Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Lawrence Journal-World
Lawrence, Kansas
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 7.3
2004 2.6
2003 4.0
2002 1.9
2001 0.0
2000 0.0
1999 Did not report
1998 Did not report
1997 Did not report
1996 2.6
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 2005
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Lawrence Journal-World
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 7.3 13.6 54
2004 2.6 14.1 18
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.)
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Lawrence Journal-World
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 54. 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 77 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 The Herald, Sharon, Pennsylvania, with a 8 percent non-white staff in a community that is 7.3 percent non-white. Its index is 110.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 19,203 ranks 499 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 Lawrence Journal-World
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 3.1 3,520
Black 3.7 4,277
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.8 3,190
Native-American 2.2 2,536
Other non-white 0.1 143
Multi-racial 2.2 2,551
  Non-white 14.1 16,217
White 85.9 98,609
Total 114,826
Home county:  Douglas
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 3.3 3,268
Black 4.2 4,148
Asian and Pacific Islander 3.2 3,149
Native-American 2.4 2,401
Other non-white 0.1 133
Multi-racial 2.3 2,320
  Non-white 15.4 15,419
White 84.6 84,543
Total 99,962
The home county of this newspaper is Douglas.
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
Lawrence Journal-World
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
66049 / Lwrnce / KS / 1.3 mi. 4,454 8,195 54.4 $50,936 13.5 2.8 4.2 1.2 2.9
66044 / Lawrence / KS / 0 mi. 4,431 11,531 38.4 $25,489 18.1 3.9 5.4 2.1 3.9
66047 / Lwrnce / KS / 1.9 mi. 3,457 6,137 56.3 $47,925 12.7 2.6 3.3 1.6 3.3
66046 / Lawrence / KS / 1.3 mi. 2,737 7,912 34.6 $35,994 22.1 4.2 5.3 5.7 4.0
66006 / Baldwin City / KS / 12.6 mi. 1,055 2,070 51.0 $51,800 5.2 1.4 0.6 0.6 0.5
66050 / Lecompton / KS / 8.8 mi. 861 563 152.9 $45,982 7.1 1.5 1.2 2.0 0.8
66067 / Ottawa / KS / 22.9 mi. 625 6,000 10.4 $37,388 8.2 3.5 1.8 0.9 0.4
66025 / Eudora / KS / 7.7 mi. 521 2,161 24.1 $45,463 5.6 2.2 0.5 1.3 0.3
66086 / Tonganoxie / KS / 12.5 mi. 379 2,494 15.2 $50,793 5.2 1.9 1.0 0.7 0.4
66054 / McLouth / KS / 15.1 mi. 221 1,039 21.3 $47,436 5.0 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.3
66066 / Oskaloosa / KS / 16.5 mi. 113 966 11.7 $41,250 4.1 2.1 0.3 0.7 0.1
66606 / Topeka / KS / 23.9 mi. 56 5,587 1.0 $34,454 15.8 5.5 6.7 0.8 0.8
66073 / Perry / KS / 10 mi. 42 873 4.8 $44,602 6.1 1.4 0.3 1.0 0.3
66614 / Topeka / KS / 25.9 mi. 41 12,893 0.3 $48,016 13.8 4.1 5.3 0.6 2.1
66018 / De Soto / KS / 14.4 mi. 36 1,506 2.4 $50,635 10.0 7.0 0.2 0.8 0.6
File ks_lawrence_journal-world
Time 5/21/05 12:14 PM
Page 498
Member 116650