Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, Merrillville
Merrillville, Indiana
Owner: Hollinger International (Ill.)
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 8.5
2004 14.1
2003 12.7
2002 12.7
2001 15.4
2000 15.4
1999 20.5
1998 23.0
1997 21.2
1996 25.4
1995 22.1
1994 16.7
1993 16.4
1992 18.2
1991 17.7
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1996
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, Merrillville
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 8.5 31.3 27
2004 14.1 29.1 48
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, Hollinger International (Ill.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 22.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, Merrillville
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 27. 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 70 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 Beaumont Enterprise, Texas, with a 24 percent non-white staff in a community that is 33.5 percent non-white. Its index is 72.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 65,621 ranks 154 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 Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, Merrillville
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 5.9 27,888
Black 21.1 100,200
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7 3,439
Native-American 0.2 931
Other non-white 0.1 387
Multi-racial 1.1 4,952
  Non-white 29.1 137,797
White 70.9 336,075
Total 473,872
Home county:  Lake
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 12.2 59,128
Black 25.1 121,372
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 3,968
Native-American 0.2 854
Other non-white 0.1 450
Multi-racial 1.1 5,335
  Non-white 39.4 191,107
White 60.6 293,457
Total 484,564
The home county of this newspaper is Lake.
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 Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, Merrillville
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
46410 / Merrillville / IN / 0 mi. 5,346 12,574 42.5 $48,191 37.5 9.4 24.9 0.2 1.4
46342 / New Chicago / IN / 4.6 mi. 4,877 11,375 42.9 $46,212 12.1 9.1 1.2 0.3 0.5
46368 / Portage / IN / 9.6 mi. 4,863 13,645 35.6 $48,021 12.9 9.6 1.4 0.2 0.6
46307 / Palmer / IN / 4.9 mi. 4,793 17,531 27.3 $59,459 8.9 4.8 1.9 0.2 1.1
46385 / Valpo / IN / 10.3 mi. 4,366 11,765 37.1 $61,216 6.9 3.9 0.6 0.2 1.3
46383 / Valpo / IN / 13.4 mi. 3,865 13,702 28.2 $50,478 6.6 3.1 1.2 0.2 1.2
46404 / Gary / IN / 5.8 mi. 3,493 7,948 43.9 $26,691 99.0 1.5 96.5 0.2 0.1
46408 / Gary / IN / 3 mi. 2,836 7,350 38.6 $36,543 64.6 7.4 55.1 0.2 0.3
46407 / Gary / IN / 5.6 mi. 2,792 7,118 39.2 $19,915 99.0 1.3 96.5 0.2 0.1
46304 / Porter / IN / 17.4 mi. 2,665 8,073 33.0 $54,812 6.2 3.5 0.5 0.3 0.9
46403 / Gary / IN / 7 mi. 2,412 5,948 40.6 $37,800 82.0 5.3 74.3 0.1 0.2
46409 / Gary / IN / 3.4 mi. 2,266 4,093 55.4 $28,203 92.2 5.9 84.6 0.1 0.1
46406 / Gary / IN / 6.6 mi. 1,939 4,320 44.9 $27,574 73.7 11.8 60.5 0.2 0.1
46375 / Schererville / IN / 5.2 mi. 1,737 7,215 24.1 $59,975 11.1 5.7 1.5 0.1 2.6
46402 / Gary / IN / 6.7 mi. 1,697 3,361 50.5 $18,759 96.9 6.7 88.6 0.1 0.1
46312 / East Chicago / IN / 10.5 mi. 1,519 11,692 13.0 $26,543 88.0 51.6 35.2 0.2 0.2
46405 / Lake Station / IN / 6.1 mi. 1,510 4,599 32.8 $37,436 24.5 21.7 0.8 0.3 0.3
46310 / Kersey / IN / 21.2 mi. 1,445 4,307 33.6 $47,116 3.2 2.3 0.1 0.1 0.2
46341 / Hebron / IN / 12.6 mi. 1,163 3,446 33.7 $52,047 4.5 2.9 0.4 0.2 0.2
46356 / North Hayden / IN / 14 mi. 1,080 5,134 21.0 $52,633 4.5 3.1 0.1 0.2 0.2
46322 / Highland / IN / 6.2 mi. 1,064 9,636 11.0 $51,297 9.8 6.6 1.2 0.1 1.1
46319 / New Elliott / IN / 4.1 mi. 1,050 7,458 14.1 $49,181 19.5 8.2 9.1 0.3 0.8
46303 / Cook / IN / 8.9 mi. 782 4,210 18.6 $47,292 4.6 3.3 0.1 0.2 0.2
46392 / Wheatfield / IN / 61.3 mi. 700 2,163 32.4 $50,360 4.1 2.9 0.3 0.2 0.1
46323 / Hessville / IN / 7.5 mi. 555 9,265 6.0 $40,229 29.8 16.6 11.0 0.2 0.6
46320 / Hammond / IN / 10.6 mi. 525 6,102 8.6 $25,894 66.7 23.6 40.6 0.2 0.3
46347 / Kouts / IN / 19.2 mi. 519 1,440 36.0 $53,375 2.2 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.2
46373 / Saint John / IN / 6.7 mi. 474 2,782 17.0 $70,250 5.5 4.0 0.1 0.2 0.5
46321 / Munster / IN / 8.1 mi. 452 8,091 5.6 $63,243 11.2 4.9 1.0 0.1 4.5
46324 / Hammond / IN / 9.2 mi. 416 9,040 4.6 $37,547 28.3 17.0 9.1 0.2 0.5
46391 / Westville / IN / 22 mi. 409 1,811 22.6 $46,888 23.1 2.4 17.8 0.9 0.4
46311 / Dyer / IN / 7.6 mi. 338 5,873 5.8 $63,307 7.7 4.9 0.5 0.1 1.4
47978 / Rensselaer / IN / 37.3 mi. 330 4,025 8.2 $39,007 3.9 2.4 0.6 0.2 0.2
46366 / North Judson / IN / 33.1 mi. 290 2,257 12.8 $36,446 4.3 3.5 0.1 0.2 0.0
46360 / Trail Creek / IN / 27.2 mi. 274 17,786 1.5 $38,215 24.7 2.7 19.2 0.3 0.6
46394 / Whiting / IN / 13.7 mi. 252 5,329 4.7 $37,333 21.5 19.7 0.3 0.1 0.4
46349 / Lake Village / IN / 24.4 mi. 232 1,187 19.5 $41,892 4.7 2.2 0.3 0.7 0.4
46534 / Toto / IN / 37.8 mi. 182 4,149 4.4 $36,971 3.6 1.8 0.1 0.2 0.3
46390 / Wanatah / IN / 22.6 mi. 158 938 16.8 $54,129 2.4 1.2 0.2 0.1 0.2
46348 / La Crosse / IN / 25.5 mi. 97 431 22.5 $42,083 2.6 1.4 0.1 0.3 0.4
46350 / La Porte / IN / 30.8 mi. 86 16,231 0.5 $44,580 7.4 4.3 1.5 0.2 0.4
46327 / Hammond / IN / 11.6 mi. 42 4,396 1.0 $31,155 43.6 37.4 3.6 0.3 0.5
46382 / Wellsboro / IN / 28.2 mi. 23 711 3.2 $41,302 2.1 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.1
47957 / Medaryville / IN / 34.9 mi. 16 713 2.2 $32,277 6.0 2.7 2.2 0.6 0.1
46301 / Beverly Shores / IN / 21.4 mi. 15 336 4.5 $60,227 2.6 0.3 0.7 0.0 0.4
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