Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta, Georgia
Owner: Cox Enterprises (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	23.0
2004	22.6
2003	21.3
2002	18.9
2001	20.3
2000	19.7
1999	21.7
1998	19.2
1997	19.8
1996	18.7
1995	18.1
1994	18.1
1993	16.1
1992	16.3
1991	16.0
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 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	23.0	38.1	60
2004	22.6	38.1	59
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, Cox Enterprises (Ga.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 66.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 60.				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 16 out of 24
newspapers reporting in the category of 250,001 to 500,000 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 Detroit Free Press, Michigan, with a 29.2 percent non-white staff in a community that is 28.1 percent non-white. Its index is 104.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 386,015 ranks 17 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 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	6.4	263,153
Black	26.9	1,102,122
Asian and Pacific Islander	3.2	128,666
Native-American	0.2	7,706
Other non-white	0.2	7,335
Multi-racial	1.2	48,784
Non-white	38.1	1,557,766
White	61.9	2,532,633
Total		4,090,399
	Home county:  Fulton
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	5.9	48,056
Black	44.2	361,018
Asian and Pacific Islander	3.1	24,896
Native-American	0.1	1,148
Other non-white	0.2	1,599
Multi-racial	1.1	9,292
Non-white	54.7	446,009
White	45.3	369,997
Total		816,006
The home county of this newspaper is Fulton.
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 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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
30022 / Alpharetta / GA / 21.3 mi.	6,227	19,112	32.6	$93,150	21.9	4.3	7.0	0.1	8.6
30062 / Marietta / GA / 17.6 mi.	5,884	22,015	26.7	$78,768	18.6	4.5	7.8	0.2	4.7
30303 / Atlanta / GA / 0 mi.	5,870	929	631.9	$22,875	83.8	5.1	75.3	0.4	1.2
30075 / Roswell / GA / 20.7 mi.	5,765	16,515	34.9	$88,504	15.1	5.6	5.5	0.1	2.7
30004 / Alpharetta / GA / 26.7 mi.	5,569	15,769	35.3	$72,591	14.4	5.8	4.5	0.1	2.7
30328 / Atlanta / GA / 12.4 mi.	5,067	13,322	38.0	$66,493	21.3	6.1	10.4	0.1	3.0
30338 / Atlanta / GA / 13.7 mi.	4,897	12,267	39.9	$82,502	16.6	2.9	4.4	0.1	7.9
30047 / Lilburn / GA / 17.4 mi.	4,875	17,935	27.2	$70,846	24.4	7.1	8.1	0.2	7.7
30319 / Atlanta / GA / 9.1 mi.	4,507	16,554	27.2	$61,017	30.9	13.1	11.9	0.2	4.2
30066 / Marietta / GA / 20.5 mi.	4,456	17,830	25.0	$72,580	16.3	3.8	7.1	0.2	3.7
30327 / Atlanta / GA / 8.1 mi.	4,452	8,767	50.8	$114,674	6.3	1.4	2.3	0.1	1.9
30068 / Marietta / GA / 15.1 mi.	4,449	11,959	37.2	$87,710	12.5	2.6	4.1	0.1	4.3
30076 / Roswell / GA / 19.2 mi.	4,410	15,743	28.0	$69,701	30.5	15.7	8.8	0.2	4.0
30096 / Duluth / GA / 20.7 mi.	4,372	20,703	21.1	$55,208	41.3	13.0	13.7	0.2	12.2
30318 / Atlanta / GA / 4.2 mi.	4,238	18,690	22.7	$28,589	77.1	4.5	68.6	0.1	3.0
30067 / Marietta / GA / 12.9 mi.	4,142	20,595	20.1	$49,618	44.7	10.4	25.6	0.2	5.3
30043 / Lawrenceville / GA / 27.8 mi.	4,140	19,513	21.2	$71,424	24.1	5.4	10.2	0.2	6.9
30305 / Atlanta / GA / 5.7 mi.	3,977	11,685	34.0	$65,642	11.9	4.9	3.9	0.1	2.1
30033 / Decatur / GA / 7.3 mi.	3,918	13,021	30.1	$52,307	24.2	3.6	10.4	0.2	8.2
30269 / Peachtree City / GA / 26.7 mi.	3,912	11,218	34.9	$75,860	14.7	3.7	5.9	0.1	3.6
30084 / Tucker / GA / 12 mi.	3,897	12,604	30.9	$53,814	39.8	13.1	15.3	0.2	9.3
30024 / Suwanee / GA / 27.5 mi.	3,811	11,522	33.1	$86,581	17.2	3.5	5.9	0.1	6.5
30030 / Decatur / GA / 5.7 mi.	3,780	11,507	32.8	$46,111	36.6	1.8	30.7	0.2	2.3
30064 / Marietta / GA / 18.3 mi.	3,656	15,298	23.9	$67,586	22.7	4.8	15.1	0.1	1.6
30342 / Atlanta / GA / 8.9 mi.	3,597	11,583	31.1