Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The News-Press, Fort Myers
Fort Myers, Florida
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 18.9
2004 17.9
2003 10.8
2002 11.5
2001 15.6
2000 12.5
1999 13.0
1998 17.8
1997 15.6
1996 16.2
1995 15.3
1994 11.5
1993 7.6
1992 8.0
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 News-Press, Fort Myers
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 18.9 19.2 98
2004 17.9 19.0 94
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-Press, Fort Myers
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 98. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 50, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 13 out of 90
newspapers reporting in the category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 90,168 ranks 118 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-Press, Fort Myers
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 10.8 51,070
Black 6.2 29,521
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 3,621
Native-American 0.2 1,039
Other non-white 0.1 572
Multi-racial 1.0 4,649
  Non-white 19.0 90,472
White 81.0 384,621
Total 475,093
Home county:  Lee
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 9.5 42,042
Black 6.4 28,020
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 3,490
Native-American 0.2 944
Other non-white 0.1 554
Multi-racial 1.0 4,399
  Non-white 18.0 79,449
White 82.0 361,439
Total 440,888
The home county of this newspaper is Lee.
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-Press, Fort Myers
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
33908 / Fort Myers / FL / 8.5 mi. 8,976 12,287 73.1 $40,981 8.2 5.1 2.0 0.1 0.5
33912 / South Fort Myers / FL / 7.9 mi. 6,496 13,376 48.6 $51,708 8.7 5.5 1.0 0.2 1.1
33919 / Fort Myers / FL / 5 mi. 6,315 12,866 49.1 $43,027 7.2 4.0 1.3 0.1 1.0
33917 / North Fort Myers / FL / 5.1 mi. 5,702 13,043 43.7 $33,120 4.7 2.8 0.4 0.3 0.4
33904 / Cape Coral / FL / 5.2 mi. 5,595 14,929 37.5 $40,352 9.7 6.6 1.1 0.2 0.8
33903 / North Fort Myers / FL / 4.2 mi. 5,410 11,209 48.3 $33,946 8.2 4.8 1.4 0.4 0.8
33931 / Fort Myers Beach / FL / 12.2 mi. 4,363 5,566 78.4 $41,291 4.0 2.9 0.1 0.3 0.3
33914 / Cape Coral / FL / 8.2 mi. 4,080 9,858 41.4 $49,148 11.8 8.3 1.4 0.2 0.7
33907 / Fort Myers / FL / 4.2 mi. 3,927 9,717 40.4 $35,065 24.2 15.1 6.2 0.2 1.3
34135 / Bonita Springs / FL / 17.4 mi. 3,521 10,402 33.8 $41,334 28.1 26.4 0.4 0.2 0.4
33905 / Tice / FL / 6.3 mi. 3,510 9,179 38.2 $35,039 38.0 22.2 13.5 0.2 0.9
33928 / Estero / FL / 13 mi. 3,492 4,364 80.0 $41,380 4.9 3.8 0.4 0.1 0.3
33901 / Fort Myers / FL / 0 mi. 3,400 9,021 37.7 $29,875 37.1 10.4 21.7 0.2 1.2
33990 / Cape Coral Central / FL / 4.9 mi. 2,756 8,679 31.8 $42,185 16.2 10.8 2.5 0.2 1.5
33957 / Sanibel / FL / 17.1 mi. 2,691 3,068 87.7 $78,780 3.2 1.4 0.9 0.1 0.4
