The Dothan Eagle... 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

The Dothan Eagle

Dothan, Alabama

Owner: Media General (Va.)

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

4.0

2004

3.8

2003

3.6

2002

2.6

2001

5.0

2000

4.0

1999

8.3

1998

9.4

1997

8.0

1996

12.5

1995

7.7

1994

4.0

1993

Did not report

1992

Did not report

1991

Did not report

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

1996

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Dothan Eagle

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

4.0

27.3

2004

3.8

28.1

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, Media General (Va.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 39.

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

Peer group comparison

for The Dothan Eagle

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 15.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 44, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 25,001 to 50,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 118 out of 140

newspapers reporting in the category of 25,001 to 50,000 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 Longview News-Journal, Texas, with a 23.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 28.4 percent non-white. Its index is 81.

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

approximately 32,891 ranks 310 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 The Dothan Eagle

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.1

5,324

Black

23.6

61,171

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.7

1,741

Native-American

0.5

1,410

Other non-white

0.1

199

Multi-racial

1.1

2,818

Non-white

28.1

72,663

White

71.9

186,275

Total

258,938

Home county: Houston

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.3

1,122

Black

24.4

21,703

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.6

561

Native-American

0.4

318

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.8

716

Non-white

27.6

24,475

White

72.4

64,312

Total

88,787

The home county of this newspaper is Houston.

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

The Dothan Eagle

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

36301 / Taylor / AL / 1.6 mi.

5,975

13,379

44.7

$32,752

24.7

1.4

21.2

0.4

0.7

36303 / Rehobeth / AL / 1.4 mi.

5,936

11,069

53.6

$32,618

43.7

1.2

40.7

0.2

0.7

36330 / Eprise / AL / 25.6 mi.

3,363

11,480

29.3

$37,254

28.1

4.3

19.8

0.5

1.7

36360 / Ozark / AL / 19.6 mi.

2,356

8,370

28.1

$30,831

28.5

1.8

24.4

0.6

36305 / Taylor / AL / 0.5 mi.

2,109

3,962

53.2

$48,724

10.8

1.7

6.8

0.3

1.3

36310 / Lawrenceville / AL / 22.4 mi.

1,298

2,814

46.1

$27,008

39.1

2.5

35.6

0.2

0.1

36345 / Headland / AL / 8.5 mi.

1,104

2,630

42.0

$35,817

28.5

0.7

26.8

0.2

0.0

36312 / Ashford / AL / 8.9 mi.

955

2,326

41.1

$32,705

15.1

0.9

13.1

0.5

0.0

36322 / Level Plains / AL / 18.2 mi.

748

3,273

22.9

$33,453

29.8

3.1

20.6

0.7

2.7

36375 / Slocomb / AL / 13.2 mi.

722

2,964

24.4

$27,758

14.1

2.8

9.6

0.9

0.1

36340 / Geneva / AL / 29.5 mi.

618

2,248

27.5

$22,721

15.0

1.0

12.8

0.3

36344 / Highbluff / AL / 18.7 mi.

596

2,112

28.2

$28,569

13.3

1.5

10.6

0.4

0.1

36350 / Midland City / AL / 6.7 mi.

586

2,137

27.4

$29,438

19.7

1.1

16.1

0.5

0.3

36352 / Waterford / AL / 13.3 mi.

553

1,618

34.2

$35,513

11.4

1.5

8.0

0.4

0.2

36027 / Eufaula / AL / 44.4 mi.

521

6,849

7.6

$27,283

43.5

1.3

40.8

0.4

36323 / Elba / AL / 39.5 mi.

438

3,373

13.0

$28,323

26.1

0.8

23.0

1.1

0.1

36319 / Haleburg / AL / 16.1 mi.

398

972

40.9

$26,896

18.4

0.9

16.1

0.4

0.0

36320 / Madrid / AL / 12.3 mi.

396

1,269

31.2

$27,349

18.6

1.3

15.2

0.7

0.1

36311 / Ariton / AL / 29.9 mi.

394

1,204

32.7

$23,550

21.8

1.4

19.0

0.3

0.1

36467 / Opp / AL / 47.7 mi.

315

3,994

7.9

$27,152

13.2

0.6

11.7

0.3

0.2

36477 / Samson / AL / 36.9 mi.

