The Union Democrat, Sonora... 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 Union Democrat, Sonora

Sonora, California

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

0.0

2004

0.0

2003

0.0

2002

0.0

2001

0.0

2000

0.0

1999

0.0

1998

0.0

1997

Did not report

1996

Did not report

1995

Did not report

1994

Did not report

1993

Did not report

1992

0.0

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 The Union Democrat, Sonora

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

0.0

14.5

2004

0.0

14.5

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.)

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

Peer group comparison

for The Union Democrat, Sonora

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 0.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 33, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 10,001 to 25,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 159 out of 259

newspapers reporting in the category of 10,001 to 25,000 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 The Herald, Sharon, Pennsylvania, with a 8 percent non-white staff in a community that is 7.3 percent non-white. Its index is 110.

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

approximately 11,682 ranks 718 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 Union Democrat, Sonora

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

8.0

5,306

Black

1.9

1,233

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.9

580

Native-American

1.6

1,037

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

2.2

1,431

Non-white

14.5

9,637

White

85.6

57,059

Total

66,696

Home county: Tuolumne

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

8.2

4,445

Black

2.1

1,135

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.8

458

Native-American

1.6

864

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

2.2

1,175

Non-white

14.9

8,124

White

85.1

46,377

Total

54,501

The home county of this newspaper is Tuolumne.

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 Union Democrat, Sonora

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

95370 / Sonora / CA / 0 mi.

5,724

10,621

53.9

$37,714

11.0

6.5

0.4

1.0

0.8

95327 / Jamestown / CA / 7.6 mi.

1,090

2,216

49.2

$33,503

32.6

18.1

10.1

1.8

1.2

95383 / Twain Harte / CA / 5.9 mi.

1,024

2,062

49.7

$46,488

9.4

4.9

0.1

0.8

1.1

95379 / Tuolumne / CA / 4.9 mi.

618

1,499

41.2

$38,405

14.6

5.6

0.2

5.8

0.5

95310 / Columbia / CA / 4.2 mi.

512

973

52.6

$36,058

10.6

4.9

0.3

1.3

1.0

95321 / Groveland / CA / 12.2 mi.

497

1,665

29.8

$40,956

10.5

4.9

0.7

1.2

0.8

95372 / Soulsbyville / CA / 3.5 mi.

435

577

75.4

$44,394

12.9

8.2

0.0

2.5

0.5

95222 / Angels Camp / CA / 15.7 mi.

281

1,662

16.9

$36,794

13.9

7.6

1.5

1.4

0.7

95346 / Mi Wuk Village / CA / 8.8 mi.

244

518

47.1

$51,969

10.6

5.9

0.1

1.0

0.4

95247 / Murphys / CA / 10.8 mi.

219

1,914

11.4

$43,396

8.6

5.0

0.2

1.4

0.6

95228 / Copperopolis / CA / 15.9 mi.

215

1,057

20.3

$42,466

15.5

8.4

0.8

1.1

2.4

95223 / Dorrington / CA / 17.3 mi.

157

2,280

6.9

$44,563

7.3

3.6

0.3

0.7

0.5

95329 / La Grange / CA / 19.9 mi.

672

13.1

$44,861

16.0

10.4

0.7

1.7

0.7

95335 / Long Barn / CA / 10.5 mi.

297

27.3

$22,147

8.0

3.9

0.5

1.0

0.3

95249 / San Andreas / CA / 20.8 mi.

1,632

4.7

$34,418

11.4

6.1

0.4

1.3

0.7

95305 / Big Oak Flat / CA / 12.8 mi.

79.4

$25,938

14.8

4.0

0.0

8.7

0.0

95311 / Coulterville / CA / 18.7 mi.

938

4.7

$25,160

12.6

6.7

0.4

2.1

0.8

95364 / Pinecrest / CA / 33 mi.

58.0

$55,833

7.8

3.0

0.9

2.6

0.4

95251 / Vallecito / CA / 9 mi.

182

13.2

$37,000

4.6

1.8

0.0

2.3

0.5

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