123 non-white speakers you need at your next journalism event to avoid 'whanels' | Media news
Credit: Frank Noon for Mousetrap Media. Pictured: Imriel Morgan at Newsrewired. All rights reserved
'Whanels' - or all-white panels - are still way too common at media conferences.
The publishing industry is often criticised for its lack of diverse voices. Although many events have now started to feature more women, few are paying the same level of attention to non-white speakers.
We have been guilty of this ourselves at Newsrewired, our twice-yearly digital innovation conference. Although we have a 50:50 gender representation policy in place, which means that we want at least half of our speakers to be women and avoid 'manels', we have not been equally intentional about the proportion of non-white experts. That is set to change.
One of the problems we - as a media industry - have is that our networks are not diverse enough. When it comes to searching for event speakers, we tend to tap into our contacts and, unsurprisingly, we end up with people from a similar background.
To help event organisers connect with and get to know diverse media experts, we compiled this list of non-white speakers and linked to their social media profiles. Following them will already put new stories and perspectives on your radar which can also inspire your event agenda.
Most of the experts featured below are based in or near the UK. This is intentional as we hope that physical events will return soon after the covid-19 pandemic ends. Also, there are a few databases of diverse US journalists out there we did not want to be reinventing the wheel.
To make the search simpler, we categorised the speakers by their main field of expertise but many are active in different areas. A podcaster can also be a mobile journalist. A reporter can be an academic. We encourage you to explore their profiles to learn more about their work.
Finally, this is absolutely not a complete list. It features experts whom we have worked with over the past couple of years, as well as those who were recommended to us by our community. Please get in touch with us at @journalismnews to let us know about anyone who should be featured below - we want this to be the start of a much larger project that will contribute to raise the profile of these fantastic speakers.
Business and leadership
Bola Awoniyi, media strategist | UK
Sharon Pian Chan, VP of philanthropy, New York Times | USA
Madhav Chinnappa, director of news ecosystem development, Google | USA
Mukul Devichan, executive editor, BBC Voice and AI | UK
Sharan Dhaliwal, editor, Burnt Roti Magazine | UK
Ria Hebden, TV presenter | UK
Nancy Kacungira, journalist, BBC | UK
Dima Khatib, managing director, Al Jazeera+ | Qatar
Ronke Lawal, PR expert | UK
Liv Little, CEO, gal-dem | UK
Anthony Lorenzo, journalist and entrepreneur | UK
Jasmine McNealy, academic | USA
Tobi Oredein, founder of Black Ballad | UK
Hina Pandya, journalist, writer, trainer | UK
Martin G. Reynolds, co-executive director, Maynard Institute | USA
Meera Selva, director of the Journalist Fellowship Programme, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism | UK
Cristina Silva, enterprise editor, USA Today | USA
Kalpesh Solanki, group managing editor, Asian Media Group | UK
Otegha K. Uwagba, consultant | UK
Sisi Wei, director of programs, Open News | USA
Audience engagement and newsroom strategy
Yusof Abdul-Rahman, associate consultant, Fathm | UK
Ayomikun Adekaiyero, social media editor, PressPad | UK
Eliza Anyangwe, freelance journalist | UK
Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams, editor, newsroom diversity, Reuters | UK
Aaqil Ahmed, advisor | UK
Priscilla Baffour, global head of diversity and inclusion, FT | UK
Vedika Bahl, journalist, France24 | France
Tauhid Chappell, project manager, Free Press | USA
Serena A. Chaudhry, senior manager, Dataminr | UK
Emma Carew Grovum, newsroom and product strategist | USA
Reg Chua, executive editor, editorial operations, data and innovation, Reuters | USA
David Dunkley Gyimah, journalist and filmmaker | UK
Solomon Elliott, founder, Student View | UK
Catherine Gicheru, editor and ICFJ Knight Fellow | Kenya
Simi Jolaoso, journalist, BBC | UK
Nimesh Joshi, programme and digital editor, ITV Central | UK
Adriana Lacy, audience engagement editor, LA Times | USA
Anthea Lee, producer | UK
Aurore Malval, reporter, Nice-Matin | France
De'Graft Mensah, presenter, BBC Newsround | UK
George Ruddock, managing director, The Voice Online | UK
Sameer Padania, consultant, Macroscope London | UK
Jenny Wong, senior project manager | UK
Karen Yin, editor, Conscious Style Guide | USA
Mobile journalism
Imran Azam, mobile journalist | UK
Abdul Kabil Khan (Jamil Khan), assistant professor, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh | Bangladesh
Sumaiya Omar, co-founder Hashtag Our Stories | UK/South Africa
Yusuf Omar, co-founder Hashtag our Stories | UK/South Africa
Davidson Rodrigues, owner, Davidson Rodrigues Media | The Netherlands
Umashankar Singh, foreign affairs editor, NDTV | India
Viasen Soobramoney, journalist and trainer | UK/South Africa
Technology and science
Nahla Davies, tech writer | USA
Robert Hernandez, journalist and academic | USA
Christine Izuakor, founder and CEO, Cyber Pop-up | USA
Mun-Keat Looi, international features editor, The BMJ | UK
Tawanda Kanhema, tech and media innovator | USA
Konan Kouassi, co-founder, The Newscene | France
Admire Mare, journalist and academic | Zimbabwe
An Nguyen, academic | UK
Akshat Rathi, climate and energy reporter, Bloomberg News | UK
Benét J. Wilson, aviation journalist | USA
Ed Yong, science writer, The Atlantic | UK
News and investigative reporting
Tufayel Ahmed, digital editor and culture journalist | UK
Dayo Aiyetan, investigative journalist, ICIR | Nigeria
Rana Ayyub, global opinions writer, Washington Post | India
Theo Chikomba, broadcast journalist, BBC | UK
Marverine Cole, broadcaster and academic | UK
Aasma Day, investigative journalist, HuffPost | UK
Audrey Dias, journalist, BBC Midlands Today | UK
Scarlette Douglas, TV presenter, Channel 4/BBC | UK
Elaine Dunkley, education correspondent, BBC | UK
Vicky Gayle, journalist and regional editor, Black Ballad | UK
Barbara George, broadcaster, Liverpool TV | UK
Nikole Hannah-Jones, journalist, NYT Magazine | USA
Kesewa Hennessy, journalist, FT | UK
Ben Hunte, LGBT correspondent, BBC | UK
Ashley John-Baptiste, reporter, BBC | UK
Ashish Joshi, correspondent, Sky News | UK
Shirish Kulkarni, news storytelling researcher | UK
Antoinette Lattouf, senior journalist, Channel 10 | Australia
Elaine Ly, producer and presenter, South China Morning Post | China
Clive Myrie, presenter, BBC | UK
Alexi McCammond, reporter, Axios | USA
Jay McGregor, editor-in-chief, Point | UK
Wesley Lowery, journalist, 60 Minutes | USA
Darshna Soni, journalist, Channel 4 News | UK
Community reporting
Siana Bangura, writer and producer | UK
Angelo Boccato, freelance journalist | UK
Barnie Choudhury, columnist | UK
Russell Contreras, journalist, Associated Press | USA
Afua Hirsch, writer and broadcaster | UK
Naresh Kaushik, senior journalist, BBC | UK
Katie Orchard, journalist, ITV/Reuters | UK
Kat Stafford, race and ethnicity writer, Associated Press | USA
Nadine White, reporter, HuffPost | UK
Gary Younge, journalist and academic | UK
Podcasting and documentary
Bim Adewunmi, producer, This American Life | USA
Linda Adey, podcast presenter and reporter, BBC | UK
Waad Al-Kateab, filmmaker, Channel 4 | UK
Sadia Azmat, podcast co-host, BBC | UK
Suchandrika Chakrabarti, journalist and podcaster | UK
Marvyn Harrison, strategy consultant | UK
Chanté Joseph, podcast host, Channel 4 | UK
Imriel Morgan, podcaster | UK
Soledad O'Brien, broadcast journalist | USA
Jayisha Patel, filmmaker | UK
Jessie Aru Phillips, multimedia producer, BBC | UK
Damaso Reyes, founder, Clarify Media | USA
Roshan Roberts, broadcaster and producer, BBC1 Extra | UK
Mugabi Turya, producer and reporter, BBC | UK
Culture and sport
Kirk Asiedu, co-founder, Reveal | UK
Anne-Marie Batson, sports broadcaster | UK
Chris Chohan, news and sports producer, Good Morning Britain | UK
Reshmin Chowdhury, sports broadcaster, BBC Sport/BT Sport | UK
Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi, sports reporter | USA
Nicole Krystal Crentsil, cultural curator | UK
Chrystal Genesis, journalist and curator | UK
Stephen Lyle, lead executive, BBC Sport | UK
Leon Mann, consultant and filmmaker | UK
Soraya Nadia McDonald, cultural critic, The Undefeated | USA
Tola Onanuga, journalist | UK
Felicia Pennant, founder and editor-in-chief, Season | UK
Dharmesh Sheth, reporter and presenter, Sky Sports News | UK
Other resources:
- Media Diversified: Experts Directory
- Poynter Diversity Bibliography
- Presspad: list of black journalists
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