Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek... 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

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

2004

19.3

39.0

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.

3,091

10,389

29.8

$92,644

28.3

8.0

1.7

0.2

15.2

94507 / Alamo / CA / 4.7 mi.

3,023

5,227

57.8

$139,997

12.8

4.1

0.5

0.2

5.9

94556 / Moraga / CA / 7.9 mi.

2,968

5,753

51.6

$98,525

21.9

4.8

1.0

0.1

12.6

94510 / Benicia / CA / 14.5 mi.

2,812

9,950

28.3

$65,959

25.8

9.0

4.5

0.5

7.6

94530 / El Cerrito / CA / 15.1 mi.

2,793

10,194

27.4

$56,905

45.9

7.9

8.2

0.3

24.5

94517 / Clayton / CA / 8.8 mi.

2,769

5,111

54.2

$96,658

16.9

6.9

1.5

0.2

5.2

94563 / Orinda / CA / 9.9 mi.

2,518

6,710

37.5

$119,832

15.3

3.1

0.5

0.1

8.9

94547 / Hercules / CA / 14.8 mi.

2,160

7,470

28.9

$75,707

71.7

10.9

16.9

0.2

39.6

94546 / Castro Valley / CA / 15.1 mi.

2,116

16,404

12.9

$57,976

30.1

12.7

3.4

0.4

9.8

94801 / Richmond / CA / 20 mi.

1,808

8,586

21.1

$33,962

87.2

44.9

33.6

0.5

5.8

94805 / Richmond / CA / 16.7 mi.

1,655

5,351

30.9

$50,300

59.9

20.8

18.1

0.4

15.5

94514 / Byron / CA / 20.5 mi.

1,527

3,775

40.5

$85,109

18.5

11.1

2.1

0.6

1.9

94706 / Albany / CA / 15.3 mi.

1,313

6,909

19.0

$57,153

39.8

7.5

4.1

0.3

22.9

94572 / Rodeo / CA / 14.4 mi.

1,207

2,814

42.9

$60,082

54.4

17.2

15.6

0.6

16.0

94591 / Vallejo / CA / 17 mi.

811

17,169

4.7

$61,022

65.2

12.5

17.8

0.5

29.2

94707 / Berkeley / CA / 14.4 mi.

617

4,990

12.4

$100,590

19.4

4.0

2.1

0.1

9.3

94525 / Crockett / CA / 14.4 mi.

598

1,488

40.2

$48,672

20.9

11.7

3.1

0.8

2.6

94552 / Castro Valley / CA / 14.2 mi.

519

4,481

11.6

$105,393

46.0

7.2

3.1

0.2

31.5

94571 / Rio Vista / CA / 24.8 mi.

519

2,148

24.2

$45,142

19.8

13.8

1.0

0.8

1.6

94511 / Bethel Island / CA / 21.6 mi.

494

1,137

43.4

$45,450

15.2

8.7

1.5

0.8

1.0

94702 / Berkeley / CA / 15.2 mi.

444

7,119

6.2

$39,290

60.3

13.4

30.7

0.3

10.8

94703 / Berkeley / CA / 14.6 mi.

352

8,741

4.0

$43,640

54.1

11.0

24.8

0.3

12.6

94533 / Fairfield / CA / 25.4 mi.

339

25,900

1.3

$50,537

53.3

20.3

15.6

0.5

11.4

94708 / Berkeley / CA / 13.5 mi.

329

4,676

7.0

$103,791

18.2

3.6

1.9

0.2

8.8

94589 / Vallejo / CA / 20.2 mi.

324

12,818

2.5

$53,881

72.4

15.8

24.2

0.4

27.1

94590 / Vallejo / CA / 18 mi.

237

14,257

1.7

$35,699

64.7

22.1

24.8

0.6

12.2

94704 / Berkeley / CA / 13.6 mi.

210

8,428

2.5

$19,750

53.3

10.1

3.7

0.2

33.8

94710 / Berkeley / CA / 15.9 mi.

163

3,236

5.0

$34,951

69.5

23.0

25.1

0.7

14.7

94709 / Berkeley / CA / 13.9 mi.

132

5,103

2.6

$38,613

34.9

5.6

3.2

0.3

21.1

94621 / Oakland / CA / 16.2 mi.

123

8,673

1.4

$29,181

97.5

41.4

47.9

0.3

5.6

94580 / San Lorenzo / CA / 17.6 mi.

116

9,029

1.3

$54,594

51.4

24.5

4.5

0.6

17.6

95117 / San Jose / CA / 41.9 mi.

115

11,049

1.0

$57,626

53.5

25.0

4.5

0.3

19.7

94705 / Berkeley / CA / 12.6 mi.

108

5,712

1.9

$68,112

25.3

5.4

4.9

0.2

9.9

94612 / Oakland / CA / 15.7 mi.

6,566

1.3

$20,034

80.2

11.3

38.7

0.7

25.1

94501 / Alameda / CA / 17.3 mi.

25,060

0.3

$51,896

47.2

10.3

6.8

0.6

24.1

94585 / Suisun City / CA / 23.4 mi.

12,252

0.6

$66,010

53.5

16.3

15.2

0.5

15.9

94586 / Sunol / CA / 26.1 mi.

296

22.0

$81,923

17.9

8.3

0.1

1.2

4.9

94608 / Emeryville / CA / 15.7 mi.

10,880

0.5

$33,556

78.5

9.7

52.0

0.3

12.0

94401 / San Mateo / CA / 28.9 mi.

12,601

0.4

$55,112

57.6

33.9

4.2

0.2

15.4

95014 / Cupertino / CA / 42.2 mi.

19,581

0.2

$100,020

52.5

4.3

0.7

0.2

44.4

94577 / San Leandro / CA / 16 mi.

16,272

0.3

$50,888

56.9

22.2

10.8

0.5

19.2

94541 / Hayward / CA / 17.4 mi.

20,481

0.2

$48,523

64.0

35.4

12.5

0.4

11.2

95126 / San Jose / CA / 41.1 mi.

10,948

0.4

$50,113

54.3

37.1

4.5

0.5

8.9

94301 / Palo Alto / CA / 33.5 mi.

7,655

0.5

$97,758

17.9

3.4

2.0

0.1

9.4

94404 / San Mateo / CA / 28.5 mi.

13,329

0.3

$92,989

42.7

5.4

2.1

0.1

31.5

94569 / Port Costa / CA / 12.9 mi.

40.0

$61,429

11.9

5.4

0.0

1.8

1.2

94402 / San Mateo / CA / 30 mi.

9,387

0.3

$82,796

31.0

10.6

1.1

0.3

15.6

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