The Messenger, Fort Dodge... 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

The Messenger, Fort Dodge

Fort Dodge, Iowa

Owner: Ogden Newspapers (W.V.)

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

0.0

2004

0.0

2003

6.3

2002

Did not report

2001

0.0

2000

0.0

1999

Did not report

1998

0.0

1997

Did not report

1996

0.0

1995

Did not report

1994

Did not report

1993

Did not report

1992

Did not report

1991

Did not report

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

2003

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Messenger, Fort Dodge

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

0.0

4.5

2004

0.0

4.5

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, Ogden Newspapers (W.V.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 12.

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

Peer group comparison

for The Messenger, Fort Dodge

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 0.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 33, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 10,001 to 25,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 159 out of 259

newspapers reporting in the category of 10,001 to 25,000 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 Clinton Herald, Iowa, with a 10 percent non-white staff in a community that is 4.4 percent non-white. Its index is 226.

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

approximately 17,165 ranks 549 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 Messenger, Fort Dodge

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.7

1,898

Black

1.4

1,510

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.6

644

Native-American

0.2

187

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.6

692

Non-white

4.5

5,004

White

95.5

106,561

Total

111,565

Home county: Webster

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.4

944

Black

3.3

1,339

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.7

273

Native-American

0.3

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.9

375

Non-white

7.6

3,069

White

92.4

37,166

Total

40,235

The home county of this newspaper is Webster.

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 Messenger, Fort Dodge

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

50501 / Fort Dodge / IA / 0 mi.

6,916

12,000

57.6

$34,648

9.5

2.9

4.4

0.3

0.8

50548 / Humboldt / IA / 16.6 mi.

1,044

2,469

42.3

$41,739

2.2

1.3

0.1

0.0

0.3

50595 / Webster City / IA / 21.4 mi.

768

3,950

19.4

$38,327

4.7

1.2

0.3

0.2

2.2

50533 / Eagle Grove / IA / 19.3 mi.

660

1,738

38.0

$37,719

2.8

1.9

0.2

0.1

50563 / Manson / IA / 12.7 mi.

594

1,129

52.6

$36,138

1.2

0.4

0.2

50579 / Rockwell City / IA / 21 mi.

546

1,080

50.6

$32,254

5.3

1.5

2.4

0.4

0.3

50511 / Algona / IA / 38.2 mi.

505

3,077

16.4

$35,826

1.9

0.7

0.1

0.7

50574 / Pocahontas / IA / 25.9 mi.

448

1,077

41.6

$32,478

1.8

0.9

0.2

0.1

50543 / Gowrie / IA / 18 mi.

359

589

61.0

$38,676

2.0

1.0

0.1

0.2

0.4

50536 / Emmetsburg / IA / 45.3 mi.

346

1,900

18.2

$32,571

1.9

0.8

0.1

0.5

50525 / Clarion / IA / 30.3 mi.

318

1,620

19.6

$39,286

8.9

8.2

0.1

51449 / Lake City / IA / 30.2 mi.

260

950

27.4

$32,577

1.8

1.0

0.0

0.2

50554 / Laurens / IA / 37.5 mi.

244

839

29.1

$35,109

1.9

0.8

0.0

0.1

0.4

50583 / Sac City / IA / 36.9 mi.

243

1,381

17.6

$31,161

1.8

0.8

0.2

0.0

0.2

50575 / Pomeroy / IA / 19.2 mi.

220

464

47.4

$28,664

0.9

0.5

0.0

0.2

0.0

50530 / Dayton / IA / 19.8 mi.

217

502

43.2

$35,395

1.7

0.5

0.1

0.2

0.4

50557 / Lehigh / IA / 17.2 mi.

192

313

61.3

$31,369

1.5

0.1

0.0

0.1

0.3

50569 / Otho / IA / 6.8 mi.

185

360

51.4

$35,625

2.1

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.1

50597 / West Bend / IA / 33 mi.

180

551

32.7

$35,000

1.1

0.5

0.0

0.1

50532 / Duncombe / IA / 12.8 mi.

177

442

40.0

$38,375

2.8

1.3

0.2

0.4

0.2

50541 / Gilmore City / IA / 14.4 mi.

176

425

41.4

$36,513

1.2

0.6

0.1

0.0

0.3

50581 / Rolfe / IA / 25 mi.

157

464

33.8

$30,031

1.7

0.7

0.3

0.1

50516 / Badger / IA / 8.3 mi.

