venture team.

McGee alleged that he and his firm were racially discriminated against by Thornton Tomasetti, a New York-based company that oversees structural engineering and design services.

In the lawsuit, McGee claims that Thornton Tomasetti changed standards and imposed new rules around rebar spacing and tolerance requirements that differed from the American Concrete Institute standards. The suit claims these changes resulted in his firm running up massive overruns in excess of $40 million, which put it on the verge of bankruptcy.

McGee's lawsuit stems from a memorandum Thornton Tomasetti wrote to the project’s leading construction partners about a year ago claiming that II in One — and the contracting firm it teamed up with on the project — were responsible for numerous challenges during the project.

The memorandum contained images of cracked slabs and exposed rebar to support its claims. Thornton Tomasetti said it spent hundreds of hours reviewing, analyzing, re-designing, and responding to corrective work and that subcontractors caused "a multitude of problems in the field."

"The construction issues were all unequivocally driven by the underperformance and inexperience of the concrete subcontractor," the memorandum states.

Thornton Tomasetti said the challenges with the concrete were due solely to the subcontractors and wrote that it "cannot stand by while contractors attempt to blame their own shortcomings on the design team."

The memo goes on to state that Thornton Tomasetti and an architectural firm, "bent over backwards to assist what everyone knows was a questionably qualified subcontractor team in areas where a more qualified subcontractor would not have required it."

The Obama Presidential Center

The Obama Presidential Center pictured this week. (Fox News)

That memorandum served as the basis of McGee’s lawsuit last month, as he alleges it contained "baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations."

The lawsuit claims that Thornton Tomasetti undermined the project’s diversity and inclusion goals, which were outlined in the project's general contract. The lawsuit also cites a DEI report by the project's construction manager in 2022, which outlines the project as "achieving significant diverse business participation." A report breaking down the demographics of those involved in the project was also released in April.

>>22593939

>Hussein Library back on the menu!

The suit claims the plaintiffs were "subjected to unjustified and discriminatory conduct… which directly undermined the Obama Foundation’s DEI goals and commitments, and mission to bring transformative change to the construction industry and local community by providing solutions to barriers that have historically prevented disadvantaged businesses from participating on projects of this magnitude."

The lawsuit claims that Thornton Tomasetti violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and that its alleged "defamatory and discriminatory statements and actions," caused II in One, Bob McGee and the other subcontractors to suffer extreme financial losses and potential bankruptcy.

The suit alleges that Thornton Tomasetti discriminated against II In One "on the basis of race."

McGee claims Thornton Tomasetti falsely accused II in One of lacking sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, while stating in the memo that non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified.

The lawsuit also claims the Obama Foundation relied on Thornton Tomasetti’s memo for not paying the subcontracting firms around $40.75 million for "additional costs incurred" at the site near Jackson Park in Chicago.

McGee's lawsuit refutes the allegations in Thornton Tomasetti's memo that his firm was inexperienced or questionably qualified, pointing to II in One’s 40-year track record in the industry and its completion of major Chicagoland projects, including Millennium Park, Harold Washington Cultural Center, and the American Airlines terminal at O’Hare Airport.

"Moreover, Bob McGee was aware and supportive of the Obama Foundation’s diversity and inclusion goals for the project and never imagined that the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer would single out a minority-owned subcontractor for unfair criticism and falsely accuse II in One of lacking sufficient qualifications and experience to perform its work, while, in the same letter, stating that the non-minority-owned contractors were sufficiently qualified," the memo reads.

"In a shocking and disheartening turn of events, the African American owner of a local construction company finds himself and his company on the brink of forced closure because of racial discrimination by the structural engineer," the lawsuit reads. "II in One and its joint venture partners … was subjected to baseless criticisms and defamatory and discriminatory accusations by the Obama Foundation’s structural engineer, Thornton Tomasetti."

The Obama Foundation said it is not a party to this lawsuit, and insisted that it will not cause any delays in the concrete work, which it says has already been largely completed.

