• by Ray Schultz , February 1, 2024

Vox Media has launched a section for advertisers and marketers who seek research-based guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts as part of its Language, Please diversity initiative. 

The project is funded by Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge. 

The new section is built on a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers done in collaboration with The Circus, an insight and data storytelling firm.  

Of the consumers polled, 69% support DEI efforts regardless of their age or political leanings. But they also show a certain distrust towards DEI efforts by brands. 

With this in mind, Vox seeks “new categories based on user feedback, and to bring the tool to new audiences in the advertising and marketing industries,” says Tanya Pai, director of newsroom standards & ethics for Vox. 

Pai adds, “Language, Please received an overwhelmingly positive response from journalists, storytellers, and professionals in other fields like government, who made it clear the project filled a critical need by providing guidance on complex topics relating to identity,” Pai says. 

The new resource urges marketers to ask themselves a series of questions as they attempt to incorporate DEI into their programs.  

It also provides them with a “New Mainstream” training deck and a list of “10 Mindful Actions to improve Marketing, Equity and Inclusion efforts."

In internal conversations, “it became clear that expanding Language, Please’s guidance to include advertising and marketing could allow for the tool to become indispensable in helping the industry communicate more authentically and effectively to consumers across the country,” says Jackie Cinguina, chief marketing officer of Vox. 

For its part, Google News Initiative “aims to collaborate with publishers and journalists to build a more diverse and inclusive news ecosystem,” says Sarah Tran, Google News Initiative's partner manager, news product partnerships.

Tran continues, “We have been partners of Language, Please since its inception because we believe that providing resources that help journalists, storytellers, and creators make informed decisions about the language they use in their writing, will help make reliable, diverse, and inclusive content and information accessible to everyone on the internet.” 

The Language, Please Advisory Council includes: 

1. Sewell Chan, editor in chief, The Texas Tribune
2. Bethany Grace Howe, board member, National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists
3. Martin Reynolds, co-executive director, Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
4. Lauren Williams, CEO and co-founder, Capital B
5. Jack Jenkins, national reporter, Religion News Service
6. Jacqueline Cinguina, chief marketing officer, Vox Media 

Language, Please was launched in 2022.