The Same Ole’ Thing: The Lack of Diversity in Digital Coverage

Recently The Root published a slideshow titled “Behind the Keyboard: 30 Black Bloggers You Should Know,” which has being drawing quite a bit of attention. Angela sent me the link and I clicked on it excitedly, wondering who made the list. As I clicked through the slides, my excitement cooled. The list was dope. Aside from four or five entries, I already subscribed or knew everyone on the list. The bloggers were some of the best and brightest in their categories and are definitely deserving of every accolade the receive, but I couldn’t help but feel a certain level of ennui. Where were the new folk?

Call it a case of “anything you can do, I can do better,” or just plain coincidence. Most of the faces in The Root’s piece have seen on most of the major black online pubs at least once. If you peruse the Black Web 2.0 archives, you’ll definitely find some of them there. But where is the next generation of forward-thinkers? Have African-American pubs simply run out of people to cover or are we simply suffering from a case of editorial laziness?

By covering the same bloggers over and and over again black pubs are doing a disservice to both the bloggers and the reader. For the blogger, it might seem like the more coverage, the better. Who wouldn’t want free publicity complete with links leading back to their blog. However if there’s nothing new to report, the reader gets bored and stops caring and those extra page views dry up faster than naked pictures get posted on Media Take Out. The reader gets the shaft because they keep seeing the same ole’ thing and they’re missing out on the bloggers that for whatever reason aren’t getting the shine as the chosen few. And it’s not like these folks aren’t out there. There are tons of new bloggers hitting the scene everyday and plenty of others that have been plugging away at their work for years. We just haven’t heard of it yet.

And speaking of the chosen. Where in the heck are all the tech blogs? The Root neglected to feature one technology blog in their 30. Again it was the usual suspects in the usual categories: gossip, relationship, politics, entertainment and hair/beauty. What, they couldn’t go to any of the competitors and grab a few of the better known tech bloggers? I mean it seems a no-brainer to include a few tech blogs since almost every black news outlet struts out some form of a Blacks in Tech piece every year which is again, chocked full of the same faces we’ve come to know and love.

Again, this is not to disparage any of the folk on The Root’s list or even The Root itself (God forbid, I be labeled a hater.), but I’d rather read about those folks when they’ve done something major like publish a book, launch a new property, or sell their brand to a larger company ala Arianna Huffington.  Covering the same people ultimately does everyone a disservice, but the biggest losers are the newbies that are being robbed of their chance in the sun. It’s up to the publications to do a better job of finding the next big thing but I also want to extend some of the challenge to the reader. If you’ve think you’ve discovered a hot new blogger, hit your favorite publication up and see if they can cover them.

So I am asking you: Who have you been checking for that has yet to be covered? What makes them dope? Who’s got next?

About the Author
Sherri is a freelance writer that has a love of all things fun and geeky including gadgets, gaming, anime, and comics. When she isn't writing or out on the town living it up, she loves doing 10-12 hour marathon sessions on her Xbox 360 or one of her older consoles. It's not an addiction, it's a way of life!
See all posts by Sherri L. Smith.