Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown
Hagerstown, Maryland
Owner: Schurz Communications (Ind.)
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 4.7
2004 4.8
2003 0.0
2002 0.0
2001 0.0
2000 0.0
1999 0.0
1998 0.0
1997 0.0
1996 0.0
1995 2.4
1994 0.0
1993 0.0
1992 0.0
1991 Did not report
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 2004
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 4.7 8.2 57
2004 4.8 8.5 56
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, Schurz Communications (Ind.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 105.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 57. 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 71 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 22,082 ranks 435 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 Herald-Mail, Hagerstown
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.1 2,202
Black 5.6 11,268
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7 1,441
Native-American 0.2 325
Other non-white 0.1 210
Multi-racial 0.8 1,644
  Non-white 8.5 17,090
White 91.5 183,731
Total 200,821
Home county:  Washington
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.2 1,570
Black 7.7 10,150
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 1,095
Native-American 0.2 223
Other non-white 0.1 150
Multi-racial 0.9 1,217
  Non-white 10.9 14,405
White 89.1 117,518
Total 131,923
The home county of this newspaper is Washington.
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 Herald-Mail, Hagerstown
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
21740 / Hagerstown / MD / 0 mi. 11,487 21,679 53.0 $33,704 14.7 1.5 10.8 0.2 0.8
21742 / Northern / MD / 1 mi. 5,750 10,130 56.8 $48,923 8.3 1.4 3.8 0.2 1.8
21795 / Williamsport / MD / 4.9 mi. 1,947 3,297 59.1 $42,064 2.4 0.6 0.8 0.1 0.5
17268 / Weltys / PA / 10.6 mi. 1,509 10,297 14.7 $38,947 3.7 1.0 1.3 0.1 0.6
21713 / Boonsboro / MD / 8 mi. 1,478 3,027 48.8 $47,036 24.8 0.5 23.6 0.1 0.2
17225 / Worleytown / PA / 9.6 mi. 1,288 6,208 20.7 $45,107 2.8 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.4
25401 / Martinsburg / WV / 17 mi. 1,268 17,419 7.3 $36,234 11.4 1.9 7.1 0.3 0.6
21783 / Smithsburg / MD / 9.7 mi. 1,225 2,944 41.6 $48,373 4.1 1.6 1.2 0.3 0.3
17201 / Turkeyfoot / PA / 18.7 mi. 992 19,174 5.2 $40,898 9.1 3.2 3.8 0.2 0.8
21722 / Clear Spring / MD / 9.9 mi. 961 1,903 50.5 $49,382 2.1 0.4 0.8 0.1 0.4
21750 / Hancock / MD / 23.7 mi. 665 1,579 42.1 $34,635 2.5 0.6 0.2 0.3 0.2
21782 / Sharpsburg / MD / 12.6 mi. 664 1,512 43.9 $50,327 2.4 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.6
25419 / Falling Waters / WV / 9.7 mi. 655 2,696 24.3 $45,175 3.2 1.0 1.0 0.1 0.4
25411 / Unger / WV / 25.3 mi. 487 4,504 10.8 $35,301 1.9 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.1
17236 / Sylvan / PA / 14.3 mi. 400 3,057 13.1 $42,021 3.3 0.9 1.7 0.1 0.2
21701 / Lewistown / MD / 23 mi. 323 13,062 2.5 $51,790 17.5 2.4 11.5 0.2 1.8
21756 / Keedysville / MD / 11.6 mi. 315 892 35.3 $51,000 2.8 1.1 0.6 0.1 0.2
25414 / Charles Town / WV / 25.6 mi. 253 5,265 4.8 $43,363 12.2 2.0 7.6 0.2 0.8