34134 / Bonita Springs / FL / 17.2 mi. 2,368 6,046 39.2 $66,947 3.4 2.3 0.3 0.1 0.5
33936 / Lehigh Acres / FL / 14.6 mi. 2,290 6,658 34.4 $33,276 25.9 15.3 7.9 0.1 0.9
33916 / Fort Myers / FL / 1.9 mi. 1,941 7,080 27.4 $24,050 78.4 17.3 58.5 0.3 0.5
33991 / Matlacha Isles / FL / 7.8 mi. 1,347 3,279 41.1 $46,958 11.1 6.7 2.2 0.3 1.0
33909 / Cape Coral / FL / 6.8 mi. 1,163 2,965 39.2 $42,541 15.8 9.8 3.2 0.4 0.8
33935 / Labelle / FL / 25.9 mi. 1,097 5,313 20.6 $33,065 52.8 46.3 5.1 0.3 0.3
33956 / Saint James City / FL / 14.4 mi. 1,042 2,128 49.0 $35,746 1.7 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.3
33971 / Lehigh Acres / FL / 10 mi. 977 2,682 36.4 $43,961 28.3 15.3 10.4 0.4 0.8
33972 / Lehigh Acres / FL / 13.7 mi. 951 3,148 30.2 $43,920 18.2 7.8 8.3 0.2 0.7
33993 / Matlacha / FL / 10.6 mi. 845 1,565 54.0 $45,302 8.0 4.9 1.2 0.2 0.6
33922 / Bokeelia / FL / 15.4 mi. 772 1,916 40.3 $37,981 8.5 7.0 0.1 0.5 0.2
33913 / Miromar Lakes / FL / 11.7 mi. 756 1,459 51.8 $74,564 14.4 9.0 2.7 0.1 1.4
33920 / Alva / FL / 14.6 mi. 673 1,780 37.8 $42,806 15.6 6.4 7.7 0.2 0.2
33924 / Captiva / FL / 19.9 mi. 644 175 368.0 $68,929 2.1 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.9
33955 / Punta Gorda / FL / 15.5 mi. 403 2,859 14.1 $42,334 4.2 2.0 1.1 0.2 0.6
34110 / Naples / FL / 21.4 mi. 341 7,327 4.7 $53,761 7.9 6.3 0.7 0.1 0.5
33982 / Punta Gorda / FL / 22.9 mi. 334 3,687 9.1 $33,750 10.2 2.9 5.7 0.3 0.4
34142 / Immokalee / FL / 37.3 mi. 209 5,387 3.9 $25,189 89.8 67.4 18.0 0.7 0.2
33950 / Punta Gorda / FL / 21.1 mi. 199 9,646 2.1 $41,180 6.5 1.9 3.0 0.2 0.7
33952 / Port Charlotte / FL / 26.9 mi. 199 13,845 1.4 $31,775 13.2 5.5 4.9 0.3 1.1
34102 / Naples / FL / 31.6 mi. 117 5,994 2.0 $55,648 13.9 2.4 7.8 0.1 0.4
34108 / Naples / FL / 25.5 mi. 117 7,766 1.5 $61,475 9.8 7.9 0.7 0.1 0.7
33440 / Clewiston / FL / 54 mi. 110 5,815 1.9 $33,290 59.6 35.6 21.7 0.3 0.7
34109 / Naples / FL / 25.9 mi. 106 7,699 1.4 $52,591 9.5 6.6 1.1 0.1 1.1
34104 / Naples / FL / 31.3 mi. 98 8,418 1.2 $45,032 20.6 14.4 3.4 0.2 1.3
34112 / Naples / FL / 33.7 mi. 81 12,012 0.7 $38,244 24.3 16.7 5.3 0.2 0.6
33471 / Moore Haven / FL / 45.9 mi. 78 1,996 3.9 $29,819 34.1 13.3 19.0 0.7 0.4
34113 / Naples / FL / 37.3 mi. 74 5,677 1.3 $43,630 38.9 30.5 6.9 0.1 0.4
34116 / Naples / FL / 30 mi. 59 8,137 0.7 $43,805 44.3 32.4 8.5 0.1 0.8
34103 / Naples / FL / 28.5 mi. 50 6,534 0.8 $61,114 9.4 7.8 0.6 0.1 0.5
34119 / Naples / FL / 25.5 mi. 42 3,906 1.1 $71,901 6.6 4.5 0.6 0.1 0.6
34105 / Naples / FL / 29.1 mi. 38 4,755 0.8 $59,059 8.3 5.8 0.6 0.0 1.1
33980 / Punta Gorda / FL / 25.2 mi. 23 4,385 0.5 $31,865 13.9 3.7 8.0 0.1 1.2
33921 / Boca Grande / FL / 24.2 mi. 21 773 2.7 $127,020 1.7 1.1 0.4 0.0 0.1
33930 / Felda / FL / 20.3 mi. 21 246 8.5 $37,422 32.1 29.8 0.6 0.1 0.0
33948 / Port Charlotte / FL / 27.9 mi. 12 6,099 0.2 $37,236 12.9 4.1 6.3 0.2 1.1
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