Creating an effective diversity
and inclusion policy

The problem

As BuzzFeed grew, we observed that many BIPOC and gender-nonconforming members of staff were engaging in unpaid, informal labor to educate their white coworkers on race, ethnicity, and identity. Often, these staffers were asked to informally review identity-driven content and give difficult feedback. In some cases, content creators would move forward with a piece despite it being flagged as problematic by a BIPOC member of the team.

This created an undue burden on these staff members, who felt that it was unfair they had to do the emotional labor of teaching their white coworkers about race, ethnicity, and gender. This was causing discord within and among offices; many employees resented that they were expected to do the unpaid work of training their coworkers on culture and language. 

The methodology

Key stakeholders, including managers, members of employee resource groups, and leadership on both editorial and video sides, formed working groups to tackle a variety of issues raised by BIPOC staff.

We asked: How will increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace result in better content and experiences for our audience? How can we create an internal model promoting diversity and inclusion that takes the onus off of individual members of the BIPOC workforce? What reparative work should we, as managers and leaders in the company, be doing to offset the responsibility that’s been put on BIPOC team members?

Working groups met weekly to come up with proposals and reflect on measurable outcomes. We also collaborated with cultural sensitivity trainer Kaye Craft to analyze the most equitable proposals.

The outcome

The working groups established a DEI Congress that would be responsible for responding to questions around content produced about BIPOC identities. The 7-member panel rotated membership every six months to avoid burnout, and was paid a stipend for their services. Panel members were nominated from throughout the organization and included a mix of editorial and video staff.

Staff were encouraged to flag work to the panel for review as it was in the process of being created. Staff was also encouraged to flag already published work that they felt didn’t meet editorial standards. The Congress would then manage communication with the writer and editor around issues, taking the responsibility out of the hands of the individual who flagged the material.

Additionally, BuzzFeed created a company-wide DEI training module that empowered editors to have difficult conversations around problematic identity-based content.

As a result, staff felt more supported because they had a clear way of raising issues, and the burden was removed from individual reporters and managers to flag problematic content.

Previous

Branding and Editorial Strategy: As/Is