25443 / Shepherdstown / WV / 14.8 mi. 241 2,067 11.7 $48,370 11.6 1.4 7.0 0.3 1.3
17267 / Warfordsburg / PA / 25.5 mi. 213 1,014 21.0 $37,068 1.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1
21767 / Maugansville / MD / 3.7 mi. 213 579 36.8 $41,507 4.1 1.4 0.6 0.2 0.9
25427 / Jones Springs / WV / 19.7 mi. 206 3,943 5.2 $40,630 3.0 0.9 0.7 0.3 0.2
21711 / Big Pool / MD / 14.3 mi. 204 398 51.3 $42,283 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2
17222 / Fayetteville / PA / 18.7 mi. 198 3,403 5.8 $41,385 5.1 1.3 2.1 0.2 0.4
17233 / Webster Mills / PA / 23.1 mi. 189 1,943 9.7 $33,257 3.8 0.5 1.6 0.2 0.2
21733 / Fairplay / MD / 6.6 mi. 174 291 59.8 $45,625 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.0
21719 / Highfield / MD / 11.9 mi. 145 570 25.4 $34,911 8.5 2.0 3.3 0.7 0.7
21773 / Myersville / MD / 10.9 mi. 142 1,695 8.4 $61,732 2.3 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.3
21716 / Brunswick / MD / 21.6 mi. 141 1,884 7.5 $46,711 8.5 1.0 5.2 0.2 0.5
21758 / Knoxville / MD / 19.6 mi. 128 1,485 8.6 $57,112 6.3 0.7 4.2 0.3 0.4
21734 / Funkstown / MD / 2.3 mi. 123 411 29.9 $35,139 2.3 0.8 0.6 0.0 0.9
21779 / Rohrersville / MD / 13.5 mi. 121 256 47.3 $61,734 3.3 0.8 0.0 0.0 1.3
17238 / Sipes Mill / PA / 26 mi. 112 689 16.3 $35,436 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1
21769 / Middletown / MD / 15.6 mi. 111 3,329 3.3 $71,056 3.5 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.6
25428 / Inwood / WV / 24.6 mi. 109 2,516 4.3 $42,097 4.5 1.1 1.8 0.2 0.4
25425 / Harpers Ferry / WV / 19.7 mi. 99 4,259 2.3 $47,929 5.0 1.3 1.7 0.4 0.4
21788 / Thurmont / MD / 15.6 mi. 96 4,117 2.3 $51,176 2.1 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.3
25430 / Middleway / WV / 22.4 mi. 74 2,442 3.0 $43,984 8.7 2.0 4.7 0.3 0.4
17214 / Charmian / PA / 13.5 mi. 69 476 14.5 $40,726 6.8 2.2 2.5 0.5 1.3
21793 / Walkersville / MD / 21.1 mi. 65 3,193 2.0 $60,838 7.1 1.5 3.3 0.1 1.0
25413 / Bunker Hill / WV / 26.9 mi. 55 1,964 2.8 $43,116 3.7 1.2 1.1 0.1 0.3
25438 / Ranson / WV / 23.2 mi. 55 1,314 4.2 $27,802 20.4 3.1 15.1 0.1 0.4
21702 / Frederick / MD / 18.2 mi. 42 11,632 0.4 $55,572 21.0 5.1 10.0 0.3 3.6
17320 / Greenstone / PA / 18.4 mi. 37 2,592 1.4 $50,071 3.3 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.4
21780 / Sabillasville / MD / 12.7 mi. 28 537 5.2 $42,500 13.5 1.3 10.7 0.0 0.6
25420 / Gerrardstown / WV / 27 mi. 28 1,303 2.1 $43,381 4.0 1.2 1.5 0.1 0.2
17212 / Needmore / PA / 21.4 mi. 25 242 10.3 $36,591 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.2
20132 / Purcellville / VA / 30.9 mi. 25 3,235 0.8 $75,120 8.2 1.7 4.1 0.2 0.8
25442 / Shenandoah Junction / WV / 19.4 mi. 25 658 3.8 $56,029 6.1 1.0 3.3 0.2 0.6
17235 / Marion / PA / 13.9 mi. 24 260 9.2 $31,974 2.5 1.0 0.3 0.2 0.2
17237 / Mont Alto / PA / 15 mi. 24 551 4.4 $37,356 6.9 1.0 3.2 0.1 1.9
17252 / Saint Thomas / PA / 18 mi. 24 1,331 1.8 $34,592 2.1 0.6 0.8 0.1 0.1
17224 / Tuscarora Heights / PA / 22.2 mi. 8 662 1.2 $35,000 2.4 1.1 0.9 0.1 0.1
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