The Huntsville Times... 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 Huntsville Times

Huntsville, Alabama

Owner: Advance (Newhouse) (N.Y.)

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

5.5

2004

8.8

2003

6.6

2002

9.1

2001

7.6

2000

3.7

1999

8.9

1998

9.3

1997

9.4

1996

10.0

1995

9.0

1994

11.5

1993

0.0

1992

10.5

1991

Did not report

1990

0.0

The latest year at peak is

1994

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Huntsville Times

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

5.5

23.9

2004

8.8

23.7

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, Advance (Newhouse) (N.Y.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 63.

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

Peer group comparison

for The Huntsville Times

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 23.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 50, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 75 out of 90

newspapers reporting in the category of 50,001 to 100,000 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 Florida Today, Melbourne, Florida, with a 19.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 16.3 percent non-white. Its index is 117.

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

approximately 53,145 ranks 193 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 Huntsville Times

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.5

10,233

Black

17.4

70,345

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.4

5,647

Native-American

0.8

3,028

Other non-white

0.1

352

Multi-racial

1.5

6,040

Non-white

23.7

95,645

White

76.3

308,082

Total

403,727

Home county: Madison

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.9

5,226

Black

22.6

62,602

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.9

5,247

Native-American

0.8

2,067

Other non-white

0.1

300

Multi-racial

1.7

4,762

Non-white

29.0

80,204

White

71.0

196,496

Total

276,700

The home county of this newspaper is Madison.

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 Huntsville Times

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

35801 / Huntsville / AL / 4.7 mi.

5,687

10,313

55.1

$44,539

13.8

1.2

9.6

0.5

1.2

35802 / Huntsville / AL / 5.8 mi.

5,332

9,431

56.5

$55,364

13.7

1.6

7.0

0.5

3.2

35803 / Huntsville / AL / 8.4 mi.

4,804

9,896

48.5

$61,776

11.1

2.1

2.4

0.7

4.1

35758 / Triana / AL / 4.5 mi.

4,793

11,642

41.2

$62,550

21.8

2.4

13.3

0.6

3.5

35810 / Huntsville / AL / 5.1 mi.

4,113

10,795

38.1

$37,351

74.4

1.4

70.0

0.3

0.7

35811 / Huntsville / AL / 8.3 mi.

3,649

8,645

42.2

$46,328

29.9

1.1

26.1

0.9

0.5

35805 / Huntsville / AL / 2.2 mi.

2,963

9,481

31.3

$22,370

43.7

4.0

34.0

0.8

2.6

35816 / Huntsville / AL / 2.3 mi.

2,042

6,682

30.6

$23,540

69.1

3.2

61.2

0.4

2.2

35806 / Huntsville / AL / 3.1 mi.

2,017

4,941

40.8

$56,184

29.2

1.7

21.5

0.8

3.1

35749 / Harvest / AL / 9 mi.

1,445

4,470

32.3

$55,046

26.8

1.5

21.7

0.8

1.0

35763 / Owens X Roads / AL / 12.1 mi.

1,401

2,519

55.6

$62,114

7.4

0.9

3.5

0.7

0.8

35750 / Hazel Green / AL / 15.8 mi.

1,149

4,253

27.0

$40,508

7.2

1.1

2.8

1.2

0.5

35768 / Scottsboro / AL / 33.6 mi.

1,052

4,730

22.2

$30,405

10.7

1.6

5.7

1.5

0.4

35757 / Madison / AL / 6.3 mi.

876

2,651

33.0

$56,971

20.7

1.7

15.5

0.8

1.1

35761 / New Market / AL / 16.5 mi.

810

3,095

26.2

$36,520

14.2

1.9

7.6

2.1

0.2

35976 / Guntersville / AL / 30.5 mi.

802

6,510

12.3

$31,664

8.3

2.2

4.3

0.5

0.3

35950 / Albertville / AL / 37.4 mi.

774

7,019

11.0

$30,482

18.3

15.5

1.7

0.3

0.2

35611 / Athens / AL / 17.4 mi.

754

9,403

8.0

$31,423

24.1

4.5

17.8

0.4

0.5

35759 / Meridianville / AL / 10.9 mi.

726

1,572

46.2

$59,556

12.5

0.7

8.2

1.1

0.8

35016 / Arab / AL / 26.6 mi.

725

6,341

11.4

$35,748

2.3

0.8

0.1

0.6

0.3

37334 / Fayetteville / TN / 28.8 mi.