152

303

50.2

$37,721

1.5

0.5

0.4

0.0

50542 / Goldfield / IA / 26.9 mi.

146

431

33.9

$35,882

1.9

1.2

0.0

0.5

0.0

50538 / Farnhamville / IA / 20.5 mi.

131

258

50.8

$36,250

2.2

1.0

0.0

0.5

0.0

50523 / Callender / IA / 11.7 mi.

125

279

44.8

$32,857

1.5

0.1

0.4

0.1

50544 / Harcourt / IA / 17.8 mi.

119

243

49.0

$39,087

1.5

0.5

0.2

0.5

0.2

50518 / Barnum / IA / 6.4 mi.

118

184

64.1

$29,271

1.7

1.0

0.0

50540 / Fonda / IA / 29.9 mi.

112

502

22.3

$34,355

2.0

1.2

0.2

0.0

50566 / Moorland / IA / 7 mi.

112

175

64.0

$41,607

1.4

1.1

0.2

0.0

50524 / Clare / IA / 7.5 mi.

109

209

52.2

$37,344

1.6

0.2

0.0

0.2

50529 / Dakota City / IA / 14.9 mi.

107

339

31.6

$35,391

2.4

1.5

0.1

0.3

0.1

51453 / Lohrville / IA / 23.7 mi.

106

352

30.1

$32,794

0.6

0.4

0.0

0.1

50571 / Palmer / IA / 17 mi.

201

48.8

$35,625

2.9

0.6

1.9

0.2

50598 / Whittemore / IA / 34.4 mi.

394

24.4

$34,107

1.6

0.4

0.7

0.1

50594 / Vincent / IA / 11.9 mi.

140

65.7

$42,917

1.7

0.0

50561 / Lytton / IA / 28.5 mi.

257

33.9

$35,441

0.7

0.3

0.0

50249 / Stratford / IA / 24.2 mi.

528

15.9

$32,917

1.2

0.5

0.1

0.0

50562 / Mallard / IA / 36.9 mi.

232

36.2

$31,250

1.7

0.5

0.0

0.3

0.2

50519 / Bode / IA / 24.2 mi.

282

29.1

$37,083

3.5

0.9

0.0

2.1

50558 / Livermore / IA / 25.2 mi.

278

29.1

$29,821

0.4

0.3

0.0

0.1

50217 / Paton / IA / 23.6 mi.

258

29.5

$36,346

1.8

0.8

0.2

0.0

0.2

50577 / Renwick / IA / 27.1 mi.

206

35.9

$32,847

2.0

1.2

0.0

0.2

50560 / Lu Verne / IA / 34.4 mi.

275

24.4

$32,250

0.8

0.3

0.2

0.0

50591 / Thor / IA / 16.8 mi.

158

41.8

$35,500

0.6

0.0

50586 / Somers / IA / 15.5 mi.

151

42.4

$29,875

3.4

2.7

0.3

0.0

0.3

50050 / Churdan / IA / 27 mi.

332

19.0

$27,938

0.4

0.1

0.3

0.0

50546 / Havelock / IA / 33.8 mi.

198

31.8

$37,000

3.8

1.0

0.2

0.6

0.2

50599 / Woolstock / IA / 24.2 mi.

183

28.4

$34,653

1.9

0.5

0.0

0.2

0.7

50510 / Albert City / IA / 43.8 mi.

485

9.5

$34,074

1.2

0.5

0.0

0.3

0.1

50520 / Bradgate / IA / 18.9 mi.

47.7

$31,818

0.0

50545 / Hardy / IA / 21.7 mi.

37.1

$37,250

3.3

1.9

0.4

0.0

0.4

50582 / Rutland / IA / 18.8 mi.

113

31.0

$33,750

1.7

0.0

0.4

0.0

50551 / Jolley / IA / 25.1 mi.

40.0

$27,917

1.1

0.0

50570 / Ottosen / IA / 25.1 mi.

111

27.0

$37,500

0.6

0.0

51450 / Lake View / IA / 42.8 mi.

784

3.4

$29,034

1.0

0.2

0.3

0.2

0.0

50527 / Curlew / IA / 42.6 mi.

115

20.0

$42,321

0.3

0.0

0.3

50528 / Cylinder / IA / 47.4 mi.

196

9.2

$40,682

3.1

1.4

0.8

0.0

0.2

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