Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The News Journal, Wilmington
Wilmington, Delaware
Owner: Gannett Co. (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 16.5
2004 17.0
2003 17.3
2002 13.3
2001 11.5
2000 15.3
1999 15.4
1998 15.1
1997 19.8
1996 10.5
1995 17.6
1994 16.8
1993 14.0
1992 10.2
1991 11.1
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1997
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The News Journal, Wilmington
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 16.5 25.7 64
2004 17.0 25.7 66
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, Gannett Co. (Va.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 89.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The News Journal, Wilmington
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 64. 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 27 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 The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, with a 21 percent non-white staff in a community that is 30.8 percent non-white. Its index is 68.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 115,641 ranks 88 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 News Journal, Wilmington
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 4.8 37,385
Black 17.3 135,480
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.0 15,989
Native-American 0.3 2,024
Other non-white 0.1 956
Multi-racial 1.3 9,782
  Non-white 25.7 201,616
White 74.3 581,960
Total 783,576
Home county:  New Castle
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 5.3 26,293
Black 19.9 99,648
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.6 12,995
Native-American 0.2 806
Other non-white 0.1 631
Multi-racial 1.2 6,132
  Non-white 29.3 146,505
White 70.7 353,760
Total 500,265
The home county of this newspaper is New Castle.
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 News Journal, Wilmington
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
19720 / New Castle / DE / 0 mi. 9,739 20,530 47.4 $46,669 39.8 7.3 29.1 0.2 1.7
19808 / Wilmington / DE / 7 mi. 9,613 15,945 60.3 $57,242 13.4 4.3 4.7 0.1 3.3
19711 / Newark / DE / 8.4 mi. 8,264 18,779 44.0 $62,258 15.9 4.4 5.4 0.1 4.5
19702 / Newark / DE / 6.8 mi. 5,911 16,337 36.2 $54,089 33.0 4.6 22.3 0.2 3.9
19803 / Wilmington / DE / 10.8 mi. 5,721 8,427 67.9 $75,608 8.5 1.4 3.4 0.1 2.9
19805 / Wilmington / DE / 6.7 mi. 5,568 15,288 36.4 $36,493 48.4 19.0 27.2 0.2 0.9
19713 / Newark / DE / 5.9 mi. 5,494 12,070 45.5 $49,910 24.6 4.8 14.3 0.2 3.3
19810 / Wilmington / DE / 12.9 mi. 5,407 10,072 53.7 $67,623 13.1 1.3 6.8 0.1 3.9
19701 / Bear / DE / 7 mi. 5,353 11,214 47.7 $65,020 23.3 3.4 15.7 0.2 2.6
19709 / Middletown / DE / 11.4 mi. 4,443 6,497 68.4 $67,650 15.0 2.8 10.3 0.1 0.8
19804 / Wilmington / DE / 4.9 mi. 3,773 7,439 50.7 $46,012 15.2 5.5 7.6 0.2 0.9
19901 / Dover / DE / 33.9 mi. 3,723 12,301 30.3 $37,974 38.2 4.5 27.9 0.7 2.3
19707 / Hockessin / DE / 10.3 mi. 3,541 5,283 67.0 $97,403 12.2 2.0 2.5 0.1 6.9
19958 / Lewes / DE / 67.3 mi. 3,041 6,289 48.4 $41,750 10.9 1.4 7.2 0.6 0.7
19802 / Wilmington / DE / 8.1 mi. 2,714 9,948 27.3 $36,057 80.5 3.2 75.0 0.2 0.5
21921 / Elkton / MD / 13.6 mi. 2,707 13,788 19.6 $51,362 9.8 2.1 5.2 0.3 1.0
19801 / Wilmington / DE / 6.2 mi. 2,628 5,884 44.7 $24,375 91.0 6.7 81.9 0.2 0.6
19806 / Wilmington / DE / 8 mi. 2,613 5,550 47.1 $44,907 13.1 2.0 8.9 0.1 1.4
19809 / Wilmington / DE / 10.3 mi. 2,540 6,338 40.1 $49,570 20.3 2.3 14.0 0.1 2.8
19807 / Wilmington / DE / 10.3 mi. 2,327 3,154 73.8 $105,971 8.7 1.5 2.9 0.1 3.5
19703 / Claymont / DE / 13.3 mi. 2,198 6,432 34.2 $42,009 32.4 3.8 24.7 0.2 1.9
19966 / Millsboro / DE / 75.8 mi. 1,967 7,629 25.8 $34,756 19.9 2.8 13.1 1.9 0.8
19973 / Seaford / DE / 69.6 mi. 1,709 8,107 21.1 $36,042 29.2 3.5 22.6 0.3 1.2
19963 / Milford / DE / 48.8 mi. 1,658 6,042 27.4 $37,863 20.6 5.2 12.7 0.4 0.9
