USA TODAY parent company issues update, discloses author of anti-DEI opinion piece is Iowa Republican Party Official
Gannett Corporation (NYSE: GCI), the parent company of USA TODAY Network, issued an update on Tuesday, disclosing that the author of an anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) opinion piece, published by one of its regional newspapers, is an official of the Iowa Republican Party.
On Sunday, the Des Moines Register published an opinion piece by Iowa Republican Party official David Barker, titled: “The research supports America’s pivot away from DEI programs.” (In fact, the research does not support such a pivot; more on this in a moment.)
The Des Moines Register published “Key Points” atop Barker’s opinion piece, featuring his various bio highlights. But no mention was made of his official role with the Iowa Republican Party — even though President-elect Trump and his Republican Party allies have vowed to dismantle DEI initiatives.
Barker is listed by the Republican Party of Iowa as a party official: State Central Committee Member, District 1, Johnson County. Barker was also a 2024 at-large Iowa Republican delegate at the RNC, according to the Des Moines Register’s previous reporting.
In response to The Queen Zone’s inquiry about publishing a correction/update to Barker’s bio, Des Moines Register Opinion Editor Lucas Grundmeier emailed: “I usually let published pieces speak for themselves,” and referred me to the newspaper’s parent company Gannett’s PR department.
What do best journalism practices call for?
“If a newspaper publishes an opinion piece by a political party official but fails to disclose that person’s party role, that’s an unacceptable omission,” said Mark Jacob, a former Chicago Tribune metro editor who writes a media criticism newsletter called Stop the Presses newsletter. “DEI has been used as a cultural wedge issue by the Republicans, and failing to state the writer’s GOP position might mislead the readers into assuming the writer’s outlook is nonpartisan. It’s an easy thing to correct online. The Des Moines Register should do so.”
The Queen Zone emailed Gannett’s Corporate Communications & Public Relations Department, asking for its response, and received this statement from the company:
“After further review, we have added David Barker’s role as a member of the Iowa Republican Party state central committee to his bio, and indicated the essay has been updated with additional information.”
Why does it matter?
Public opinion around DEI has become a lightning rod issue as Trump is about to retake the White House. Trump’s advisor, Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk posted “DEI must DIE” in 2023, suggesting diversity programs constitute discrimination against white people. The President-elect has vowed to dismantle DEI initiatives in the public and private sectors on Day One of his presidency.
As I reported for The Queen Zone last week, retail giant Costco made news when its board bucked an anti-DEI shareholder proposal, upheld its commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives; other companies have caved to pressure from right-wing activists.
Yesterday, fast food giant McDonald’s joined companies including Walmart, John Deere, Lowe’s and others, rolling back some of its DEI initiatives, amidst threats of boycotts and legal action.
“Conservative activist Robby Starbuck has claimed success for pushing 15 public companies to change or abandon their DEI and LGBTQ policies,” the Wall Street Journal reported this week. But as I reported for The Queen Zone, Starbuck has no corporate experience, nor business education, according to his LinkedIn profile.
While companies rolling back or tweaking their DEI programs are receiving heavy media attention, many large corporations are standing strong against anti-DEI attackers.
The Costco board was not alone in roundly rejecting the anti-DEI proposal brought by right-wing nonprofit the National Center for Public Policy Research.
Companies including Boeing, Citigroup, Cigna, Coca-Cola, MGM Resorts, PepsiCo, and Progressive received anti-DEI proposals, identical to the one submitted to the Costco board. And, like Costco, boards of these corporate giants all unanimously rejected the proposals, as Andrew Droste reported for his Mr. CorpGov Substack.
On Tuesday, retail conglomerate Amazon advertised on LinkedIn, recruiting for a Senior DEI Business Partner for its general and administrative organizations at its corporate headquarters in Seattle. Amazon asked and answered: “Do you want to play an instrumental role in leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies for Amazon’s high growth environment? Here’s your opportunity!”
Regardless of other criticisms levied at the corporate giants listed above, one thing is clear: DEI is not dead, not going away. Rather, DEI is being retooled, repackaged, rebranded.
CEO of Paradigm and former civil rights attorney Joelle Emerson wrote for the Harvard Business Review: “While DEI the acronym may be on the decline, the work itself will remain vital for organizations that want to thrive today and in the future.”
“While DEI the acronym may be on the decline, the work itself will remain vital for organizations that want to thrive today and in the future.”
Joelle Emerson, Founder and CEO at Paradigm, former civil rights lawyer
And as for Iowa Republican Party official David Barker’s opinion about research supporting a pivot away from DEI? His argument doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Paolo Gaudiano, Chief Scientist at Aleria, NYU Stern School of Business adjunct professor and author of the book Measuring Inclusion, wrote for Forbes last week, “with annual revenues of about $250 billion, over the past 10 years Costco’s stock has yielded an annualized return of 23.13%, more than double the annualized return of 11.51% for the S&P 500 benchmark. This demonstrates clearly that happier employees are not simply a ‘nice to have,’ but a key to higher profits.”
