Race and leadership in the news media 2020: evidence from five markets

Top editorial positions in major news outlets matter both substantially and symbolically. The diversity (or lack thereof) of top editors is thus symbolically important and likely to shape how news media are perceived by different parts of the public. In this RISJ factsheet we analyse the percentage of non-white top editors in a strategic sample of 100 major online and offline news outlets in five different markets – Brazil, Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States— across four continents. Overall, we find that only 18% of the 88 top editors across the 100 brands covered are non-white. Relative to their share of the general population, white editors are significantly overrepresented among top editors in all five countries, and non-whites significantly underrepresented.