19947 / Georgetown / DE / 68.1 mi. 1,384 4,847 28.6 $41,007 34.2 14.2 17.8 0.4 0.4
19952 / Harrington / DE / 50 mi. 1,283 3,138 40.9 $38,219 16.9 2.0 12.5 0.2 0.5
19971 / Rehoboth Beach / DE / 70 mi. 1,247 4,898 25.5 $43,914 10.2 2.2 5.9 0.2 1.2
19350 / Landenberg / PA / 12.7 mi. 897 3,149 28.5 $91,619 9.2 5.4 1.4 0.1 1.3
21901 / North East / MD / 19.3 mi. 740 4,521 16.4 $49,621 5.0 1.1 2.1 0.3 0.6
19977 / Smyrna / DE / 24.5 mi. 735 4,482 16.4 $41,519 24.2 2.3 19.5 0.4 0.8
19943 / Felton / DE / 43.9 mi. 646 3,620 17.8 $43,773 17.7 2.0 12.8 0.3 0.9
19933 / Bridgeville / DE / 62.9 mi. 640 2,439 26.2 $31,131 39.4 6.8 30.1 0.2 0.6
19968 / Milton / DE / 63.2 mi. 628 2,645 23.7 $39,833 23.8 5.3 16.5 0.4 0.6
19348 / Kennett Square / PA / 16 mi. 615 6,646 9.3 $67,332 20.8 14.2 4.3 0.0 1.6
19317 / Chadds Ford / PA / 14.4 mi. 609 3,368 18.1 $93,308 6.1 1.7 0.9 0.0 2.9
19970 / Ocean View / DE / 80.1 mi. 559 2,075 26.9 $41,396 3.0 1.0 0.9 0.2 0.5
19956 / Laurel / DE / 76 mi. 520 5,124 10.1 $38,680 19.6 1.6 15.6 0.1 0.9
19734 / Townsend / DE / 18.3 mi. 483 2,085 23.2 $55,288 9.8 1.6 7.0 0.2 0.2
21911 / Rising Sun / MD / 23.1 mi. 374 3,195 11.7 $50,765 3.1 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.5
08070 / Pennsville / NJ / 5.3 mi. 365 5,223 7.0 $47,321 4.3 1.6 0.9 0.1 1.0
19706 / Delaware City / DE / 4.9 mi. 344 580 59.3 $44,306 15.6 1.4 12.8 0.4 0.2
19061 / Marcus Hook / PA / 15.1 mi. 309 9,894 3.1 $52,760 8.2 1.4 4.2 0.1 1.6
19390 / West Grove / PA / 18 mi. 287 3,533 8.1 $62,213 16.8 11.6 3.8 0.1 0.3
19904 / Dover / DE / 34.1 mi. 281 9,873 2.8 $44,380 38.5 3.2 29.6 1.0 2.6
19951 / Harbeson / DE / 70.2 mi. 280 386 72.5 $42,283 12.7 1.6 9.6 0.2 0.1
08069 / Penns Grove / NJ / 8.9 mi. 278 4,901 5.7 $35,857 36.4 9.2 24.8 0.3 0.6
19945 / Frankford / DE / 81.3 mi. 266 2,250 11.8 $36,000 24.8 4.6 17.8 0.2 1.1
21620 / Chestertown / MD / 42.3 mi. 240 4,744 5.1 $40,904 22.7 1.1 19.5 0.2 0.9
19939 / Dagsboro / DE / 77.6 mi. 234 1,889 12.4 $42,220 12.0 2.1 8.6 0.1 0.5
19311 / Avondale / PA / 14.6 mi. 211 1,523 13.9 $66,705 31.5 24.6 5.0 0.1 0.7
21919 / Earleville / MD / 23.7 mi. 208 1,054 19.7 $49,750 2.2 0.7 0.6 0.0 0.4
21912 / Warwick / MD / 19.1 mi. 193 399 48.4 $38,646 12.3 1.0 8.8 0.0 0.5
19342 / Glen Mills / PA / 18 mi. 192 4,627 4.1 $80,448 12.4 1.7 7.8 0.1 2.0
19938 / Clayton / DE / 27.6 mi. 179 2,081 8.6 $44,921 8.3 1.8 4.8 0.6 0.3
19380 / West Chester / PA / 23.2 mi. 162 18,201 0.9 $68,129 12.8 3.4 6.0 0.1 2.5
19382 / West Chester / PA / 19.3 mi. 145 17,820 0.8 $70,832 12.1 2.5 6.2 0.1 2.4
08079 / Salem / NJ / 12.7 mi. 114 4,722 2.4 $37,114 36.8 3.0 31.4 0.4 0.3
19352 / Lincoln University / PA / 17.9 mi. 93 1,880 4.9 $75,182 24.5 3.1 20.0 0.1 0.3
19014 / Aston / PA / 17.4 mi. 72 7,554 1.0 $59,807 9.4 1.2 6.2 0.1 1.1
19730 / Odessa / DE / 13.7 mi. 72 132 54.5 $51,806 6.3 1.0 4.8 0.0 0.3
08098 / Woodstown / NJ / 15 mi. 67 2,928 2.3 $55,490 16.5 2.2 12.6 0.2 0.8
19930 / Bethany Beach / DE / 82.8 mi. 57 1,350 4.2 $61,699 2.3 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.3
19934 / Camden Wyoming / DE / 38.9 mi. 57 3,516 1.6 $46,381 17.5 2.4 10.8 0.5 2.0
19362 / Nottingham / PA / 25.7 mi. 47 1,696 2.8 $49,112 6.7 3.5 1.9 0.2 0.3
19363 / Oxford / PA / 21.9 mi. 47 4,648 1.0 $46,221 15.1 8.6 5.0 0.1 0.5
19941 / Ellendale / DE / 59.5 mi. 37 761 4.9 $38,190 43.6 3.5 38.6 0.3 0.1
19732 / Rockland / DE / 10.4 mi. 31 32 96.9 $200,001 3.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.7
21913 / Cecilton / MD / 19.5 mi. 21 198 10.6 $38,971 27.9 4.4 22.6 0.0 0.0
19015 / Brookhaven / PA / 19 mi. 18 6,552 0.3 $45,185 20.4 1.6 16.6 0.2 1.0
21903 / Perryville / MD / 23.8 mi. 12 2,004 0.6 $45,112 9.5 2.0 5.1 0.3 0.8
21920 / Elk Mills / MD / 11.9 mi. 11 45 24.4 $26,429 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
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