The Nexus conducted a survey of the demographics of our editors and writers in May 2024 in order to gauge community representation within our staff, in line with the Nexus’s internal diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion became a permanent initiative at the Daily Nexus with the establishment of the Diversity Task Force in 2020. In the midst of global protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, journalists across the country called for increased integration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the newsroom. This journalistic movement included members of the Nexus’ own editorial staff, who strived to better how we as a publication serve the UC Santa Barbara and Isla Vista communities.
In the years following the initiation of the Diversity Task Force, our staff has made significant headway in integrating DEI values into the Nexus. Guiding this are three tenets ideated in 2020:
- Ensure that our editorial and general staff reflect the diversity of the UCSB community
- Strengthen representation in our coverage by improving relationships with campus and community
- Provide training on diversity and inclusion for all Nexus staff, both writers and editors
Originally consisting of 15 editorial staff members—such as Opinion or Artsweek editors—who dedicated extra time beyond their primary roles, the Diversity Task Force has subsequently evolved into two permanent, dedicated DEI chair positions. Currently, the chairs continue to expand the work of the Diversity Task Force. In addition to conducting the staff survey in conjunction with Data, the DEI chairs review identity-related articles and create workshops in which staff may reflect upon how Daily Nexus content affects and is perceived by our readers.
This article is a companion piece to our report on DEI within the 2023-24 Daily Nexus staff. That report highlighted the demographic breakdown of the Daily Nexus editors and staff writers and content creators.
This piece follows our previous demographic survey analysis, published in 2023, and continues to assess diversity, equity and inclusion within the Nexus staff. In this article, the Nexus compared the demographics of our staff with those of the general UCSB population, according to the UCSB Office of Budget & Planning. Consequently, this assessment provides future Nexus recruitment efforts with insight towards ensuring the voices of our diverse student body are reflected in our coverage.
44 of the Nexus’s editors and 32 of the Nexus’s writers — incoming, continuing and outgoing — responded to the anonymous survey in May 2024. Survey respondents were able to select multiple responses if more than one response fits their background or identity. At the time of this survey’s dissemination, the Nexus had approximately 66 editors on the editorial staff.
The Nexus’s writing and editing staff come from a variety of places around the world. The majority of our staff comes from California, in either the Bay Area or the Los Angeles area. The Nexus also has members hailing from foreign countries including, but not limited to, Taiwan, Japan and China.
Most staff members are from the Bay Area or Los Angeles area, but some are from around the globe. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Among the Nexus writers and editors, communication is the most common major. Other popular majors for the Nexus staff include English, psychological & brain sciences and statistics and data science. Furthermore, professional writing seems to be the most popular choice of minor, with over one-third of the Nexus staff taking a minor choosing that option. Two other popular choices for a minor are applied psychology and earth science.
The Daily Nexus staff is majoring and minoring in a variety of disciplines. (Siddharth Chattoraj / Daily Nexus)
Daily Nexus staff members hold a variety of different majors. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
The cultural diversity of the Nexus staff is enhanced by the fact that many members can also speak multiple languages, with those languages ranging from Spanish to Chinese to Bengali and many more. Ethnicity data for members who are mixed race were double-counted, in line with how UCSB counts their own demographic data.
A majority of the Nexus staff can fluently speak a foreign language. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
While all Daily Nexus members who responded to the survey are either Asian, Hispanic or white, 16% of writers and 12% of editors are of mixed heritage. The ethnicity graph shows the Nexus breakdown by ethnicity, aside the UCSB demographic breakdown. For reference, approximately 8% of the UCSB population are not white, Asian or Hispanic.
The Daily Nexus staff is made up of a mix of White, Asian and Hispanic members. Approximately 8% of the UCSB population are of other races, but no Nexus members surveyed were of those races. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
The Nexus staff has a wide variety of experience levels. Two-thirds of writers and over one-half of editors have had previous journalism experience. When in the Nexus, most writers and editors have spent between four to seven quarters writing and/or editing for the Nexus, with one-fifth of the writers having over 10 quarters of experience.
While a majority of Nexus editors and writers had prior journalism experience, a significant number joined without it. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Most writers and editors have spent 4-7 quarters working for the Nexus. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Less than 10% of writers and 5% of editors are transfer students, although transfer students make up one-third of the total UCSB population.
Only a small portion of the Daily Nexus Staff are transfer students. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
First-generation students make up 25% of writers and 16% of editors. By UCSB’s standards, “first-generation” encapsulates students who are one of the first in their families to graduate from a four-year institution within the United States.
A small portion of Daily Nexus staff are first-generation students. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Among writers and editors who have a paid job or internship, slightly under two-thirds of editors have at least one other job besides the Nexus. The same is true for about half of the writers, with 3% of them even holding four jobs, including the Nexus.
The number of jobs that Daily Nexus staff members hold ranges from one to four. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Most Nexus editors and a majority of writers are female, with 70.5% of editors and 53.1% of writers identifying as female. Male representation within the Nexus staff is lower, particularly among editors, where only 25% identify as male versus 42% of the general student body. Non-binary representation within the Nexus also exceeds the campus-wide percentage. A small number of writers and a very small number of editors identified as questioning, with the editors’ percentage rounded to 0.0% due to the proportion being too small to display a visible value.
The Daily Nexus staff is primarily female, with a greater proportion of female editors than the
proportion of females at UCSB. (Lance Sanchez / Daily Nexus)
Looking ahead, we aim to continue improving our DEI efforts within the Daily Nexus. Integral to these efforts are addressing gaps in staff representation. Currently, transfer students make up roughly one-third of the UCSB population yet only a small proportion of Nexus writers and editors. Expanding engagement of this demographic is a high priority for us as well as students beyond those from white, Asian and Hispanic ethnic groups. Additionally, offering support to all students interested in participating in student journalism regardless of prior experience remains continuously valued at the Daily Nexus.
Overall, we hope to expand opportunities for collaboration with various campus groups, deepen our community engagement and continue providing DEI training to further support a culture of inclusivity and representation.
A version of this article appeared on p. 11 of the Oct. 3, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
