LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Fall 2022 midway audit results

Numbers have increased, but improvements still need to be made

Mercy Sosa

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion editor, Hannah Asuncion audits the coverage at The State Hornet midway through the fall semester. Asuncion shares the improvements within each sections and which need more coverage for next time. Graphic created in Canva by Mercy Sosa.

Hannah Asuncion, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Editor
December 1, 2022

Hello everyone! My name is Hannah Asuncion and I’m the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion editor this fall semester at The State Hornet. 

I am the publication’s third DEI editor and will be showing everyone what coverage we’ve had so far for underrepresented communities at Sacramento State.

I’m so glad to have the opportunity to have this role as an editor, since I was a previous staff writer for DEI last semester working on the LGBTQ+ beat. 

Since the creation of the DEI section, The State Hornet has been doing a much better job of covering stories that are centered around underrepresented communities. 

As the DEI editor, I make sure this audit shows The State Hornet’s coverage this semester by helping staffers focus on diversifying what stories to report on. 

These percentages from this semester’s coverage so far shows the number of stories utilizing centered sources from diverse communities : 97% in podcast, 100% in video, 86% in sports, 70% in news and 32% in arts and entertainment.

Each section has improved or stayed the same, except arts and entertainment and news. Last semester, podcast was at 96%, video at a constant 100%, sports at 77%, news at 79% and arts and entertainment at 61%. 

Note: “Centered sources” means story coverage that focuses on people from underrepresented communities. For example, DEI writer Mimi Covarrubias’s story covering Immigrant Stories, a multicultural public event where storytellers shared their experiences as an immigrant or coming from an immigrant background, is one such story.