What is the line between "few token minorities" and a "diverse staff"? It would be impossible to have a company's demographics map exactly onto the country's demographics right now and probably for a long time, so what goal should companies strive for? For example, are we really to believe that equal amounts of men and women are sports fanatics? I think polling SOSH membership, a free website with no boundaries for joining, would point us to no. Yes, there are many women who love sports as much as fanatic males, but I don't think it's controversial to say that the percentage of males who obsess over sports enough to make a career out of it is higher than women. So then how can we expect a 50/50 representation of males and females in sports media? If the goal is not 50%, what is it? 40%? 20%? Some ethnicities and genders are overrepresented in certain careers, be it doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers, small business owners, chefs, therapists, fashion designers, etc. So wouldn't it then make sense , conversely, that certain groups would be underrepresented in other industries that are super competitive, less reliable, and not well paying like, I don't know, sports media?
Honestly, I would love to hear someone put a number on this to understand what we're striving for beyond "more" because that's not a realistic, measurable, or helpful goal. That's not to say, wow The Ringer is perfect, but we're not talking about Fox News here. Does it ever get to the point where we're throwing the baby out with the bath water?