It’s clear that disproportionate access to high school journalism is a consequence of broader education inequities. But, what about the news industry itself? In this episode, professional journalists shed light on the lack of diversity in the news industry, which is about 80% white, and less representative of the general population than other fields according to Pew Research. The lack of journalism opportunities for students of color feeds the diversity problem in the field.

Despite the odds, this has been a year of success for school newspapers, new and old. And they get their due recognition at an annual student journalism conference held at Baruch College. Great expectations, breath-holding moments of tension and unexpected triumphs all come to the fore in this fourth and final episode of Missing Voices. All eyes – and hopefully your ears – are on these high school journalists vying for glory in between the margins.

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The Missing Voices series was reported by Wesley Almanzar, Jadelyn Camey, Fredlove Deshommes, Edward Mui and Jayden Williams. Editing and production support from Sabrina DuQuesnay, Mira Gordon, Abē Levine and Taylor McGraw.

Scoring and sound mixing from Peter Leonard. Music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Made possible with support from the Education Writers Association and the Pinkerton Foundation.

Miseducation is a podcast of The Bell that equips New York City public high school students with the tools to report on inequities in the nation’s largest school system.