Forum on Media Diversity

The Forum on Media Diversity was founded by the Manship School of Mass Communication and the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at Louisiana State University in 2001 to provide information about diversity in the academic and professional realms of mass media, journalism and mass communication. It is a forum offering a research database that includes bibliographic information on more than 3,000 academic and professional journal articles, books and conference papers on diversity issues, focusing on media, journalism and mass communication in both national and international contexts. Its purpose is to help researchers to locate contemporary research and sources on media diversity. It is headed by Ralph Izard, Interim Dean of Manship School of Mass Communication, and Adrienne Moore, director of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs.

The Forum hosts conferences, workshops and symposiums that explore challenges and opportunities in promoting diversity in media, journalism and mass communication. In the spring of 2010 it sponsored two workshops on "Effective Use of Electronic Media" and "Advertising for Success" for representatives of the ethnic media in Louisiana. One conference led to the publication of a report, Diversity That Works. A survey conducted by the Forum, "2009 Assessment of Diversity Education in Journalism/Mass Communication Schools", was published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in the winter 2010 issue of Journalism and Mass Communication Educator. The Forum and the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs partnered with New American Media and Columbia University to organize the John Breaux Symposium titled "The Influence of Ethnic Media on Politics and Participation" in New Orleans on November 1–2, 2010. This symposium was reported on by The Poynter Institute.

The AEJMC selected the Manship School of Mass Communication as the inaugural recipient of the 2010 National Equity & Diversity Award.