Having had a significant other that worked in journalism, this makes sense to me. Journalism has become a profession which is much easier to follow if you have an "elite" background. It can be a prestigious job, but with a low salary for decades. To break into it you often have to earn your stripes and work your way up. In "elite" journalism--major newspapers and outlets--this often includes very low paying or non-paying internships in some of the most expensive cities in the country. It's a lot easier to do this if you have parents that can pay your rent or max out their non-taxable gifts to you each year.

To even get these internships it helps to go to one of the top 5 J-school graduate programs, which are expensive ($30k+ tuition/year) and in high cost of living cities (except Mizzou). Due to the racial wealth gap in the US--which was caused by systemic racism--this means that upper-class White people are going to be the ones that can best outlast this system and end up making it as a journalist.