Watch: PCLI presents Fostering Diversity in the Newsroom

The Press Club of Long Island presented “Fostering Diversity in the Newsroom”. on September 23. Panelists shared insights on their companies’ recruitment strategies in recent years and what they look to do in the future to increase representation.

• Calvin Lawrence Jr. is the director of community affairs & newsroom development at Newsday, where he is responsible for the media company’s community outreach efforts and the recruiting, training, and overall well-being of Newsday journalists. He previously worked for ABC News as a digital news editor after his first stint at Newsday, where he held various editing positions over the course of 18 years. He has also reported or edited for the Miami Herald, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Ann Arbor News and USA Today.
• Scott Brinton, a Press Club of Long Island past president and Long Island Journalism Hall of Fame inductee, is the executive editor of the 18-edition Herald Community Newspapers and an adjunct professor of journalism at Hofstra University. He has also freelanced for The New York Times and Newsday. At Hofstra, he is co-director of the High School Summer Journalism Institute, which focuses on increasing diversity in the media.
• Aime Rodriguez is the managing editor for News 12 The Bronx and Brooklyn. She has worked with News 12 Networks for nine years and served many different roles, including planning editor for News 12 Long Island and multimedia journalist at News 12 The Bronx. She is passionate about finding the stories that impact underserved and in-need communities. She was born in Havana, Cuba, and her family immigrated to the United States when she was 7 years old.

Nakeem Grant, the chair of the Press Club of Long Island’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and a Long Island Herald editor, served as moderator.