Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Athens Banner-Herald
Athens, Georgia
Owner: Morris Communications (Ga.)
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 Did not report
2004 Did not report
2003 5.7
2002 Did not report
2001 Did not report
2000 0.0
1999 Did not report
1998 7.1
1997 6.3
1996 8.3
1995 Did not report
1994 7.4
1993 6.3
1992 6.7
1991 9.4
1990 10.5
The latest year at peak is 1990
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Athens Banner-Herald
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 N/A 26.5 N/A
2004 N/A 27.8 N/A
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, Morris Communications (Ga.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 21.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Athens Banner-Herald
This paper
Peer group
The median Diversity Index is 44 for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 25,001 to 50,000 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 Longview News-Journal, Texas, with a 23.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 28.4 percent non-white. Its index is 81.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 26,606 ranks 383 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 Athens Banner-Herald
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 4.1 9,795
Black 20.9 50,175
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.7 4,135
Native-American 0.2 408
Other non-white 0.1 258
Multi-racial 0.9 2,111
  Non-white 27.8 66,882
White 72.2 173,759
Total 240,641
Home county:  Clarke
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 6.3 6,436
Black 27.1 27,496
Asian and Pacific Islander 3.2 3,203
Native-American 0.2 164
Other non-white 0.2 172
Multi-racial 1.1 1,123
  Non-white 38.0 38,594
White 62.0 62,895
Total 101,489
The home county of this newspaper is Clarke.
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
Athens Banner-Herald
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
30606 / Navy Supply Corps School / GA / 2.5 mi. 5,457 15,009 36.4 $33,092 32.4 5.8 22.8 0.2 2.4
30605 / Athens / GA / 3.1 mi. 4,015 14,667 27.4 $24,773 27.0 3.1 17.0 0.1 5.3
30601 / Athens / GA / 1.3 mi. 2,612 7,012 37.3 $22,383 66.3 10.3 54.0 0.2 0.7
30677 / Watkinsville / GA / 7.2 mi. 2,247 4,770 47.1 $56,529 8.9 1.7 5.2 0.1 1.3
30622 / Bogart / GA / 8.4 mi. 1,162 2,789 41.7 $51,083 22.2 2.9 15.9 0.2 2.4
30646 / Hull / GA / 5.2 mi. 1,053 2,407 43.7 $36,943 13.2 2.6 9.1 0.1 0.3
30633 / Danielsville / GA / 15 mi. 988 3,300 29.9 $37,181 4.5 1.6 1.9 0.2 0.2
30680 / Winder / GA / 18.6 mi. 942 9,390 10.0 $42,140 17.0 2.9 10.9 0.3 1.7
30683 / Winterville / GA / 4.7 mi. 809 2,115 38.3 $40,520 16.5 2.9 12.0 0.2 0.5
30529 / Commerce / GA / 16.5 mi. 800 3,497 22.9 $36,771 15.1 2.2 11.3 0.2 0.4
30549 / Jefferson / GA / 14.5 mi. 730 4,466 16.3 $41,307 16.8 2.4 12.2 0.1 1.4
30635 / Elberton / GA / 29.3 mi. 707 6,497 10.9 $27,911 37.6 2.7 33.9 0.2 0.3
30607 / Athens / GA / 3.1 mi. 671 3,032 22.1 $37,652 48.1 19.0 27.3 0.2 0.7
30628 / Colbert / GA / 10.3 mi. 492 1,943 25.3 $40,705 15.3 1.8 12.2 0.2 0.3
30662 / Royston / GA / 25.5 mi. 441 3,188 13.8 $31,107 11.9 1.1 9.3 0.1 0.5
30642 / Reynolds Plantation / GA / 28.2 mi. 407 3,771 10.8 $37,044 46.0 3.4 41.5 0.2 0.3
30648 / Lexington / GA / 17 mi. 389 849 45.8 $33,125 30.5 1.1 28.1 0.2 0.3
30521 / Carnesville / GA / 27.7 mi. 335 1,721 19.5 $34,602 9.2 0.7 7.6 0.0 0.2
30629 / Comer / GA / 15.3 mi. 326 1,606 20.3 $30,705 15.7 0.6 13.6 0.1 0.6
30621 / Bishop / GA / 9.4 mi. 276 1,108 24.9 $47,148 12.2 2.2 8.7 0.1 0.5
30650 / Madison / GA / 24.3 mi. 265 3,670 7.2 $39,284 36.9 1.6 33.8 0.2 0.4
30666 / Statham / GA / 11.6 mi. 262 1,962 13.4 $36,691 20.0 1.6 15.8 0.4 1.1
30565 / Nicholson / GA / 7.9 mi. 256 1,334 19.2 $41,955 9.2 3.9 4.2 0.2 0.2
30630 / Crawford / GA / 10.6 mi. 250 1,015 24.6 $33,105 27.9 0.9 25.8 0.1 0.2
30530 / Commerce / GA / 16.2 mi. 242 1,747 13.9 $37,137 8.8 2.3 4.6 0.3 0.7
30655 / Monroe / GA / 20.9 mi. 236 6,466 3.6 $36,228 29.5 1.9 26.0 0.2 0.4
30673 / Washington / GA / 36.9 mi. 197 3,248 6.1 $28,431 48.9 1.9 45.7 0.2 0.3
30669 / Union Point / GA / 25.6 mi. 174 1,312 13.3 $30,559 47.2 1.4 44.6 0.2 0.4
30627 / Carlton / GA / 23.5 mi. 172 835 20.6 $34,727 31.4 1.5 28.4 0.2 0.5
30619 / Arnoldsville / GA / 8.6 mi. 153 433 35.3 $38,125 5.5 1.7 3.0 0.1 0.2
30553 / Lavonia / GA / 34 mi. 115 2,796 4.1 $31,431 15.3 1.1 12.8 0.3 0.2
30620 / Bethlehem / GA / 19.9 mi. 114 1,802 6.3 $49,740 20.2 5.5 10.3 0.2 3.1
30643 / Hartwell / GA / 35.5 mi. 112 5,962 1.9 $32,739 24.4 0.8 22.2 0.1 0.7
30624 / Bowman / GA / 31.2 mi. 100 982 10.2 $30,294 18.0 1.1 16.1 0.3 0.1
30577 / Toccoa / GA / 39.8 mi. 93 8,623 1.1 $29,331 15.7 0.9 12.9 0.2 0.6
30667 / Stephens / GA / 18.8 mi. 85 312 27.2 $27,292 41.4 4.0 35.9 0.6 0.6
30660 / Rayle / GA / 36.3 mi. 66 422 15.6 $27,813 37.7 1.9 34.4 0.1 0.1
30520 / Canon / GA / 25.7 mi. 65 1,472 4.4 $26,205 7.4 0.9 5.3 0.2 0.1
30634 / Dewy Rose / GA / 27.2 mi. 50 812 6.2 $34,778 30.7 1.2 28.2 0.4 0.2
30678 / White Plains / GA / 36.1 mi. 40 396 10.1 $31,920 49.3 3.1 46.1 0.0 0.1
30011 / Auburn / GA / 24.2 mi. 39 3,881 1.0 $50,955 10.6 3.5 2.7 0.2 3.1
30558 / Maysville / GA / 21.4 mi. 35 1,704 2.1 $36,327 4.3 1.6 1.3 0.2 0.2
30602 / Athens / GA / 4.8 mi. 34 4 850.0 $0 28.4 2.6 16.1 0.0 6.7
30548 / Hoschton / GA / 27.2 mi. 30 2,141 1.4 $55,288 5.9 1.9 1.9 0.2 1.1
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