The Society of Editors is setting out to address the lack of minority ethnic staff on newspapers.

It wants to encourage recruitment and training of black and Asian journalists to make newsrooms more representative of the communities they serve.

The move comes after a survey by the Society found that newspapers in areas of high minority ethnic population in general had no better records in recruiting minority ethnic editorial staff than any others.

It was not unusual to find just one non-white reporter among news staff in an area where the population at large might be 20 per cent non-white.

In the study, editors complained that they did not receive applications from the minority ethnic communities and that journalism courses at colleges and universities also failed to recruit significantly from the minority ethnic communities.

But the report concluded that the time has come for action, not excuses.

Society training committee chairman Peter Cole said: “Our purpose in preparing the report was to gain a picture of the current situation, and to stimulate discussion, and action.

“The picture is depressing. The discussion shouldn’t last too long. The action is needed now. This is just the beginning.”

The report’s stark figures on a number of centres showed: