There are some things in life that simply do not need to be "studied," because when the research is finished and the analysis is performed, you will end up with a lengthy report explaining, in excruciating detail, a generally accepted norm that you already knew existed. Phenomenon like this include: 1) Increased motorcycle sales will increase the number of motorcycle deaths; Combining Valium, Cialias, Vicodin, and Klonopin could put your health in serious danger; and 3) That the sports departments at newspapers are mostly made up of white guys.

Newspaper sports departments remain nearly all white and male — and progress towards diversity is painfully slow, concludes a "report card" on sports staffing released Thursday at the annual meeting of Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE).

The report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) surveyed 378 APSE member newspapers and Web sites, and said they had earned a "C" for "racial hiring practices," and an "F" for gender hiring practices.

"This report shows that in 2008, 94% of the sports editors; 89% of the assistant sports editors; 88% of our columnists; 87% of our reporters; and 89% of our copy editors/designers are white, and those same positions are 94%, 90%, 94%, 91%, and 84% male," wrote Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES, which is housed at the University of Central Florida.

This was the second time TIDES studied sports staffing diversity for APSE. The previous study in 2006 did not assign report card grades.

The biggest change since 2006 was an increase in the percentage of African-American sports columnists to 10.7% from 7.4%, the report found.

[E&P]