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This from @WesleyLowery really hit me hard. I had a similar experience at the Washington Post. [1/12]
![This from @WesleyLowery really hit me hard. I had a similar experience at the Washington Post. [1/12]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbPN3o7X0AAhSVK.jpg "This from @WesleyLowery really hit me hard. I had a similar experience at the Washington Post. [1/12]")
Creating diversity programs is a good first step, but how you support and promote those reporters is the most important work.
The problem with these diversity fellowships is that journalists of color are often made to feel like they’re just lucky to be there. [2/12]
I “made it” into two newsrooms through these programs.
First at the @StarTribune. @DPDREW, a managing editor, made sure I got the editing and mentorship I needed to shed my “temp” status as soon as possible so that I was on equal footing with other colleagues. [3/12]
My second fellowship was with the Post. When I got the fellowship, I had 5 years of reporting experience. My reporting put a non-profit CEO in federal prison & I doggedly reported on Minneapolis Public Schools. [4/12]
The fellowship paid for my masters degree, and I covered DC Public Schools for the Metro desk. The degree was really nice, but the real prize was the (potential) full-time job at the Post at the end.
It was the backdoor in. [5/12]
It was the backdoor in. [5/12]
What no one told me was that I needed to beg for this job. I was called out for not wanting it enough because I never quit my job at the Star Tribune, who graciously gave me a leave of absence so I had a job if things didn’t work out. [6/12]
Three months before the fellowship ended, I met w/ the metro editor to ask for a permanent job. He said he wanted to offer me a job, but it may not be covering DC schools, which was the job I wanted and was doing. The message that came through was I wasn't good enough. [7/12]
Had I made some mistakes (like the time I misspelled the names of nearly every source in a story)? Yes. But I was also consistently delivering good stories, including several front-page articles, all while going to school. [8/12]
I sought advice from three people who had the most power to advocate for me. All of them (white men) said I was overreacting. I was told I would have a job, so why was I upset? One told me, “If you have to scrub a toilet to get a job at the Post, then you scrub a toilet.” [9/12]
I knew my worth. It is not scrubbing toilets. Thankfully @nancycbarnes knew my worth too and offered me my dream job in Austin covering state politics.
On my last day, the metro editor told me I “knocked it out of the park.” I wish that encouragement had come earlier. [10/12]
On my last day, the metro editor told me I “knocked it out of the park.” I wish that encouragement had come earlier. [10/12]
Let me be clear, I value the time I had at the Post. By the end of the fellowship, my writing and reporting was the strongest it had ever been. Fellow reporters like @emmersbrown, @ByMoriah and @FenitN became mentors. [11/12]
But it has been the darkest year of my career because of how inadequate and unsupported I felt in that newsroom. Yes, it was a privilege to be a reporter there, but it was a privilege that I earned.[12/12]
