Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Daily World, Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana
Owner: Gannett Co. (Va.)
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 10.0
2004 12.5
2003 11.1
2002 11.1
2001 12.5
2000 25.0
1999 22.2
1998 25.0
1997 25.0
1996 12.5
1995 25.0
1994 22.2
1993 12.5
1992 0.0
1991 0.0
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 2000
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Daily World, Opelousas
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 10.0 39.7 25
2004 12.5 39.7 31
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, Gannett Co. (Va.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 89.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Daily World, Opelousas
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 25. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 0, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 5,001 to 10,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 79 out of 211
newspapers reporting in the category of 5,001 to 10,000 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 Manteca Bulletin, California, with a 63.6 percent non-white staff in a community that is 39.4 percent non-white. Its index is 161.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 9,723 ranks 810 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 Daily World, Opelousas
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.9 960
Black 37.8 39,383
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.2 214
Native-American 0.1 151
Other non-white 0.1 147
Multi-racial 0.6 579
  Non-white 39.7 41,434
White 60.3 62,863
Total 104,297
Home county:  St. Landry
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.9 794
Black 41.9 36,762
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.2 189
Native-American 0.1 117
Other non-white 0.2 153
Multi-racial 0.6 525
  Non-white 44.0 38,540
White 56.1 49,160
Total 87,700
The home county of this newspaper is St. Landry.
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 Daily World, Opelousas
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
70570 / Opelousas / LA / 0 mi. 5,272 15,881 33.2 $20,977 58.3 0.8 56.2 0.1 0.3
70535 / Eunice / LA / 17.3 mi. 1,029 6,907 14.9 $25,173 24.8 1.1 22.8 0.1 0.2
70577 / Port Barre / LA / 15.1 mi. 632 1,689 37.4 $25,925 20.0 0.6 18.6 0.1 0.1
70586 / Ville Platte / LA / 16.8 mi. 590 7,803 7.6 $20,192 34.5 1.2 32.6 0.2 0.2
70525 / Church Point / LA / 11.4 mi. 565 4,194 13.5 $25,617 24.7 1.2 22.7 0.2 0.1
70589 / Washington / LA / 14.8 mi. 453 1,292 35.1 $24,784 37.0 1.0 35.2 0.3 0.1
70512 / Arnaudville / LA / 12.3 mi. 432 3,288 13.1 $29,867 19.4 0.8 17.6 0.2 0.2
70750 / Krotz Springs / LA / 20.1 mi. 319 667 47.8 $28,813 1.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.1
70584 / Sunset / LA / 9.6 mi. 312 2,310 13.5 $28,095 38.6 1.0 36.7 0.2 0.1
71353 / Melville / LA / 21 mi. 265 842 31.5 $21,917 36.0 1.5 33.0 0.0 0.6
70554 / Mamou / LA / 25 mi. 197 2,259 8.7 $16,974 29.3 0.7 27.5 0.2 0.1
71358 / Palmetto / LA / 16.9 mi. 122 467 26.1 $18,167 64.5 0.4 62.8 0.1 0.2
71322 / Bunkie / LA / 29.3 mi. 115 2,721 4.2 $21,596 42.6 1.6 40.2 0.1 0.2
70550 / Lawtell / LA / 5 mi. 105 92 114.1 $15,625 43.3 0.0 42.8 0.0 0.0
70541 / Grand Coteau / LA / 7.3 mi. 92 175 52.6 $22,813 69.3 2.1 66.3 0.2 0.6
70537 / Evangeline / LA / 32.7 mi. 55 264 20.8 $26,071 1.4 1.1 0.0 0.1 0.1
70507 / Lafayette / LA / 16.6 mi. 51 5,746 0.9 $35,378 36.9 1.5 33.6 0.2 0.7
71356 / Morrow / LA / 22.1 mi. 43 212 20.3 $26,029 48.0 2.3 43.4 0.0 0.2
70520 / Carencro / LA / 13 mi. 39 5,132 0.8 $32,613 29.6 1.3 26.9 0.3 0.4
70515 / Basile / LA / 26.1 mi. 27 1,165 2.3 $23,023 26.8 0.9 25.1 0.1 0.3
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