1. A good rule of thumb when handling stories about a minority or immigrant group is to ask the question: How would I feel if my gender or ethnic group were described this way?

     2. Encourage reporters to recognize (or learn about) distinctions in minority and ethnic groups. On several levels, Koreans in urban Union City, N.J., live differently than Koreans in the more suburban Palisades Park. The same goes for Cuban-Americans in the urban areas of Hudson County and those in the suburbs of Bergen County, and Cuban-Americans in New Jersey and in Florida. Even stories about the differences are interesting and depart from common portrayals of racial and ethnic groups as monoliths.

     3. Encourage reporters on every beat (municipal, education, religion, family) to have a story-idea meeting with members of organizations from different ethnic and minority groups. The reporter should not get the impression that the news organization wants him or her to be an ambassador to the community—that quickly sours most reporters. It should be described as simply a step toward providing the most comprehensive coverage on a beat.

     4. Many in our profession feel uncomfortable about reporting on problems within a racial or ethnic group. With the emotions and divisiveness in our society about race, we should be mindful of our influence and how we use it in this and other charged areas. But the mindfulness should not result in fear. Journalists must report on problems that affect a certain community or segment of it and do it responsibly. Show that the people in those communities care about these problems and want them resolved.

     5. We must be careful not to repeat innuendo about racial or ethnic groups. As with any story, we must challenge subtle intimations that sources sometimes utter in interviews. We must press them to speak precisely and, when necessary, challenge their characterization of ethnic groups. It is not enough, for instance, to report that the mayor or council members “expressed concern” about how foreign-language business signs or a proposed affordable housing development might “hurt the character of the town.” We must get people to articulate their real concerns.

     6. Towns or states with large Hispanic populations are often described as “heavily Hispanic,” giving the sense that there are too many Hispanics. We normally don’t write or read that a town is “heavily white” or heavily “Irish-American”—“predominately,” without the judgmental overtones, is the more common choice. (If my newsroom were described as “heavily female,” I would wince, at the very least.)

     7. Look out for the characterization of problems or qualities in minority or immigrant groups (or any group) as “genetic.” Stories about Hispanic dropout rates, for instance, rarely note the socioeconomic factors that contribute to the situation. They also fail to explain that in many of these homes, financial commitments are seen as family responsibilities. Kids often leave school to work and help their parents.

     8. Several years ago, a reporter from The New York Times was gathering information about a crime when the police officer described the suspect as “male and Hispanic.” The reporter, correctly, did not just repeat it in his story. “Hispanic” is not a race and therefore not a physical description. But the media often offer it as one in crime stories. The reporter pressed the police for facts—not hunches—about the suspect. The man was thin, had black hair, a mustache and olive skin. “Actually, he looks like you,” the police officer said to the European-American reporter.

     9. Be careful about repeating witness accounts that a suspect had an accent from a particular place, because people often confuse the origin of accents. It is better to note simply that the suspect had an accent.

     10. You can be natively bilingual and bicultural and assimilated. Millions of first- and second-generation Americans are. Yet, stories about people who use a foreign language in their daily personal lives often present them as conflicted and un-American. A major newspaper reported on the growing trend of transnationalism, showing how more and more Americans feel at home in two countries, two cultures and two languages. What was different about this story was that it did not take the “here-comes-trouble” approach that often drives reports about ethnic groups retaining ties to their roots. Instead, the story just described the trend as an interesting sociological change in our country.

Tenfold is a new column in People & Product. If you have an idea for a column, e-mail Ronn Levine at levir@naa.org.