Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek, California
Owner: Knight Ridder (Calif.)
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	19.9
2004	19.3
2003	16.3
2002	16.2
2001	15.4
2000	16.0
1999	12.0
1998	14.8
1997	10.8
1996	5.8
1995	6.2
1994	7.9
1993	8.4
1992	11.8
1991	Did not report
1990	Did not report
The latest year at peak is	2005
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	19.9	39.0	51
2004	19.3	39.0	49
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, Knight Ridder (Calif.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 76.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 51.				This paper
				Peer group
Compare that with 64, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 100,001 to 250,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 41 out of 58
newspapers reporting in the category of 100,001 to 250,000 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 South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a 28.3 percent non-white staff in a community that is 36.1 percent non-white. Its index is 79.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 182,647 ranks 58 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 Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	16.2	198,476
Black	7.8	95,617
Asian and Pacific Islander	11.0	135,496
Native-American	0.4	4,697
Other non-white	0.3	3,348
Multi-racial	3.4	41,895
Non-white	39.0	479,529
White	61.0	749,451
Total		1,228,980
	Home county:  Contra Costa
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	17.7	167,776
Black	9.2	86,851
Asian and Pacific Islander	11.2	105,838
Native-American	0.4	3,648
Other non-white	0.3	2,636
Multi-racial	3.4	32,658
Non-white	42.1	399,407
White	57.9	549,409
Total		948,816
The home county of this newspaper is Contra Costa.
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
Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek
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
94509 / Antioch / CA / 12.5 mi.	9,721	29,446	33.0	$60,375	44.0	22.1	9.4	0.6	7.5
94553 / Martinez / CA / 9.2 mi.	9,499	18,583	51.1	$60,402	25.0	11.5	3.0	0.6	6.2
94565 / Pittsburg / CA / 8.4 mi.	8,558	24,515	34.9	$48,523	68.3	33.9	16.6	0.5	12.7
94550 / Livermore / CA / 21.1 mi.	8,225	27,058	30.4	$75,026	25.2	14.1	1.5	0.4	5.9
94596 / Walnut Creek / CA / 2.2 mi.	7,915	19,195	41.2	$64,389	22.0	7.7	1.3	0.3	9.7
94521 / Concord / CA / 5.1 mi.	7,865	14,457	54.4	$64,485	30.8	12.7	2.2	0.5	11.1
94583 / San Ramon / CA / 10.7 mi.	7,288	16,779	43.4	$95,588	27.2	7.2	1.8	0.3	14.7
94523 / Pleasant Hill / CA / 4.2 mi.	7,160	13,668	52.4	$67,824	23.3	8.4	1.5	0.3	9.5
94598 / Walnut Creek / CA / 0 mi.	6,639	10,360	64.1	$85,479	20.2	4.6	0.9	0.2	11.5
94526 / Danville / CA / 6 mi.	6,551	11,935	54.9	$109,771	15.1	4.7	0.7	0.2	7.4
94566 / Pleasanton / CA / 21 mi.	5,937	13,514	43.9	$90,107	20.9	7.8	1.0	0.3	8.9
94806 / San Pablo / CA / 18 mi.	5,558	17,536	31.7	$43,649	78.9	35.6	22.8	0.4	16.2
94549 / Lafayette / CA / 5.6 mi.	5,327	9,185	58.0	$101,555	15.7	4.2	0.7	0.2	7.8
94513 / Brentwood / CA / 17.6 mi.	4,742	8,579	55.3	$68,515	36.7	28.3	2.2	0.5	2.7
94518 / Concord / CA / 2.3 mi.	4,653	10,299	45.2	$64,429	32.4	14.5	2.3	0.4	10.7
94595 / Walnut Creek / CA / 4.2 mi.	4,607	9,920	46.4	$51,418	9.1	2.2	0.5	0.2	4.5
94520 / Concord / CA / 6.9 mi.	4,479	12,624	35.5	$41,002	57.7	39.8	4.3	0.6	8.9
94519 / Concord / CA / 4.5 mi.	3,971	6,718	59.1	$57,601	30.9	17.1	2.8	0.5	6.9
94561 / Oakley / CA / 18.4 mi.	3,757	8,540	44.0	$63,777	35.5	25.0	3.1	0.7	2.9
94803 / El Sobrante / CA / 14.9 mi.	3,606	9,218	39.1	$61,494	53.8	13.0	15.6	0.4	19.5
94506 / Danville / CA / 10.1 mi.	3,529	6,467	54.6	$142,459	25.6	4.3	2.0	0.2	16.6
94804 / Richmond / CA / 17.7 mi.	3,509	14,322	24.5	$41,573	81.8	22.6	44.1	0.3	11.3
94568 / Dublin / CA / 14.6 mi.	3,394	9,201	36.9	$77,122	37.7	13.5	10.1	0.5	10.4
94564 / Pinole / CA / 14.7 mi.	3,298	5,924	55.7	$60,804	52.3	14.2	11.4	0.3	21.6
94588 / Pleasanton / CA / 16.9 mi.