Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Belleville News-Democrat
Belleville, Illinois
Owner: Knight Ridder (Calif.)
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	12.5
2004	14.3
2003	14.0
2002	11.8
2001	8.0
2000	10.2
1999	Did not report
1998	Did not report
1997	5.9
1996	6.3
1995	Did not report
1994	Did not report
1993	Did not report
1992	Did not report
1991	4.0
1990	Did not report
The latest year at peak is	2004
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Belleville News-Democrat
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	12.5	22.3	56
2004	14.3	20.6	69
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, Knight Ridder (Calif.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 76.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Belleville News-Democrat
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 56.				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 39 out of 90
newspapers reporting in the category of 50,001 to 100,000 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 Florida Today, Melbourne, Florida, with a 19.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 16.3 percent non-white. Its index is 117.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 53,694 ranks 189 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 Belleville News-Democrat
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	2.0	8,810
Black	16.6	73,002
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.7	3,126
Native-American	0.2	1,018
Other non-white	0.1	368
Multi-racial	1.0	4,204
Non-white	20.6	90,528
White	79.4	349,232
Total		439,760
	Home county:  St. Clair
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	2.2	5,604
Black	28.6	73,282
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.9	2,362
Native-American	0.2	577
Other non-white	0.1	265
Multi-racial	1.1	2,841
Non-white	33.2	84,931
White	66.8	171,151
Total		256,082
The home county of this newspaper is St. Clair.
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
Belleville News-Democrat
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
62226 / Swansea / IL / 4.9 mi.	4,802	11,360	42.3	$39,493	18.5	1.6	14.4	0.2	1.2
62221 / Swansea / IL / 4.2 mi.	3,754	8,925	42.1	$45,230	23.7	2.4	17.6	0.2	1.8
62220 / Swansea / IL / 2.9 mi.	3,747	7,834	47.8	$37,395	15.2	1.7	11.0	0.2	0.8
62269 / Shiloh / IL / 8.6 mi.	3,614	9,924	36.4	$55,339	17.5	2.3	10.9	0.2	2.4
62223 / Swansea / IL / 5.9 mi.	3,558	7,162	49.7	$47,606	15.6	1.1	12.8	0.3	0.5
62234 / State Park Place / IL / 14.1 mi.	3,312	13,165	25.2	$43,865	8.9	2.5	4.8	0.3	0.5
62208 / Fairview Heights / IL / 8.5 mi.	2,727	5,939	45.9	$47,222	22.4	2.0	17.0	0.2	1.8
62040 / Pontoon Beach / IL / 17.6 mi.	2,080	18,435	11.3	$37,096	7.1	2.4	2.6	0.4	0.5
62206 / East Saint Louis / IL / 10.9 mi.	1,540	6,299	24.4	$29,899	45.1	2.1	40.9	0.3	0.4
62258 / Mascoutah / IL / 11 mi.	1,150	2,756	41.7	$46,765	7.5	1.7	3.2	0.3	0.8
62298 / Waterloo / IL / 12 mi.	1,110	5,149	21.6	$51,431	1.6	0.7	0.0	0.2	0.3
62260 / Millstadt / IL / 5.6 mi.	1,079	2,287	47.2	$54,273	2.3	0.6	0.5	0.3	0.2
62205 / Washingtn Park / IL / 12 mi.	1,046	3,807	27.5	$26,092	98.9	0.7	97.6	0.1	0.0
62249 / Highland / IL / 23.4 mi.	1,031	5,130	20.1	$49,624	2.0	1.0	0.1	0.1	0.4
62243 / Freeburg / IL / 4.7 mi.	1,022	1,952	52.4	$53,173	2.6	1.5	0.2	0.2	0.3
62294 / Troy / IL / 16.4 mi.	994	4,438	22.4	$58,876	4.8	1.4	1.2	0.2	0.7
62201 / Sauget / IL / 14.2 mi.	991	3,122	31.7	$12,822	85.6	16.7	68.0	0.2	0.1
62204 / Washington Park / IL / 12.2 mi.	891	3,432	26.0	$18,000	96.7	1.6	94.3	0.2	0.1
62232 / Hollywood Height / IL / 10.9 mi.	888	2,758	32.2	$36,406	11.1	3.3	5.8	0.3	0.7
62203 / East Saint Louis / IL / 9.7 mi.	882	3,269	27.0	$29,872	94.9	1.1	92.9	0.2	0.1
62025 / Holiday Shores / IL / 22 mi.	802	10,629	7.5	$51,657	11.2	0.9	7.5	0.2	1.3
62236 / Columbia / IL / 11.5 mi.	788	4,013	19.6	$62,056	1.9	0.9	0.1	0.1	0.3
62207 / East Saint Louis / IL / 10.7 mi.	759	3,534	21.5	$19,776	98.2	0.5	96.7	0.1	0.1
62278 / Ruma / IL / 16.8 mi.	758	2,567	29.5	$45,955	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.1