The photo staff of the San Francisco Chronicle, including Daisy Yip, the photo department dog, in the Chronicle’s photo studio. Photo by Stephen Lam.

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER | JULY-AUGUST 2018

Reflecting Diversity at the San Francisco Chronicle

By Ross Taylor

In a study of major papers by Women Photograph counting the number of front-page photos made by female photographers, the San Francisco Chronicle had one of the highest representations during April-June 2018, with 37.4 percent of its photos made by women. Other major publications surveyed were The New York Times at 22.8 percent, The Washington Post at 25.8 percent, The Guardian at 7.6 percent and The Wall Street Journal at 2.3 percent.

It was the continuation of a trend. In another survey of front pages in 2017 by Women Photograph, a website devoted to promoting the work of female photojournalists, the Chronicle led these papers, coming in at 23.4 percent.

Nicole Frugé, director of photography at the San Francisco Chronicle

“We’ve constantly had the highest A1 representation for women on A1. I think it would be a great example to the industry,” said Nicole Frugé, director of photography at the Chronicle. “The front-page metric is a great metric to start a conversation.”

She’s right. In the wake of the recent article from the Columbia Journalism Review about harassment of women in photojournalism, and a heightened awareness of a lack of diversity overall in the industry, advocacy is needed.

But for Frugé, 48, it’s not just about better representation of women, it’s also about having a diverse staff. Of the 16 people in the Chronicle’s photo department, eight are women and eight are men. Nine are people of color. The photographers on staff are composed of six women and four men, seven of whom are of people of color. This is from a purposeful approach in hiring, as well as freelance hires.

“This doesn’t start from the ground up,” said Santiago Mejia, a Chronicle staff photographer. “There are enough qualified photojournalists who are people of color. If you have to ask where they are, then you haven’t done your research. Diversity starts from the top down. It starts with the editor.”

Frugé’s push to diversify her staff is rooted in not only doing the right thing but attempting to right some of the wrongs of the past.

“I think one of the solutions is to avoid a situation where people are minorities in their own newsroom,” Frugé said. “I’m keenly aware of what it’s like to be the only woman or gay person on staff, and I don’t want to place that burden on other photojournalists. At this point to make real change, we need to move beyond tokenism and embrace true diversity.”

Some of this is rooted from her own beginnings in the ’90s.

“When I started in photojournalism, most newspapers had only one or no staff women photographers, much less gender nonconforming lesbians like me. I could count on one hand the out lesbian photographers working at major papers,” she said.

Yalonda M. James files photos at the in Oakland, California after covering the arraignment of John Lee Cowell. Photo by Liz Moughon, San Francisco Chronicle

Gabrielle Lurie photographs at the Corridor Restaurant in San Francisco for a story about how businesses are impacted by corporate cafeterias. Photo by Liz Moughon, San Francisco Chronicle

Santiago Mejia photographs a memorial at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland, California following the stabbing of Nia Wilson there two days before. Photos by Liz Moughon, San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle staff photographer Lea Suzuki takes a portrait. Photo by Liz Moughan, San Francisco

Frugé was sometimes told that she was too weak to carry gear, or was critiqued because of the clothing she wore, even though it was similar to her male manager’s clothing. Experiences like these drive her to make a more welcoming environment today in which someone can thrive and be successful.

The Chronicle has not only been successful in creating a diverse staff, but also in creating award-winning photojournalism. Frugé was named Newspaper Picture Editor of the Year in last year’s NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism Picture Editing competition, and her staff won second place in the picture editing team category. The year before, they won first place. They also won team runner-up in the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism Multimedia competition.

Yalonda James, 41, is the most recent staff hire as a photojournalist/video producer and is the second African-American female photojournalist on staff. A recent short documentary of hers, “The BLM (Black Lives Matter) Bridge Protest: One Year Later,” is making rounds in various film festivals.

