“It comes down to opportunity”: A talk about diversity in sports media with Rodney Hinds
“It had its challenges[breaking into the industry]. I think acceptance from the so-called ‘press pack’; and getting accreditation were possibly the most challenging things.”
Currently serving as sports editor at The Voice, Rodney Hinds is a stalworth of the industry, boasting over two decades of experience and a National Diversity Awards Lifetime Achievement Winner in 2019.
When pondering the subject of diversity in sports media, there was no one better than Hinds for me to sit down with.
“We got a lot of rejection, I got rejection early on from organisations that now welcome me and make me something of a priority. So, yeah, it was challenging.”
As a young journalist, trying to find a way to break into the industry is difficult enough. The added caveat of being black in a still white-male-dominated landscape is just an additional hurdle to clear, a sentiment Hinds shared.
“I had the mindset that I was going to do this, the mindset maybe not at that point, but later on that maybe, I was paving the way for others to get accreditation.”
A major driving force and motivation for Hinds was the disparity between the number of black athletes competing at the highest level and the number of black journalists.
“From my viewpoint, there were lots of black sportspeople in athletics, boxing, cricket, football. I just thought that the black press needed to have a seat at the table in order to cover those stories and create our own narrative.”
He went on to emphasise that the success and activism of elite black athletes made his job easier and pointed out the importance of having black journalists and press at the highest level to tell their stories.
This is almost more important when telling the other side of the story. It’s poignant to touch on the Vinicius Jr. situation that evolved very recently.
The reporting done by the Spanish media in the immediate aftermath of Vinicius’ racial abuse and suspension was disgraceful, to say the least. Many of the papers, instead of accurately telling the depth of the story, pivoted to make it an issue of corruption; and in the worst cases, some insinuated the abuse was Vinicius’ fault.
La Liga has always had major issues when it comes to racism in stadiums, and the issues continue to be compounded by reporting that turns a blind eye to racism in many of the cases. Tone deaf would be an understatement, and it’s not hard to argue that more diverse newsrooms would aid massively in curbing the issue on the reporting side.
“The key word is obviously relatability. No white journalist is going to know what it means or the effect that to be called the N-word, they can have all the academic qualifications and experience in the world. They won’t know how deep and hurtful those sorts of things are.”
Hinds continued to highlight that being a good reporter should be paramount.
“I think our responsibility is very strong because over the years I’ve just got the growing sense that black sportspeople want to tell their stories or their narrative to black journalists as my career has moved on.”
“The greatest responsibility is just to be a good journalist, no matter what colour you are. Present the facts, but use that obvious USP of being black yourself to put a spin on stories that other journalists simply can’t.
More companies and newsrooms are looking to battle the issue of diversity with programs and overall new measures aimed towards employing and giving opportunities to under-represented groups, with the Guardian’s positive action scheme springing to mind.
In addition to companies making their own efforts, there are organisations like the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS) that were created to battle the issue of diversity and the under-representation of minorities in sports media.
BCOMS has held several networking events, conducted years of research, and provided platforms for young under-represented journalists and media personalities to display their talents, and garner new opportunities.
In their most recent study, released in their “D Word 4” brochure, it was revealed there were only eight black Asian and minority ethnic women included in the 456 broadcast and written media roles at EURO 2016, Wimbledon, Rio Olympics and Paralympics.
Additionally, only 21.3% of individuals in the sample were black or Asian in UK broadcasting roles. Women accounted for 35.3% of the total in these roles, with black & asian women specifically coming in at 11.2%.
While these statistics are a specific snapshot of the wider industry, it’s still clear to see that much is still to be done to provide more platforms to increase diversity.
BCOMS has pledged to provide these platforms. BCOMS selected six young professionals to work at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and more than 100 young people have progressed through the BCOMS programme.
Going forward, their focus will be to continue the establishment of effective partnerships with leading sports media organisations and the creation of links between these organisations and sports media professionals.
All with the hopes of enabling more opportunities for young people from under-represented groups to access careers in the sports media.
Hinds is one of the founders of BCOMS and believes the chance should be given to young journalists, willing to put in the hard yards.
“I think there’s been significant progress, but the caveat for that, for me, is that it’s still too slow, and a lot more could be done,” Hinds remarked. “I think it’s down to one word, and it’s not just about sports, journalism or media. What our community will always need is opportunity.
“As long as the opportunity is there, you might get the opportunity and prove not good enough, you might prove to be middle of the road or you might get the opportunity to be a sensational superstar in the world of media. I just think it’s about first getting that opportunity.”
In his career, Hinds has done immense work for young journalists who otherwise would not have had platforms to strut their stuff, myself included.
“At The Voice, I recognized the influence that I had, that I could organise accreditation, I could make recommendations to Sky and other outlets about black journalists that were good enough, and I take a lot of pride in that. Because the narrative with some of those bigger organisations was that they didn’t know where to find black journalists. Well, that is absolute nonsense.”
As we came to the end of our conversation, he emphasised his initial view, and honestly, what should be the lasting thought resonating in everyone’s mind.
“We’ve got to keep projecting our talent, and it’s certainly there. I’ve been in the trade a long time, I see some talent now and the future is in wonderful hands. But it still comes back to that opening statement, the opportunity needs to be provided.”
