Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
American Press, Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
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 22.2
2004 13.3
2003 17.0
2002 12.3
2001 21.1
2000 15.8
1999 15.2
1998 7.7
1997 10.7
1996 6.1
1995 6.1
1994 2.8
1993 3.1
1992 5.7
1991 6.7
1990 3.0
The latest year at peak is 2005
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for American Press, Lake Charles
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 22.2 24.5 91
2004 13.3 24.5 54
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 American Press, Lake Charles
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 91. 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 17 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 35,410 ranks 286 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 American Press, Lake Charles
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.4 3,633
Black 21.1 56,798
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6 1,563
Native-American 0.5 1,216
Other non-white 0.1 243
Multi-racial 0.9 2,446
  Non-white 24.5 65,899
White 75.5 202,916
Total 268,815
Home county:  Calcasieu
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.3 2,463
Black 23.8 43,769
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7 1,208
Native-American 0.3 532
Other non-white 0.1 213
Multi-racial 0.9 1,676
  Non-white 27.2 49,861
White 72.8 133,716
Total 183,577
The home county of this newspaper is Calcasieu.
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
American Press, Lake Charles
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
70605 / Lake Charles / LA / 5.7 mi. 7,082 11,081 63.9 $49,246 10.7 1.6 6.5 0.2 1.5
70601 / Lake Charles / LA / 6.2 mi. 6,317 14,257 44.3 $24,353 64.3 1.2 60.8 0.2 0.7
70663 / Sulphur / LA / 15 mi. 4,574 10,069 45.4 $38,804 8.6 1.4 5.6 0.3 0.4
70611 / Lake Charles / LA / 8 mi. 2,557 5,835 43.8 $46,806 7.7 1.5 4.7 0.4 0.4
70607 / Lake Charles / LA / 5.4 mi. 2,156 8,697 24.8 $33,070 33.2 1.4 29.4 0.3 0.9
70634 / Deridder / LA / 37.6 mi. 1,594 8,933 17.8 $33,221 20.5 2.0 15.8 0.6 0.7
70669 / Westlake / LA / 7.1 mi. 1,583 3,770 42.0 $37,480 17.2 1.6 14.2 0.3 0.2
70615 / Lake Charles / LA / 0 mi. 1,383 4,579 30.2 $30,006 55.3 1.4 51.7 0.2 0.6
70546 / Jennings / LA / 29.7 mi. 1,130 5,866 19.3 $27,009 22.2 1.0 20.0 0.3 0.3
70647 / Iowa / LA / 9.2 mi. 1,090 2,570 42.4 $33,418 15.5 1.3 12.8 0.4 0.1
70665 / Sulphur / LA / 11.6 mi. 1,028 3,242 31.7 $44,408 3.2 1.2 0.8 0.2 0.2
70633 / Dequincy / LA / 17.7 mi. 920 2,860 32.2 $29,712 16.0 0.7 13.9 0.5 0.1
70668 / Vinton / LA / 25.5 mi. 641 2,365 27.1 $31,291 15.9 0.9 13.5 0.5 0.2
70631 / Cameron / LA / 39.5 mi. 594 1,194 49.7 $30,667 13.9 4.2 7.5 0.6 0.6
70591 / Welsh / LA / 20.2 mi. 546 1,884 29.0 $29,578 18.2 0.8 16.8 0.2 0.0
70648 / Kinder / LA / 22.2 mi. 531 2,197 24.2 $35,185 32.8 1.0 28.9 1.4 0.5
70645 / Hackberry / LA / 27.2 mi. 311 626 49.7 $37,366 3.0 1.1 0.5 0.3 0.7
70657 / Ragley / LA / 17 mi. 281 1,302 21.6 $37,344 3.1 0.2 1.5 0.3 0.1
70549 / Lake Arthur / LA / 27.4 mi. 251 1,646 15.2 $27,382 9.6 0.7 7.9 0.2 0.1
70661 / Starks / LA / 28.3 mi. 237 998 23.7 $30,441 4.4 0.4 3.0 0.5 0.0
70655 / Oberlin / LA / 37.1 mi. 219 1,194 18.3 $27,188 33.1 0.9 30.7 0.6 0.2
70532 / Elton / LA / 31.1 mi. 206 1,007 20.5 $25,806 40.4 1.0 27.5 9.7 0.3
70632 / Creole / LA / 30.7 mi. 141 448 31.5 $26,895 11.9 1.4 9.4 0.2 0.1
70652 / Longville / LA / 25.3 mi. 139 715 19.4 $30,714 3.0 1.0 0.4 1.0 0.3
71463 / Oakdale / LA / 49 mi. 138 3,498 3.9 $23,460 36.6 8.9 25.3 0.7 0.9
71446 / Leesville / LA / 67.2 mi. 131 8,558 1.5 $29,684 28.3 4.3 17.9 1.5 1.9
70658 / Reeves / LA / 21.4 mi. 108 293 36.9 $33,333 5.0 0.4 3.5 0.1 0.4
70630 / Bell City / LA / 13.1 mi. 100 324 30.9 $37,250 2.4 1.2 0.9 0.0 0.0
70653 / Merryville / LA / 40 mi. 97 1,320 7.3 $28,415 11.1 1.5 7.7 1.0 0.0
70646 / Hayes / LA / 17 mi. 72 158 45.6 $14,844 3.4 1.7 1.0 0.0 0.2
70643 / Grand Chenier / LA / 42.7 mi. 71 255 27.8 $32,292 4.0 1.1 1.2 0.2 1.6
70515 / Basile / LA / 42.3 mi. 67 1,165 5.8 $23,023 26.8 0.9 25.1 0.1 0.3
70656 / Pitkin / LA / 52.7 mi. 66 1,499 4.4 $30,104 5.7 0.9 0.4 2.7 0.1
70542 / Gueydan / LA / 39.1 mi. 56 1,426 3.9 $29,375 7.7 0.9 6.5 0.1 0.0
70660 / Singer / LA / 29.7 mi. 43 564 7.6 $33,162 20.5 1.2 16.1 0.4 2.0
70581 / Roanoke / LA / 26.7 mi. 41 301 13.6 $32,650 17.0 0.8 14.2 0.0 0.2
70650 / Lacassine / LA / 20.4 mi. 32 149 21.5 $24,286 2.0 0.5 1.3 0.0 0.3
70659 / Rosepine / LA / 47.9 mi. 30 253 11.9 $26,719 14.5 3.9 5.7 1.0 1.6
70637 / Dry Creek / LA / 36.1 mi. 28 240 11.7 $21,111 1.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.0
70640 / Fenton / LA / 17.3 mi. 23 161 14.3 $21,667 55.0 1.8 52.3 0.2 0.2
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