Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Herald & Review, Decatur
Decatur, Illinois
Owner: Lee Enterprises (Iowa)
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 11.1
2004 10.0
2003 3.4
2002 5.0
2001 8.3
2000 6.8
1999 6.5
1998 Did not report
1997 2.9
1996 0.0
1995 0.0
1994 0.0
1993 0.0
1992 2.8
1991 0.0
1990 0.0
The latest year at peak is 2005
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Herald & Review, Decatur
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 11.1 11.0 101
2004 10.0 11.0 91
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, Lee Enterprises (Iowa),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 47.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Herald & Review, Decatur
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 101. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 44, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 25,001 to 50,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 15 out of 140
newspapers reporting in the category of 25,001 to 50,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 34,976 ranks 291 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 Herald & Review, Decatur
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.8 1,477
Black 8.6 16,152
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4 782
Native-American 0.1 264
Other non-white 0.1 141
Multi-racial 0.9 1,743
  Non-white 11.0 20,559
White 89.1 167,116
Total 187,675
Home county:  Macon
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.0 1,120
Black 14.0 16,036
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6 668
Native-American 0.2 180
Other non-white 0.1 117
Multi-racial 1.3 1,457
  Non-white 17.1 19,578
White 82.9 95,128
Total 114,706
The home county of this newspaper is Macon.
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
Herald & Review, Decatur
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
62526 / Decatur / IL / 4.4 mi. 7,125 15,676 45.5 $32,178 19.1 1.3 15.3 0.2 0.7
62521 / Decatur / IL / 3.3 mi. 7,036 15,265 46.1 $39,449 18.5 0.9 15.5 0.2 0.6
62522 / Decatur / IL / 6.3 mi. 2,739 7,047 38.9 $33,378 26.2 1.0 22.5 0.2 0.5
62523 / Decatur / IL / 0 mi. 2,025 349 580.2 $8,182 56.2 0.9 53.0 0.3 0.1
62549 / Mount Zion / IL / 8.3 mi. 1,049 2,154 48.7 $56,359 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.6
62565 / Shelbyville / IL / 31.7 mi. 886 3,198 27.7 $36,987 1.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.3
62535 / Forsyth / IL / 6.1 mi. 811 949 85.5 $72,188 3.5 0.7 1.2 0.2 1.2
61951 / Sullivan / IL / 26.4 mi. 772 2,808 27.5 $39,528 1.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1
61938 / Mattoon / IL / 38.1 mi. 660 9,617 6.9 $34,437 3.9 1.2 1.3 0.2 0.5
62557 / Pana / IL / 31 mi. 640 3,111 20.6 $31,424 1.3 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.3
62401 / Effingham / IL / 53.4 mi. 500 7,650 6.5 $39,180 2.4 1.0 0.3 0.2 0.5
62550 / Moweaqua / IL / 16.7 mi. 479 1,141 42.0 $46,964 1.6 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.2
62501 / Argenta / IL / 13.2 mi. 458 616 74.4 $46,179 1.6 0.1 0.5 0.2 0.1
61756 / Maroa / IL / 11.6 mi. 368 830 44.3 $42,461 1.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.2
62568 / Taylorville / IL / 28.1 mi. 351 6,242 5.6 $37,775 7.2 1.5 4.4 0.2 0.6
61727 / Clinton / IL / 20.7 mi. 347 4,171 8.3 $39,868 3.7 1.7 0.6 0.1 0.3
62544 / Macon / IL / 10.6 mi. 337 658 51.2 $40,069 1.5 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.0
62471 / Vandalia / IL / 67.4 mi. 327 3,574 9.1 $32,489 12.4 1.3 10.3 0.1 0.2
62554 / Oreana / IL / 9.2 mi. 311 632 49.2 $56,653 1.8 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.2
61818 / Cerro Gordo / IL / 14 mi. 290 678 42.8 $42,813 1.4 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.3
61911 / Arthur / IL / 28.2 mi. 290 1,395 20.8 $38,789 1.0 0.6 0.0 0.2 0.1
62573 / Warrensburg / IL / 10.9 mi. 284 622 45.7 $46,831 2.7 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.3
62510 / Assumption / IL / 24.2 mi. 279 750 37.2 $37,500 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
61914 / Bethany / IL / 18.4 mi. 278 750 37.1 $39,762 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1
61937 / Lovington / IL / 18.2 mi. 278 996 27.9 $40,125 1.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2
61856 / Monticello / IL / 24.9 mi. 273 2,725 10.0 $48,598 1.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.2
62513 / Blue Mound / IL / 12.6 mi. 260 703 37.0 $45,825 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1
62448 / Newton / IL / 72.8 mi. 209 2,414 8.7 $33,800 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.1
61920 / Charleston / IL / 46 mi. 202 9,035 2.2 $28,034 7.7 1.7 3.7 0.2 1.3
62534 / Findlay / IL / 25 mi. 165 500 33.0 $34,408 2.1 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.2
62539 / Illiopolis / IL / 16.5 mi. 152 527 28.8 $50,776 1.8 0.1 0.9 0.3 0.0
61953 / Tuscola / IL / 35.5 mi. 150 2,506 6.0 $40,714 2.4 1.0 0.3 0.4 0.4
61925 / Dalton City / IL / 13.3 mi. 145 332 43.7 $52,661 2.3 1.2 0.3 0.3 0.1
61913 / Atwood / IL / 27 mi. 131 751 17.4 $35,792 1.6 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.1