“I’m thrilled to be here because I’m working with a diverse group of people from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures,” James said. “Throughout my long career, the majority of my colleagues have been white men, so in 2018, it’s refreshing to see the Chronicle has a mixed staff covering the Bay Area.”

James said the staff is one that is fun and energetic and reflects the community.

“I hope in the future more photo teams look like ours, because the nation is comprised of a profusion of races, cultures and ethnicities,” she said. “This country has been a melting pot for hundreds of years, and still to this day there are a great deal of newsrooms that don’t reflect that image.

Frugé’s first hire as director was Gabrielle Lurie, 31, as a staff photographer/videographer. Lurie identifies as being from of Jewish, Moroccan and French descent. In her two years at the paper, she’s won an Emmy for her video “El Refugio de Silvia” and a Best of Photojournalism Environmental award.

For Lurie, the staff’s diversity is especially present when they discuss projects as a team.
“Our diversity is most visible when we all come together for our staff meetings,” Lurie said. “We talk to one another with respect, dignity and equality.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t even cross my mind that someone is speaking ‘as a woman’ or as a ‘person of color.’ What is wonderful is that we are all just a big group of people sharing thoughts from our own perspectives,” Lurie said.

This line of thought is important, especially in newsroom discussions about reporting on the community. The more diverse a newsroom is, the more it avoids the potential for an echo chamber. It also helps the community see itself in the people covering it.

Mejia, 25, was Frugé’s second hire. He identifies as Mexican-American and says his background helps him cover certain parts of his community.

“I introduce myself in Spanish, and the barriers come down. It immediately opens up the front door to their home,” Mejia said.

Often when he hears their stories, they remind him of his parents’ struggle.

“I’m a first-generation American. My parents came to the U.S. for a better life and future. It makes me work even harder to get the job done right,” he said.

The San Francisco Chronicle also features award-winning photo editing.

When reporting even in difficult and sensitive stories, Mejia says that he sometimes sees recognition in the eyes of his subjects.

“People look at me, and it’s an immediate connection. I look like them because I am them, and they look like me because they are me. They’re prideful seeing someone that looks like themselves tell the story. They trust me more,” he said.

Mejia said the industry needs photographers from different communities to cover, in a sense, their backyards. For him, it is his own backyard. He grew up in San Francisco, and his parents, sisters and extended family all live or have lived in the Mission, a predominantly Latino neighborhood.

It’s this type of familiarity that helps him report and maneuver better in the city.

“Our job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted. Our job is a lot easier when we’re part of the afflicted,” Mejia said.

Another staff member, Lea Suzuki, 51, is of Japanese/Asian descent. She shares much of the same sentiment about the importance of a wider representation. Suzuki’s work has been recognized with three regional Emmys for multimedia/video and was part of the NPPA Multimedia team runner-up placement with Guy Wathen and Leah Millis.

“Diversity matters in the newsroom, precisely because it impacts coverage both in newsroom discussions and the stories that are covered,” Suzuki said. “Having the widest and most diverse representation of journalists and a reflection of the community being covered will lead to news analysis being more balanced, important stories previously underreported would be covered, and a more informed and connected community.”

This commitment to diversity from Frugé improves not only the discussion and reporting of the Chronicle’s community but also the spirit and motivation of the staff.

“I’m grateful for Nicole,” said Mejia. “She’s pushing for diversity in our photo department, and that action drives my work ethic. It raises morale, and it’s an opportunity to learn and grow from a diverse team.”

Comparison of diversity staffing at major newspapers

San Francisco Chronicle
10 Photographers
6 women
4 men
7 POC (person of color)

Washington Post
17 Photographers
11 Men
6 Women
4 POC

Los Angeles Times
20 Photographers
15 Men
5 Women
9 POC

Chicago Tribune
14 Photographers
12 Men
2 Women
6 POC

New York Times
11 Photographers
8 Men
3 Women
3 POC

Research by Diversify Photo