Birmingham Post-Herald... Racial diversity of its news staff and community

Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists

at America's daily newspapers

with the communities that they serve

Newsroom diversity report for

Birmingham Post-Herald

Birmingham, Alabama

Owner: Scripps (Ohio)

From a report for the Knight Foundation

by Bill Dedman and Stephen K. Doig, June 2005

Click here to read the national report or to select another newspaper

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

2005

11.1

2004

13.5

2003

8.6

2002

8.3

2001

7.1

2000

6.7

1999

9.5

1998

14.6

1997

9.6

1996

11.1

1995

10.9

1994

10.5

1993

8.8

1992

7.5

1991

10.2

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

1998

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Newsroom Diversity Index

for Birmingham Post-Herald

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

11.1

38.5

2004

13.5

38.5

How the index is calculated

The Newsroom Diversity Index is the non-white percentage of the newsroom staff

divided by the non-white percentage of residents in the circulation area.

(Parity = 100.)

Company index

This newspaper's owner, Scripps (Ohio),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 56.

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Peer group comparison

for Birmingham Post-Herald

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 29.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 0, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 5,001 to 10,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 74 out of 211

newspapers reporting in the category of 5,001 to 10,000 daily sales.

An example of a newspaper of similar circulation, in an area of similar level of non-white residents, but one that has a relatively high Diversity Index, is Manteca Bulletin, California, with a 63.6 percent non-white staff in a community that is 39.4 percent non-white. Its index is 161.

FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of

approximately 8,019 ranks 911 out of 1,410 daily newspapers in the US.

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Details on race/ethnicity

in the circulation area

and the home county

of Birmingham Post-Herald

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

3.6

1,767

Black

33.0

16,022

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.0

463

Native-American

0.2

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.7

314

Non-white

38.5

18,672

White

61.5

29,834

Total

48,506

Home county: Jefferson

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.6

10,284

Black

39.2

259,623

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.9

6,034

Native-American

0.2

1,314

Other non-white

0.1

367

Multi-racial

0.7

4,718

Non-white

42.7

282,340

White

57.4

379,707

Total

662,047

The home county of this newspaper is Jefferson.

About this report

This third annual report for the Knight Foundation adds context to an annual survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. ASNE has set a goal that

every newspaper, to help it know its community and gather the news, should employ at least one non-white journalist, and that newspapers should strive to

employ non-whites in proportion to their share of the community. ASNE's report, at www.asne.org, shows each newspaper's non-white employment, but does

not disclose how closely that employment mirrors the newspaper's circulation area.

That gap is filled by the report you are reading now. This report was not done by ASNE, but was done for the Knight Foundation by Bill Dedman and

Stephen K. Doig. It shows how close each newspaper is to ASNE's goal, by comparing the newsroom staffing with the circulation area population.

The full report is at www.powerreporting.com/knight.

Notes and definitions

1. The Newsroom Diversity Index is the non-white percentage of the newsroom staff divided by the non-white percentage of the circulation area's residents. Parity = 100.

2. Source for staffing: Survey by American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 2005. Newspapers report non-white staff as of the end of the previous year.

3. Following ASNE's definition, newsroom staff includes only supervisors, reporters, editors, copy/layout editors and photographers.

4. Also following ASNE's definition, "whites," "blacks," etc., exclude Hispanics, who are counted in a separate category.

5. Source for boundaries of this newspaper's circulation area: ZIP Code circulation data, Audit Bureau of Circulations, latest available.

6. A paper may define its circulation area differently for marketing efforts, or news coverage, or to set advertising rates.

7. If ZIP Codes or counties are used, this report applies a threshold: 10 percent household penetration is required to include an area in the circulation area.

8. Source for the demographics of residents of that circulation area: US Census 2000.

9. Source for total circulation: Editor & Publisher magazine, Monday-Friday average at year-end 2004.

10. Staff of non-English publications, such as the Miami Herald's El Nuevo Herald, are excluded from the ASNE staffing survey for the first time this year.

Demographics of ZIP Codes

where sales were reported by

Birmingham Post-Herald

Note that some ZIP Codes listed here may not have been included in determining the newspaper's circulation area. In calculating the Diversity Index, a

ZIP Code was included only if the household penetration was at least 10 percent. Any lower-penetration ZIP Codes are also listed here for your information.

Also, if the newspaper reported more than 300 ZIP Codes, only the top 300 in weekday sales are listed here.

ZIP / City / State / Approx. distance in miles from the newspaper's home office

Weekday sales

Households

Penetration % (daily sales per 100 households)

Median household income

Non-white
% of
population

Hispanic
% of
population

Black
% of
population

Native
% of
population

Asian
% of
population

35203 / Birmingham / AL / 0.8 mi.

1,201

1,209

99.3

$7,619

80.4

0.8

78.4

0.2

0.3

35124 / Pelham / AL / 13 mi.

755

6,477

11.7

$58,105

12.3

5.7

4.0

0.3

1.6

35212 / Birmingham / AL / 3.6 mi.

726

6,086

11.9

$21,841

81.9

4.5

76.2

0.2

0.3

35242 / Vestavia Hills / AL / 8.9 mi.

567

12,881

4.4

$74,647

8.7

1.7

4.1

0.2

2.2

35223 / Vestavia / AL / 4 mi.

560

4,438

12.6

$99,245

2.4

0.4

0.7

0.0

0.9

35216 / Vestavia Hills / AL / 6.2 mi.