"If the Foundation believed that any vendor was acting with a racist intent, we would immediately take appropriate action," Emily Bittner, the vice president of communications at the Obama Foundation, told Fox News Digital in a statement recently. The foundation has not responded to requests for information on the updated cost of the project.

The Obama Presidential Center aims to honor the political career of former President Barack Obama. It will consist of a museum, a library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the nonprofit Obama Foundation, which is overseeing the center’s development.

The project has faced problems in the past. Construction was initially anticipated to begin in 2018, but it was delayed until 2021. It is scheduled to open sometime in 2026.

Some community activists claim the new center will cause prices for homes and rent to increase and may price out many of those who live in the area. Environmental activists have also been critical of the project, arguing that it would remove too many trees and destroy some bird habitats.

Activists threatened to sue to block developments, but the plan to build the center was approved shortly after a lawsuit was filed, according to Newsweek. The Supreme Court denied the request to hear the case in 2021.

Representatives for II in One declined to comment. Fox News Digital also contacted representatives for Thornton Tomasetti for comment.

Court documents show that on Jan. 31, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. and Scott A. Schneider, a senior principal and structural engineer at the firm, filed for an extension of time to answer the complaint. The court extended the deadline for their answer to March 5, 2025.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/obama-center-subcontractor-hired-under-dei-initiative-now-suing-40m-racial-discrimination-lawsuit

>>22593939

>Hussein Library back on the menu!

>>22593947

NPR can’t stop crying over Kennedy.

https://citizenfreepress.com/

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/15/nx-s1-5293507/cdc-rfk-vaccine-advice

>>22594061

>NPR can’t stop crying over Kennedy.

Pien Huang’s Post

View profile for Pien Huang, graphic

Pien Huang

Health reporter at NPR

6y

So, so excited for this opportunity!

Pien Huang Will Be NPR's First Reflect America Fellow

Pien Huang Will Be NPR's First Reflect America Fellow

npr.org

51

6 Comments

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JiaJia Liu, graphic

JiaJia Liu

5y

Congrats Pien. Looking forward to see where you take the fellowship!

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Matthew Leonard, graphic

Matthew Leonard

Data Editor/Investigations, Honolulu Civil Beat

5y

Great idea. Look forward to following your journey.

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Ibby Caputo, graphic

Ibby Caputo

Journalist

6y

Congratulations Pien! So happy to hear this!!!

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Jessica Alpert, graphic

Jessica Alpert

Award-winning Producer & Content Strategist | Premium Podcast Production for Brands, Non-Profits, and Media

6y

WOW! this is incredible!! so many congrats!

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Suzanne Merkelson

EV Infrastructure | Public Policy & Incentives

6y

Congrats!!

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1 Reaction

Doug Mitchell, graphic

Doug Mitchell

Founder/Director Next Generation Radio.

6y

Welcome Pien. Looking forward to working with you.

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>>22594069

Help shape NPR's climate coverage: Apply for the 2024-25 Reflect America Fellowship

Come learn and grow with award-winning journalists at NPR as a 'Reflect America' Fellow.

Jeannie Phan for NPR

The 2024-25 Reflect America Fellowship will bring a tenacious journalist to NPR for 12 months to join our Climate Desk and report on vulnerable communities, particularly Indigenous communities.

We're looking for someone who stays on top of the news, is well-versed in a wide range of topics, and wants to learn and grow in one of the nation's most dynamic news organizations. In this fellowship, you will build skills in essential aspects of climate reporting, learn to understand and analyze climate science, and work on accountability and investigative stories. Along the way, you'll also learn to assess potential solutions to climate threats, including those that underserved communities are exploring.

As a fellow, you'll expand your skills and portfolio, working and learning alongside journalists whose award-winning stories inform millions of people and provoke change. Read the FAQ below for more information.

Background

Why did you create the Reflect America Fellowship?

This fellowship is part of nearly a decade of work to increase the diversity of NPR's content. This fellowship's focus shifts in 2024 to concentrate on one of the world's most important beats.

What does the fellowship involve?

The fellow will embed with NPR's Climate Desk, where they'll pitch and report stories on one of the world's most important beats. Fellows will work and learn alongside journalists at NPR and member stations whose award-winning stories reach millions of listeners and readers.

