St. Petersburg 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

St. Petersburg Times

St. Petersburg, Florida

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

14.9

2003

13.8

2002

11.7

2001

9.7

2000

11.2

1999

12.6

1998

13.2

1997

12.7

1996

12.7

1995

14.1

1994

12.7

1993

12.7

1992

9.3

1991

10.0

1990

10.3

The latest year at peak is

2005

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for St. Petersburg Times

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

16.5

15.8

104

2004

14.9

15.8

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 St. Petersburg Times

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 104.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 70, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 250,001 to 500,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 2 out of 24

newspapers reporting in the category of 250,001 to 500,000 daily sales.

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

approximately 330,091 ranks 23 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 St. Petersburg Times

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

5.6

92,163

Black

6.9

113,093

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.7

28,459

Native-American

0.3

4,262

Other non-white

0.1

2,001

Multi-racial

1.2

19,380

Non-white

15.8

259,358

White

84.2

1,378,476

Total

1,637,834

Home county: Pinellas

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

4.6

42,760

Black

8.8

81,146

Asian and Pacific Islander

2.1

19,229

Native-American

0.3

2,292

Other non-white

0.1

1,326

Multi-racial

1.3

12,115

Non-white

17.2

158,868

White

82.8

762,614

Total

921,482

The home county of this newspaper is Pinellas.

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

St. Petersburg 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

34698 / Dunedin / FL / 19.4 mi.

9,551

16,466

58.0

$34,600

7.4

3.2

2.0

0.2

1.1

34668 / Port Richey / FL / 37 mi.

8,557

19,638

43.6

$27,963

8.3

5.0

1.1

0.2

0.9

33710 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 5.6 mi.

7,759

14,534

53.4

$38,419

10.3

4.4

1.5

0.3

2.6

33707 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 5.1 mi.

7,133

13,497

52.8

$31,106

11.0

2.8

5.9

0.2

0.8

33771 / Largo / FL / 12 mi.

7,113

14,458

49.2

$31,483

10.5

4.1

2.6

0.3

2.2

33706 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 7.2 mi.

7,091

9,420

75.3

$45,252

4.3

2.4

0.5

0.2

0.6

34684 / Palm Harbor / FL / 21.8 mi.

7,000

12,676

55.2

$39,896

7.3

3.5

1.0

0.1

1.6

34667 / Hudson / FL / 42.9 mi.

6,974

13,837

50.4

$32,245

5.6

2.8

0.5

0.3

0.8

34683 / Palm Harbor / FL / 22.7 mi.

6,467

13,715

47.2

$51,818

6.7

3.5

0.9

0.2

1.1

34655 / New Port Richey / FL / 31.9 mi.

6,346

10,478

60.6

$41,485

6.1

3.1

0.9

0.2

1.0

33702 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 5.4 mi.

6,332

14,197

44.6

$35,904

14.0

5.0

2.7

0.3

3.3

33701 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 0 mi.

6,256

8,168

76.6

$21,502

29.0

3.8

20.6

0.4

2.0

33772 / Seminole / FL / 11 mi.

6,098

10,768

56.6

$38,840

6.0

3.0

0.5

0.3

1.2

33756 / Clearwater / FL / 15.1 mi.

6,021

13,052

46.1

$33,825

16.9

8.3

6.2

0.3

1.0

34606 / Spring Hill / FL / 48.2 mi.

5,952

11,108

53.6

$31,877

9.1

5.7

1.7

0.2

0.5

33764 / Clearwater / FL / 13.1 mi.

5,902

10,807

54.6

$40,305

9.8

4.7

2.3

0.1

1.6

33709 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 6.5 mi.

5,858

12,224

47.9

$29,098

12.6

4.8

2.8

0.4

2.9

33713 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 2.8 mi.

5,831

13,293

43.9

$32,741

25.1

6.1

9.2

0.4

7.0

33770 / Largo / FL / 14.2 mi.

5,638

11,985

47.0

$32,342

10.4

4.5

2.5

0.3

1.5

33703 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 3.3 mi.

5,579

11,090

50.3

$41,899

9.0

3.9

1.0

0.2

2.3

34653 / New Port Richey / FL / 32.9 mi.

5,539

13,654

40.6

$30,373

8.0

4.5

0.9

0.3

1.0

33708 / Saint Petersburg / FL / 9.3 mi.

5,495

9,328

58.9

$36,081

4.5

2.4

0.3

0.7

34652 / New Port Richey / FL / 32.6 mi.

5,149

11,880

43.3

$27,535

7.4

4.1

0.7

0.4

1.1

34689 / Tarpon Springs / FL / 25.7 mi.

5,092

12,287

41.4

$40,788

11.7

4.0

4.9

0.3

1.3

34609 / Spring Hill / FL / 49.4 mi.

5,054

10,881

46.4

$35,240

12.1

6.6

3.5

0.3

0.8

33763 / Clearwater / FL / 17.4 mi.

4,924

9,527