62467 / Teutopolis / IL / 55.6 mi. 126 1,161 10.9 $49,709 1.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.1
62080 / Ramsey / IL / 51.8 mi. 121 991 12.2 $29,722 0.8 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.1
61813 / Bement / IL / 22.7 mi. 120 822 14.6 $41,141 2.1 0.5 0.9 0.0 0.2
62551 / Niantic / IL / 12.1 mi. 118 322 36.6 $41,250 1.3 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.0
61929 / Hammond / IL / 20.6 mi. 112 328 34.1 $45,313 1.3 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1
62567 / Stonington / IL / 18.3 mi. 108 487 22.2 $40,438 1.1 0.7 0.2 0.0 0.0
62411 / Altamont / IL / 53.4 mi. 107 1,576 6.8 $36,292 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.0
62450 / Olney / IL / 90.2 mi. 105 5,033 2.1 $31,015 2.5 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.6
61957 / Windsor / IL / 34.9 mi. 101 737 13.7 $37,353 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1
62839 / Flora / IL / 84.5 mi. 97 2,828 3.4 $29,777 2.4 0.7 0.2 0.3 1.0
62543 / Latham / IL / 15.9 mi. 90 219 41.1 $48,125 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0
62548 / Mount Pulaski / IL / 21.8 mi. 90 959 9.4 $40,361 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1
62447 / Neoga / IL / 45.3 mi. 85 1,380 6.2 $41,767 1.9 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.2
62571 / Tower Hill / IL / 34.3 mi. 82 568 14.4 $34,491 1.1 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1
62428 / Greenup / IL / 61.7 mi. 80 1,335 6.0 $32,370 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.1
62656 / Lincoln / IL / 30 mi. 80 7,055 1.1 $37,264 13.6 2.2 9.8 0.2 0.8
61910 / Arcola / IL / 36.7 mi. 77 1,498 5.1 $39,794 14.4 12.9 0.3 0.1 0.5
61882 / Weldon / IL / 20.9 mi. 71 278 25.5 $44,000 2.9 0.2 0.0 1.0 0.4
62075 / Nokomis / IL / 40.6 mi. 68 1,520 4.5 $32,453 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1
62418 / Brownstown / IL / 58.9 mi. 67 803 8.3 $28,935 1.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.1
62449 / Oblong / IL / 80.8 mi. 61 1,292 4.7 $31,109 1.8 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.1
62463 / Stewardson / IL / 42 mi. 59 553 10.7 $38,438 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1
62458 / Saint Elmo / IL / 55.5 mi. 58 865 6.7 $33,182 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
62422 / Cowden / IL / 43.2 mi. 57 452 12.6 $28,438 1.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.0
61830 / Cisco / IL / 17.7 mi. 52 217 24.0 $48,816 3.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.0
62420 / Casey / IL / 62.7 mi. 50 2,053 2.4 $34,368 1.5 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.0
62431 / Herrick / IL / 41.8 mi. 48 478 10.0 $31,174 0.9 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0
62454 / Robinson / IL / 85.4 mi. 48 4,366 1.1 $32,542 11.7 2.6 7.5 0.3 0.5
61936 / La Place / IL / 13 mi. 46 123 37.4 $39,375 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
62049 / Hillsboro / IL / 56.7 mi. 45 2,759 1.6 $35,491 2.5 0.9 0.8 0.2 0.3
62465 / Strasburg / IL / 35.5 mi. 44 340 12.9 $43,500 1.0 0.1 0.8 0.0 0.0
62547 / Mount Auburn / IL / 15.1 mi. 44 337 13.1 $42,875 1.7 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.1
62468 / Toledo / IL / 53.6 mi. 42 998 4.2 $32,411 1.7 0.7 0.0 0.2 0.1
62858 / Louisville / IL / 74.2 mi. 42 1,281 3.3 $30,817 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1
62514 / Boody / IL / 9.4 mi. 38 127 29.9 $39,875 0.9 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.0
62032 / Fillmore / IL / 54.7 mi. 33 292 11.3 $33,929 1.8 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.1
61749 / Kenney / IL / 18.7 mi. 32 267 12.0 $39,432 1.7 0.9 0.5 0.0 0.3
62246 / Greenville / IL / 69.7 mi. 32 3,158 1.0 $40,346 14.4 2.0 11.1 0.5 0.4
62414 / Beecher City / IL / 46.6 mi. 32 637 5.0 $33,600 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.2 0.0
62537 / Harristown / IL / 7 mi. 32 54 59.3 $53,438 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
62880 / Saint Peter / IL / 67.5 mi. 31 288 10.8 $31,154 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1
62462 / Sigel / IL / 49.5 mi. 29 395 7.3 $44,375 1.6 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.3
62518 / Chestnut / IL / 20.4 mi. 28 185 15.1 $45,288 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0
62424 / Dieterich / IL / 64.9 mi. 27 684 3.9 $40,168 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2
62824 / Clay City / IL / 88.5 mi. 27 792 3.4 $29,079 1.1 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.3
62461 / Shumway / IL / 47.8 mi. 25 293 8.5 $37,014 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
61855 / Milmine / IL / 16.8 mi. 24 31 77.4 $34,531 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
62553 / Oconee / IL / 39.4 mi. 24 179 13.4 $35,625 3.2 0.6 0.2 0.0 1.6
61912 / Ashmore / IL / 53.5 mi. 23 545 4.2 $39,784 2.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.9
61956 / Villa Grove / IL / 41.5 mi. 23 1,154 2.0 $38,005 2.2 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.1
File il_herald___review__decatur
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