668

8,105

8.2

$33,682

13.3

0.9

10.4

0.4

35748 / Gurley / AL / 13.8 mi.

658

2,051

32.1

$40,000

12.7

1.1

8.8

1.1

0.2

35773 / Toney / AL / 12.4 mi.

621

3,487

17.8

$38,894

16.5

1.4

12.1

1.0

0.2

35601 / Decatur / AL / 19 mi.

578

14,023

4.1

$31,782

34.7

7.9

24.8

0.6

0.4

35808 / Redstone Arsenal / AL / 1 mi.

572

490

116.7

$35,435

47.5

9.3

31.0

0.3

2.4

35175 / Union Grove / AL / 21.4 mi.

522

1,966

26.6

$36,106

3.1

1.0

0.2

0.7

0.2

35741 / Brownsboro / AL / 9.2 mi.

437

960

45.5

$54,948

8.1

0.5

5.0

0.8

0.5

35756 / Madison / AL / 12.1 mi.

426

1,606

26.5

$41,151

43.3

1.4

39.8

0.5

0.7

35824 / Huntsville / AL / 7.2 mi.

409

1,508

27.1

$52,049

32.7

2.4

22.1

0.6

5.6

35613 / Athens / AL / 14 mi.

408

4,545

9.0

$48,912

9.1

1.6

5.9

0.6

0.3

35739 / Ardmore / AL / 16.9 mi.

408

1,542

26.5

$36,574

7.1

1.2

2.8

0.9

0.5

35747 / Grant / AL / 24.5 mi.

336

2,176

15.4

$33,781

2.9

0.7

0.2

0.6

0.3

35754 / Laceys Spring / AL / 12.5 mi.

323

1,998

16.2

$32,819

4.8

1.2

0.8

1.0

0.3

35760 / New Hope / AL / 17.2 mi.

293

1,922

15.2

$35,000

4.6

0.9

0.2

1.3

0.3

35765 / Pisgah / AL / 44.7 mi.

291

1,528

19.0

$29,496

5.3

0.6

0.1

2.8

0.1

35769 / Scottsboro / AL / 32.5 mi.

290

3,869

7.5

$36,766

5.6

1.2

2.0

0.6

0.4

35772 / Stevenson / AL / 44.6 mi.

282

2,048

13.8

$28,986

16.0

1.4

11.3

1.3

0.1

35670 / Somerville / AL / 13.1 mi.

259

2,764

9.4

$38,723

5.5

0.6

2.6

1.0

0.2

35986 / Rainsville / AL / 45.1 mi.

246

3,100

7.9

$30,871

3.9

2.0

0.1

0.6

0.1

37345 / Huntland / TN / 29.9 mi.

215

874

24.6

$33,438

7.5

2.5

3.2

0.4

0.1

35957 / Sardis City / AL / 41.5 mi.

197

5,838

3.4

$28,115

6.9

4.6

0.8

0.3

35776 / Woodville / AL / 23.4 mi.

124

1,534

8.1

$34,710

5.5

0.6

0.3

2.4

0.1

35640 / Hartselle / AL / 22.9 mi.

8,285

1.1

$40,081

6.2

1.2

3.2

0.6

0.2

35671 / Tanner / AL / 17 mi.

814

8.8

$32,458

43.1

6.0

34.8

0.9

0.3

35614 / Athens / AL / 22.7 mi.

2,688

2.5

$35,437

8.1

2.1

4.5

0.4

0.2

35620 / Elkmont / AL / 22.5 mi.

2,733

2.2

$37,002

6.3

0.9

3.9

0.5

0.1

38449 / Dellrose / TN / 26.7 mi.

1,079

4.4

$34,311

5.9

1.1

3.6

0.4

0.2

35755 / Langston / AL / 31.8 mi.

268

16.0

$36,691

3.3

0.5

1.4

1.2

0.0

35764 / Paint Rock / AL / 18.2 mi.

213

17.8

$35,391

7.2

0.9

1.9

2.4

0.0

35771 / Section / AL / 36.3 mi.

1,474

2.4

$32,444

5.9

0.8

0.3

2.2

0.1

35752 / Hollywood / AL / 36.7 mi.

914

3.6

$31,705

14.5

0.7

10.2

1.0

0.4

35751 / Hollytree / AL / 21.3 mi.

115

23.5

$37,857

3.2

0.4

0.0

2.1

0.0

35087 / Joppa / AL / 28.9 mi.

791

3.0

$30,833

3.9

2.8

0.1

0.6

0.2

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