Will I be on the air and get bylines on NPR.org?

Yes.

Do you have to be an American citizen to take part in the program?

No, but foreign nationals must have appropriate employment authorizations.

Who should apply?

Journalists with at least two years' experience (including internships and other fellowships) in any journalism medium. A full job description and application can be found here.

Application Details and Deadlines

What do I need in order to apply?

1. In lieu of a cover letter, each completed application must include answers to the following questions. These questions are designed to gauge how you think about reporting and about the journalism profession. Be specific and use your answers to set yourself apart:

What are three climate stories happening right now in North America that NPR should focus on in 2024? Why are they important?

What do you think are the most significant climate issues facing vulnerable communities in North America, particularly Indigenous communities?

Besides major news outlets, what people, accounts and outlets do you follow to stay informed?

Tell us about a time when you pitched a story that was rejected. What did you learn from that experience?

1. Upload five links of your best journalistic work.

1. Provide contact information for two people who can speak to your work ethic, journalistic skills and passion for inclusive coverage.

1. Upload your resume.

How do I apply?

Submit your application here.

When is the application deadline?

Applications close at 11:59 p.m. EST on Jan. 26, 2024.

Selection Process

How many Reflect America Fellows will be selected?

We will choose one Fellow.

Who chooses the Reflect America Fellow?

The Reflect America Fellowship Committee is made up of NPR journalists, including leaders of the Climate Desk and members of the NPR Training team.

What is the timeline for selecting the Reflect America Fellow?

Nov. 27, 2023: Applications open

Jan. 26, 2024: Applications close

By Feb. 9, 2024: Three finalists are selected by the Fellowship Committee

Feb. 10-Feb 23, 2024: Interviews

By March 1, 2024: The selected Fellow is notified

Sept. 3, 2024: The Fellowship begins

Is the Reflect America Fellowship paid?

Yes. The Fellow receives $75,000 a year, plus benefits, which include health insurance and paid vacation.

Is housing paid for?

No.

Will the fellowship be fully remote?

Fellows will have the choice of working remotely or on site. Initial training for the Fellow will take place at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.

After the Fellowship

What happens when the fellowship is over?

Though two of our fellows have landed reporting and producing positions, completion of the fellowship does not guarantee a job at NPR. We do all we can to help you make connections at NPR and at any of the more than 250 NPR Member stations around the country.

>>22594076

>Do you have to be an American citizen to take part in the program?

>No, but foreign nationals must have appropriate employment authorizations.

>>22594117

>>Do you have to be an American citizen to take part in the program?

As the Lunar New Year approaches, we learn about the art of Lion Dancing

January 26, 20255:59 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

By

Pien Huang

,

Jason Fuller

4-Minute Listen

Download

Transcript

NPR's Pien Huang speaks with journalist Grace Yeoh, who spent a month with a championship lion dancing team, about the rigors of the dance and what makes it so demanding.

PIEN HUANG, HOST:

Nearly 2 billion people are set to celebrate Lunar New Year Wednesday and the year of the wood snake. There are all kinds of customs and traditions that come with the holiday. Families gather to reflect, and there's food and fireworks to fend off legendary mythical beasts. One of the staples of Lunar New Year celebrations around the world is the lion dance.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS)

HUANG: Two people dressed in a long, colorful lion costume are dancing in lockstep with high-energy choreography. It's an art that dates back to the Han Dynasty and is said to bring good fortune and ward off evil spirits, but it is hard to pull off. Grace Yeoh found out firsthand. She's a correspondent for Channel News Asia, and she spent a full month with former global lion dance champions, the Singapore Yiwei Athletic Association.

GRACE YEOH: I wanted to try the physical aspects of it. So that's, like, actually being either the lion head or tail, and then going on the stilts. But because it was just a month, and I didn't have any prior experience before that - so I only tried the musical instruments, but even that was harder than I expected. I think a lot of people underestimate the importance of being on beat and having a sense of rhythm. I tried the cymbals and as well as the gong.

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

YEOH: It didn't follow the usual five-six-seven-eight kind of dance rhythm that I was used to with my dance background. So for lion dance, the rhythm is not like that at all.

HUANG: And so, with the music, are there scores that people do? Is there a specific beat? Like, is there a message embedded in the - you know, the clash of the cymbals and the banging of the drums?

YEOH: Yeah, because according to legend, the banging of the drums and all that was meant to chase away bad luck, if I'm not mistaken.

(SOUNDBITE OF CYMBALS CLASHING)

YEOH: But in terms of when I was learning, there wasn't so much, like, say, a physical paper in front of me to show me what beat do I hit the cymbals on. A lot of it was very intuitive, which I struggled a lot with, but I was also very impressed that these boys that I was training with could pick up these things so easily. It was very natural to them, like, to just listen to the rhythm and to internalize it.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS)

HUANG: Yeah. So it sounds like there is a particular, you know, rhythm and beat that is, you know, driving the lion dance. And let's talk about how that meshes with the choreography. So, as we mentioned, there's two people, one costume. How does that work? And is there, like, a specific design to the steps that they're taking?

YEOH: They would tell me things like, OK, we're going to move the lion head in a certain way, and then that is supposed to convey, like, a little bit of a playfulness or a cheeky vibe. And then sometimes the lion would move a little bit slowly to indicate, you know, that they convey some sense of being coy. But then again, it's also very much based on the individual lion dancers themselves because different people would have a different kind of dance style. And when I was there, they did mention that the partners, so both head and tail, have to kind of understand each other's body movement and rhythm in order to come up with what actions would feel most natural to them.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMS)

HUANG: Yeah, I mean, that gets me to my next point, which is the crowd work. I mean, like…

YEOH: Yeah.

HUANG: …When you see a lion dance in a parade or at a celebration, like, it is a very interactive experience. You know, the lion is winking at you or coming up to you and, you know, taking things from your hands. So tell me about those interactions with the crowd. Like, what types of interactions might the lion have?

YEOH: The way I noticed them work the crowd is - I guess maybe they'll pick out a certain member in the crowd who is exceptionally transfixed onto the lion, then they will saunter over, kind of tease the crowd member a little bit, you know, drop some oranges or, like, nudge the crowd member with the lion's head - things that will convey some sort of playfulness, I think, and things that the other crowd members watching will laugh at. I think that's always a crowd-pleaser - anything that makes everyone else laugh.

HUANG: That's journalist Grace Yeoh talking about the lion dance.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC

>>22594124

>As the Lunar New Year approaches, we learn about the art of Lion Dancing

NPR Launches Reflect America Fellowship

https://www.npr.org/about-npr/662917089/npr-launches-reflect-america-fellowship

Come learn and grow with award-winning journalists at NPR as a 'Reflect America' Fellow.

Jeannie Phan for NPR

November 8, 2018; Washington, D.C. —NPR has launched the Reflect America Fellowship, a new program aimed at bringing a greater diversity of voices to NPR's news coverage. Applications open today and close at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 9, 2018.

During the 18-month fellowship, the Reflect America Fellow will work with journalists across the newsroom to find, cultivate and vet sources who are often missing from media coverage, ensuring that those voices make it into NPR's news programs on the air, in podcasts, and across all digital platforms.

The Reflect America Fellowship builds on five years of work to help NPR look and sound like America. In 2013, the network began tracking the race/ethnicity, gender and geographic location of its news sources on its two largest shows, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. NPR found that its sources were overwhelmingly white, male and located on the east and west coasts. A 2016 study of digital sources found similar challenges.

NPR continues to identify ways to improve the diversity of its journalism. The Reflect America Fellow will help guide NPR's ongoing sourcing work and research, and play a significant role in public media's efforts to increase the diversity of newsroom staffs across the country.

"This fellowship is a way for us to take the idea of diversity from aspiration to action," said NPR's Vice President, Newsroom Training & Diversity Keith Woods. "It accomplishes several things: The public will benefit from the new voices and perspectives, NPR will be introduced to new sources, and the Fellow will come away with deeper skills in audio and digital journalism."

