Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1408721
18 Worcester Business Journal | September 13, 2021 | wbjournal.com We've got you. MAKE YOUR MARK! COMMERCIAL LENDING BY SCU. banking | lending | local Let's Talk. 888.599.2265 southbridgecu.com Membership to SCU requires a one-time interest-earning deposit of $5.00 in a prime share account. Equal Housing Opportunity. Equal Opportunity Employer. F ederally insured by NCUA. NMLS #616673. F O C U S D I V E R S I T Y & I N C L U S I O N of a story, as well as the ways the criminal justice system has a disproportionately negative effect on low-income communities and communities of color. For reference, annual crime data reported on by the state of Massachusetts shows that Black or African American individuals comprised 19% of 77,721 arrests made in 2020, while the overall Black and Continued from page 17 African American population in the state is 9%, according to Census data. Another news outlet in Central Mass. moving away from old school crime reporting is Spectrum News 1, a regional cable news network based in part in Worcester, and led by News Director Andy Lacombe, who has worked in the Worcester news ecosystem for more than two decades. "We're not really chasing fires and crime like our news station would have done years ago ... We're chasing the issues around those things. We're trying to tell character-driven stories," Lacombe said. at shi, he said, began in 2019. At the same time, beyond crime and fire stories, Lacombe said his news team regularly discusses how to include many perspectives from different communities as they can with the goal of actively diversifying their coverage. Hurdles to diversifying staff e Central Massachusetts news media ecosystem runs the gamut from independently run news radio programs to newspapers run by billion-dollar, out-of-state corporations. is makes finding cohesion in the industry a challenge, and leaves the issue of hiring and promoting a more diverse staff up to individual companies. One hurdle to diversifying staff has been a lack of industry hiring, said The Telegram & Gazette logo adorns the top of the Mercantile Center. PHOTO/GRANT WELKER