490

14,082

3.5

$47,883

17.6

6.0

7.0

0.1

3.3

35209 / Vestavia / AL / 2.9 mi.

480

14,138

3.4

$37,959

32.2

3.8

24.2

0.2

2.8

35205 / South Highlands / AL / 1.2 mi.

416

11,205

3.7

$25,310

49.4

2.6

39.9

0.3

4.8

35235 / Roebuck Plaza / AL / 9.9 mi.

377

7,629

4.9

$48,898

19.8

1.1

16.9

0.2

0.8

35243 / Vestavia / AL / 5.6 mi.

365

7,038

5.2

$62,987

4.2

0.9

1.4

0.1

1.2

35210 / Ruffner / AL / 7.1 mi.

343

5,518

6.2

$42,662

27.2

2.1

23.2

0.2

0.9

35071 / Gardendale / AL / 10 mi.

341

5,435

6.3

$45,928

3.0

0.6

1.2

0.2

0.5

35215 / Center Point / AL / 9.9 mi.

314

18,182

1.7

$39,616

44.0

2.2

40.1

0.3

0.5

35020 / Brighton / AL / 10.5 mi.

295

12,199

2.4

$21,772

76.4

1.3

73.9

0.2

35023 / Hueytown / AL / 12.7 mi.

236

9,364

2.5

$42,196

17.0

0.5

15.6

0.3

0.1

35094 / Leeds / AL / 13.3 mi.

205

5,278

3.9

$37,182

15.9

1.2

13.1

0.3

0.4

35226 / Vestavia Hills / AL / 7.3 mi.

132

10,459

1.3

$67,614

10.8

2.1

5.0

0.1

2.8

35218 / Ensley / AL / 4.9 mi.

118

3,779

3.1

$20,423

94.4

1.0

92.8

0.1

35234 / Birmingham / AL / 1.4 mi.

114

2,774

4.1

$19,375

95.3

0.4

94.5

0.1

0.0

35217 / Tarrant / AL / 5.3 mi.

100

6,039

1.7

$27,756

49.6

1.2

47.4

0.3

0.1

35127 / Pleasant Grove / AL / 9.2 mi.

3,653

2.6

$52,905

17.4

0.3

16.2

0.2

35214 / Forestdale / AL / 5.4 mi.

8,483

1.0

$34,468

66.8

0.7

65.2

0.1

0.2

35204 / Birmingham / AL / 1.8 mi.

6,014

1.1

$17,999

91.6

1.8

88.8

0.1

0.2

35228 / Midfield / AL / 7 mi.

4,221

1.4

$29,721

76.9

0.4

75.6

0.1

0.2

35007 / Alabaster / AL / 17.8 mi.

7,350

0.7

$56,721

13.8

1.6

10.6

0.3

0.7

36115 / Montgomery / AL / 77.6 mi.

193

15.5

$50,860

38.1

3.3

28.6

0.4

3.9

35213 / Crestline Heights / AL / 3.2 mi.

6,065

0.4

$66,308

7.3

0.9

4.7

0.1

1.1

35208 / Birmingham / AL / 4.4 mi.

6,561

0.4

$30,054

92.0

1.0

90.0

0.2

35211 / Wenonah / AL / 4 mi.

11,711

0.2

$21,350

97.6

0.6

96.3

0.1

35224 / Birmingham / AL / 6.9 mi.

2,628

0.8

$26,075

59.0

0.5

56.7

0.3

0.4

35080 / Helena / AL / 13.6 mi.

4,383

0.5

$61,811

6.2

0.9

3.7

0.3

0.7

35207 / Birmingham / AL / 2.9 mi.

4,288

0.3

$17,192

94.3

0.7

93.0

0.3

0.0

35022 / Hueytown / AL / 14 mi.

5,473

0.3

$37,634

32.9

0.8

30.8

0.2

35064 / Fairfield / AL / 6.7 mi.

4,796

0.2

$28,436

90.7

0.6

89.3

0.1

0.2

35810 / Huntsville / AL / 82.2 mi.

10,795

0.0

$37,351

74.4

1.4

70.0

0.3

0.7

35044 / Coosa Pines / AL / 28.8 mi.

3,034

0.0

$26,906

32.4

0.6

30.7

0.2

35077 / Hanceville / AL / 35.3 mi.

4,962

0.0

$31,328

8.1

1.7

5.1

0.4

0.2

35121 / Straight Mountain / AL / 33.2 mi.

5,364

0.0

$31,705

15.0

10.7

3.1

0.3

0.2

35401 / Veterans Hospital / AL / 45.9 mi.

14,281

0.0

$17,491

59.3

1.1

55.4

0.2

1.8

35555 / Fayette / AL / 56.2 mi.

4,539

0.0

$28,578

18.8

0.8

17.2

0.2

36264 / Hollis Crossroads / AL / 66.2 mi.

3,419

0.0

$29,612

10.0

2.2

6.7

0.3

0.2

36265 / Jacksonville / AL / 58.7 mi.

6,240

0.0

$29,541

17.4

1.6

13.3

0.4

1.0

36274 / Rock Mills / AL / 80.6 mi.

4,447

0.0

$29,943

31.0

0.9

29.2

0.1

0.3

36701 / Selma / AL / 72 mi.

9,847

0.0

$27,988

57.7

0.6

55.9

0.1

0.5

36756 / Marion / AL / 63.8 mi.

2,126

0.0

$21,337

60.5

1.0

58.9

0.2

0.1

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