The Fellow will have the opportunity to gain critical skills in reporting, writing and producing on audio and digital platforms while working with some of the country's best journalists.

Designed for an early- or mid-career journalist who wants to work and grow in one of the nation's most dynamic newsrooms, the Reflect America Fellowship is one of three fellowships offered by NPR. The others are the Kroc Fellowship, a yearlong program to train the next generation of public media journalists, and the Above the Fray Fellowship, dedicated to covering under-reported international stories.

The Reflect America Fellowship is a full-time position that runs from March 2019 to September 2020. The position is based at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C.

About NPR

NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans every day—on the air, online, and in person. NPR strives to create a more informed public—one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. With a nationwide network of award-winning journalists and 17 international bureaus, NPR and its Member Stations are never far from where a story is unfolding. Listeners consider public radio an enriching and enlightening companion; they trust NPR as a daily source of unbiased independent news, and inspiring insights on life and the arts. More information at npr.org/aboutnpr and following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Press Contacts

Isabel Lara / mediarelations@npr.org

>>22594150

>NPR Launches Reflect America Fellowship

Focus on sources’ race won’t be enough to close public radio’s diversity deficit

By Keith Woods | July 21, 2016

Sitting around a small conference table one January afternoon in 2014, a small group of NPR leaders and researchers looked through a stack of charts and graphs. It was, for some, the first time they’d seen data laying out the race, ethnicity, gender and geographic location of our sources. And the data was startling.

We’d launched this research in 2013 to help NPR, as one news leader put it, “look and sound like America.” The quiet gasps and slowly shaking heads around the table that day would tell you that the numbers bore little resemblance to America. Our sources were overwhelmingly male. Disproportionately white. Dominated by the east and west coasts. Even for people who shared the lament that public radio has a diversity problem, the numbers were surprising.

Today the attention we’ve paid to the people in our stories and interviews has paid off big in some places, inspired newsrooms across the country to do their own research and exposed the complexity of public radio’s challenge. We know now that we can do something to increase the diversity of our sources. But if we in public radio are to live up to the “public” part of our mission, we’ll have to change more than just the people we interview.

Woods (Photo: Mike DeVries, The Capital Times)

Woods (Photo: Mike DeVries, The Capital Times)

Consider these contrasting numbers: In 2013, 5 percent of NPR’s sources on Morning Edition and All Things Considered were black. By the end of 2015, black people were 11 percent of the sources heard on the newsmagazines. Three years ago, 18 percent of our subject-matter experts were people of color. In 2015 that number climbed to 25 percent. The dominance of our sources from Washington, D.C., dropped from 27 percent of the total in 2013 to 20 percent last year.

Those improvements were helped along by some of the big news stories of 2015; these stories pushed coverage into the country’s interior and brought more black people — experts and otherwise — into the news. We also benefited from a concerted effort since 2014 to experiment across the NPR newsroom with new ways of getting voices of people of color and white women on the air. That’s the good news.

There is also this discouraging finding: We hadn’t improved at all when it came to including women and Latinos. The percentage of Latino sources remained flat at 6 percent from 2013 to 2015. For women, the change was statistically insignificant: from 28 percent of sources in 2013 to 30 percent two years later. In some areas of coverage — business and the environment, for example — the numbers by race and gender were even worse.

When we covered education, faith, health or books in 2015, we had many more female sources. And there was much greater racial and ethnic diversity in stories about race, faith and health. Most of those categories, though, accounted for tiny slices of all coverage. Where we spent the bulk of our time — covering government, politics and economics — our sources were far less diverse.

>>22594156

>Focus on sources’ race won’t be enough to close public radio’s diversity deficit

t’s not just about staffing

The more I’ve delved into this data and talked with my colleagues at NPR, the more I’m driven to this conclusion: We’ve structured ourselves into a problem with systems and habits, and we’ve been trying to solve it with projects and initiatives. We’ll no doubt make some progress that way, but this big ideal of looking and sounding like America? That will elude us until we’re ready to make more substantive changes.

Whom we hire, what we cover and how we think about expertise are all driving whom we choose for our stories and two-ways. Part of the solution lies with each of those factors.

I don’t think staffing alone determines whose voices we’ll hear, but there are these facts from the most recent count: When the journalist was a man, 75 percent of his sources were men. When the journalist was white, 75 percent of the sources were white. And unless the journalist was Latino, the chances were slim that we’d hear a Latino voice on the air.

Staffing is impactful, yes, but it’s also not the great equalizer. Our news staff is half women, but women are consistently less than one-third of our sources. That’s where our systems and habits meet a segmented and segregated society.

So many of the things we cover in public radio, from politics and government to science and the arts, are dominated by men, by white people, by narrow geographic swaths of the country or the community. In public radio we’re partial to expert sources who come from academia, politics, business and, often, journalism — some of the least diverse professions around. Four of every five NPR sources fell into one of those categories last year. With that structural basis for coverage, the deck is stacked against white women and people of color before the first guest is booked.

>>22594156

>>22594164

>>Focus on sources’ race won’t be enough to close public radio’s diversity deficit

Presented with this data, a lot of journalists have explained that, under the pressure of deadline, people just resort to the usual suspects. You know who they are. They’re the tried-and-true people who know something about the topic, speak in clear, pithy sentences and answer the phone when you call. No doubt deadlines are an obstacle as we try to bring in more voices. But we did, after all, find those usual suspects in the first place. We created this problem on deadline, and we don’t have to stop the clocks to solve it.

For its ongoing coverage of transportation issues in Connecticut, WNPR has sought out sources who are both racially diverse and rely on different forms of transportation. Cyclist Tenaya Taylor, PLACEMENT, and ferry passenger Andreia Blanchard shared stories about how they commute to work. (Photo: Ryan Caron King)

For its ongoing coverage of transportation issues in Connecticut, WNPR has sought out sources who are both racially diverse and rely on different forms of transportation. Cyclist Tenaya Taylor talked about her commute to work. (Photo: Ryan Caron King)

As some of my colleagues have pointed out, it’s also true that a lot of sourcing is baked into the stories we tell. Cover national security and you talk to the experts in that field — and you don’t control their race or gender. Cover Capitol Hill and the makeup of your sources will look a lot like the makeup of Congress. It’s the same for a local school board, mayor’s office or state legislature. Those are clear obstacles to source diversity.

Here is one final overriding truth: The America we serve is half female. It’s 17 percent Latino. It’s all of the states, counties, parishes and neighborhoods that lie between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. They’re all part of the “public” in public radio. To get to them we don’t have to institute a wholesale restructuring of beats, transform the workforce overnight or artificially shoehorn people into stories because they are, say, female or Latino. If we accept that there is true journalistic and public service value in changing our numbers, we can take a few steps now:

Work harder to identify and interview the white women and people of color who are experts in the fields we now cover. That includes the politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders, professors and journalists who are our go-to sources.

Extend the scope of the beat to include the people routinely affected by the decisions of those at the center of the beat. School boards and city councils, for example, represent vast and diverse swaths of the community. Cover the civic leaders and their constituents.

Increase the number of stories from beats that are already reaching diverse sources: faith, education, health, housing, mass transportation, race relations, public safety, social justice, neighborhoods, etc.

We launched this sourcing work by counting. As we’ve shared the results of NPR’s research with member stations the past three years, newsrooms including those at Wisconsin Public Radio; WNPR in Hartford, Conn.; WFAE in Charlotte, N.C.; Oregon Public Broadcasting; KCUR in Kansas City, Mo.; Minnesota Public Radio; and KUT in Austin, Texas, have each created their own sourcing efforts. For all of us, it’s a start.

Our aspirations for service are embedded in our name and, for most of us, belied by the voices on our air. This diversity deficit may be a complex problem, but the path to solving it is pretty clear: Find out how we’re doing, figure out why it’s turning out that way and do something bold to change it.

Keith Woods is v.p. of diversity in news and operations at NPR and co-editor of The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity, published by Columbia University Press in 2006.

https://current.org/2016/07/focus-on-sources-race-wont-be-enough-to-close-public-radios-diversity-deficit/