After reaching its highest diversity levels on record, radio newsrooms experienced a significant setback in workforce diversity during 2025, with minority representation dropped nearly five percentage points, erasing gains made since 2023.
New research from the Radio Television Digital News Association and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School found minority representation in radio news fell from 21.5% in 2024 to 16.6%, affecting all minority groups across the radio news workforce.
The sharpest drop occurred within commercial radio operations, where journalists of color represented just 8.9% of the workforce in 2025, down dramatically from 19.4% the previous year. Non-commercial radio stations maintained more stable diversity levels at 23.8%, nearly identical to 2024 figures.
Male dominance in radio newsrooms increased during 2025, with men comprising 59.2% of the workforce compared to 40.8% for women. This represents a 1.8 percentage point increase for men and a 2.2 percentage point decrease for women from the previous year.
The share of newsrooms with any minority representation also dropped to just 11.9%. Large markets remain more diverse, with 25.4% minority staff representation overall, and one-third of major market stations employing journalists of color. But in small markets, that number plunges to just 2.2%, with only 3.3% of stations under 50,000 listeners reporting any minority staff at all.
Leadership diversity saw similar setbacks. Minority general managers in radio fell to 6.1%, a two-point drop from last year. African American representation declined to 1.9%, and Asian American GMs dropped sharply from 1.3% to 0.3%. Hispanic/Latino representation remained flat at 3.1%.
There was one bright spot: women now represent 29.0% of general managers in radio, up five points. That progress is most visible in larger markets and non-commercial stations, which continue to outpace their commercial counterparts in female leadership.
RTDNA’s findings mirror the FCC’s latest biennial ownership data, which revealed radio ownership remains overwhelmingly white and male. While there were slight shifts between 2021 and 2023, women and people of color continue to hold only a small fraction of broadcast licenses across the industry.
Still, the industry remains far from reflecting the country it serves. While minorities represent roughly 41.6% of the US population in 2025, they make up just 16.6% of the radio news workforce.
The full Women and People of Color in Radio News report is now available via RTDNA.