301

1,894

15.9

$23,963

15.1

1.8

11.3

1.0

0.2

32440 / Graceville / FL / 18.5 mi.

264

2,144

12.3

$26,723

16.9

1.1

14.1

0.8

0.1

36353 / Newville / AL / 14.7 mi.

264

702

37.6

$27,241

30.3

1.2

27.4

0.1

36016 / Clayton / AL / 42.5 mi.

223

1,508

14.8

$22,056

58.9

1.4

56.4

0.3

0.1

36376 / Webb / AL / 5.6 mi.

218

1,207

18.1

$34,583

18.4

0.8

16.1

0.6

0.0

36010 / Brundidge / AL / 39.4 mi.

198

2,035

9.7

$20,287

45.8

0.8

42.4

0.8

0.1

36081 / Troy / AL / 48.4 mi.

175

5,713

3.1

$23,655

46.3

1.2

42.7

0.5

0.7

36351 / New Brockton / AL / 31.3 mi.

169

1,235

13.7

$29,342

18.5

1.2

12.8

1.8

0.4

36316 / Chancellor / AL / 29.2 mi.

151

786

19.2

$27,900

13.3

0.7

11.5

0.1

0.5

32425 / Caryville / FL / 32.1 mi.

144

4,179

3.4

$28,451

15.1

2.3

9.8

0.9

0.5

36362 / Fort Rucker / AL / 19.4 mi.

135

1,412

9.6

$34,702

36.3

11.6

17.6

0.8

2.6

36318 / Coffee Springs / AL / 28.8 mi.

124

486

25.5

$27,303

7.3

0.7

3.7

1.7

0.1

36346 / Victoria / AL / 42.2 mi.

113

774

14.6

$32,064

5.4

1.0

0.6

2.6

0.1

36343 / Grangeburg / AL / 18.3 mi.

111

618

18.0

$27,308

42.1

1.1

39.5

0.4

0.1

32445 / Malone / FL / 20.4 mi.

105

513

20.5

$26,111

49.9

6.3

41.3

0.5

0.1

36374 / Skipperville / AL / 22.8 mi.

392

25.0

$30,774

15.4

0.3

12.9

0.2

36453 / Kinston / AL / 41.9 mi.

1,051

9.1

$31,362

6.3

0.8

1.2

2.4

0.0

36048 / Louisville / AL / 36.8 mi.

747

11.9

$20,893

59.2

2.9

55.9

0.3

0.0

32428 / Sunny Hills / FL / 37.1 mi.

5,364

1.5

$28,571

19.5

2.6

13.5

1.3

0.5

32446 / Marianna / FL / 30.4 mi.

3,727

2.2

$35,051

26.8

2.5

21.9

0.4

0.8

36370 / Pansey / AL / 12.2 mi.

297

26.9

$37,941

13.9

0.3

12.0

1.2

0.0

36079 / Troy / AL / 44.8 mi.

3,130

2.5

$30,837

28.9

1.3

25.6

0.8

0.1

36017 / Clio / AL / 34.5 mi.

734

10.2

$19,726

53.5

3.3

47.5

1.1

0.2

36373 / Shorterville / AL / 28.4 mi.

265

24.9

$32,500

43.1

1.1

41.3

0.2

36371 / Pinckard / AL / 12.5 mi.

298

20.8

$37,981

21.0

3.1

15.8

0.7

0.3

32413 / West Panama City Beach / FL / 69.5 mi.

4,159

1.2

$37,790

5.5

1.7

0.8

0.9

36314 / Black / AL / 24 mi.

237

17.3

$33,750

6.0

0.5

4.3

0.2

0.3

36317 / Clopton / AL / 24.3 mi.

199

18.6

$21,023

50.4

0.0

50.0

0.0

32408 / Panama City Beach / FL / 71.9 mi.

5,874

0.6

$38,568

7.1

2.5

1.0

0.8

1.4

36313 / Bellwood / AL / 20.1 mi.

119

19.3

$25,833

38.1

0.4

37.8

0.0

32426 / Campbellton / FL / 18.5 mi.

373

4.6

$25,817

79.3

0.6

78.1

0.2

0.0

File

al_the_dothan_eagle

Time

5/21/05 12:06 AM

Page

310

Member

100200