New faces, voices can help change the narrative
This week’s appointment of Montreal-born Samira Nasr as the first woman of colour to be editor-in-chief of the U.S. edition of Harper’s Bazaar speaks to the paucity of Blacks in high media places. Not just in print, on TV or radio, but management as well. The Oprahs of this world are few and far between.
Media commentator Martine St-victor applauds Nasr’s appointment.
“It’s a nice beginning to help change the narrative,” says St-victor, who can be regularly heard and seen in French and English on Radio-canada and CBC and read in La Presse and the Montreal Gazette. “But the reality is that in this country, apart from Elle Canada’s Vanessa Craft, there are few Black women heading magazines. Or Black men in high media places, either.”
Another media development this week has sparked debate: the decision of Alexis Ohanian, the white husband of Serena Williams and co-founder of Reddit, to leave the company’s board and to demand that his seat be given to a Black person, which it was. Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel was named Wednesday.
“This is not what I want,” says St-victor, also the Diversity and Inclusion Emissary for Montreal’s Startup Festival. “I don’t want somebody giving up their seat. I want to see added seats, so that they can be filled with different people.
“What Alexis was trying to do was great and you do have to start somewhere, but this is not what the fight is about. It’s not to take anything away from anybody. It’s about making more space at the table. If that were clearer, there would be more diverse people in places of power.”
St-victor applies similar logic to representation on the media front lines. And there’s certainly no question that this newspaper and most other media outlets have much to do, as all our leaders would acknowledge and attempt to deal with.
“I’m not asking you to give up your column. I want you to have it, but I also want someone who has a different perspective, based on their race and background, to have a voice as well. Changes are needed not only in newsrooms, but also in other print, TV, radio, fictional work and streaming services.
“Regardless of colour, though, it’s tough to get into any media, especially in these cost-cutting times,” St-victor is quick to note. “Newsrooms are one thing, yet what about management and boards of trustees of the big media companies? But there is a reckoning that is happening, like a media #Metoo movement. The editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit and op-ed editor of the New York Times had to resign because of unacceptable (racial) situations.”
St-victor is hopeful, citing as an example Cbc/radio-canada’s commitment to diversity for all English- and French-language commissioned programs.
“I’ve been lucky and I’m grateful. I have platforms and access. But that is why I need to use my voice, because I have been able to enter rooms where nobody who looks like me has been before. I think I’m in a position to speak to powers that be, to point out we do have a problem, that action must be taken, that issues like Black Lives Matter can’t be brushed off, that introspection is necessary.
“Still, I was having a conversation with a friend the other night and was saying: ‘Can you believe we’re talking about these same diversity issues after all these years?’”
Julian Mckenzie has high praise for media people of colour who have helped mentor and pave the way for him. That and a lot of hustle have made Mckenzie a strong media presence here, covering everything from news to sports to weather for CTV Montreal, the Montreal Gazette and other outlets.
“It’s been tough. I interned a lot. But I was really determined to get into the industry. I had people like (CTV Quebec City correspondent) Maya Johnson and the most iconic person of colour in the city, (CTV anchor) Mutsumi Takahashi, look out for me. Seeing those faces has been huge for my confidence. Now I just want to be in a position for the generation that’s coming to help them get there, despite the state of journalism now.
“But it’s not been unique for me to be the only person of colour wherever I’ve worked.
I wish there were more who looked like me, not only so I could feel more comfortable but that the stories being told could be more diverse.”
Mckenzie makes the point that Montreal Community Contact’s
Egbert Gaye is the only Black boss he’s ever had.
“Everybody makes a huge deal out of people of colour they see in front of the camera, which is not lost on me. But I feel that the next evolution will have people of colour behind the camera who have much more of a say about what sort of stories get out there, about who can really influence how we discuss things.”