Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Battle Creek Enquirer
Battle Creek, Michigan
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 10.8
2004 11.8
2003 12.9
2002 16.1
2001 14.7
2000 15.2
1999 14.3
1998 18.2
1997 17.2
1996 18.8
1995 12.5
1994 21.2
1993 21.2
1992 15.6
1991 9.4
1990 11.5
The latest year at peak is 1994
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Battle Creek Enquirer
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 10.8 15.8 68
2004 11.8 15.8 75
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 Battle Creek Enquirer
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 68. 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 37 out of 140
newspapers reporting in the category of 25,001 to 50,000 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 Jackson Sun, Tennessee, with a 37.5 percent non-white staff in a community that is 24.7 percent non-white. Its index is 152.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 25,106 ranks 395 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 Battle Creek Enquirer
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 3.2 5,143
Black 9.3 15,199
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0 1,633
Native-American 0.6 894
Other non-white 0.1 171
Multi-racial 1.7 2,747
  Non-white 15.8 25,787
White 84.2 137,544
Total 163,331
Home county:  Calhoun
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 3.2 4,351
Black 10.8 14,912
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1 1,543
Native-American 0.6 787
Other non-white 0.1 158
Multi-racial 1.8 2,511
  Non-white 17.6 24,262
White 82.4 113,723
Total 137,985
The home county of this newspaper is Calhoun.
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
Battle Creek Enquirer
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
49017 / Battle Creek / MI / 0 mi. 7,105 14,888 47.7 $36,465 25.6 2.5 19.6 0.6 0.5
49015 / Battle Creek / MI / 6.8 mi. 6,689 13,908 48.1 $39,661 16.9 4.1 7.3 0.6 2.9
49068 / Marshall / MI / 15.9 mi. 2,672 5,951 44.9 $45,961 5.0 2.7 0.3 0.5 0.5
49014 / Battle Creek / MI / 7.4 mi. 2,556 8,601 29.7 $38,569 15.8 4.0 8.5 0.7 0.9
49224 / Albion / MI / 24.7 mi. 666 5,378 12.4 $34,237 29.3 3.6 22.2 0.5 0.5
49036 / Coldwater / MI / 34.9 mi. 642 8,808 7.3 $39,052 10.4 2.9 4.5 0.5 0.6
49021 / Bellevue / MI / 8.7 mi. 555 2,252 24.6 $44,408 3.4 1.7 0.4 0.4 0.3
49058 / Hastings / MI / 17.2 mi. 473 6,752 7.0 $44,440 3.5 1.6 0.2 0.4 0.2
49011 / Athens / MI / 20.1 mi. 439 830 52.9 $44,750 3.4 1.5 0.2 0.6 0.1
49051 / East Leroy / MI / 14.1 mi. 365 840 43.5 $51,726 4.4 1.5 0.8 0.3 0.1
49094 / Union City / MI / 24.9 mi. 321 1,615 19.9 $37,500 3.4 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.3
49028 / Bronson / MI / 37.9 mi. 310 2,409 12.9 $37,398 9.5 7.5 0.4 0.3 0.1
49245 / Homer / MI / 26.7 mi. 303 1,757 17.2 $38,878 3.4 1.5 0.2 0.2 0.0
49092 / Tekonsha / MI / 23.2 mi. 302 858 35.2 $42,950 3.7 0.6 0.4 0.9 0.1
49076 / Olivet / MI / 16.7 mi. 195 1,426 13.7 $43,404 8.2 1.8 3.9 0.8 0.7
49033 / Ceresco / MI / 13.5 mi. 193 617 31.3 $52,700 4.0 2.0 0.6 0.3 0.4
49050 / Dowling / MI / 7.7 mi. 165 605 27.3 $51,406 2.8 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.1
49073 / Nashville / MI / 13.3 mi. 154 1,915 8.0 $39,082 2.6 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.4
49083 / Richland / MI / 13.4 mi. 138 2,437 5.7 $60,795 3.7 1.3 0.7 0.2 0.6
49046 / Delton / MI / 13.1 mi. 110 2,737 4.0 $43,348 3.3 1.4 0.3 0.5 0.1
49034 / Climax / MI / 12.9 mi. 98 822 11.9 $47,212 4.1 2.2 0.2 0.5 0.6
49029 / Burlington / MI / 18.6 mi. 89 632 14.1 $42,717 3.0 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.4
49089 / Sherwood / MI / 26.9 mi. 61 755 8.1 $36,875 2.8 1.2 0.2 0.7 0.1
49040 / Colon / MI / 29.6 mi. 57 1,379 4.1 $34,500 3.0 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.2
49053 / Galesburg / MI / 12.7 mi. 43 2,374 1.8 $46,554 4.5 1.3 0.9 0.3 0.4
49012 / Augusta / MI / 7.3 mi. 39 1,395 2.8 $56,480 4.3 1.3 0.6 0.9 0.2
49082 / Quincy / MI / 35 mi. 29 2,368 1.2 $41,065 2.5 1.0 0.3 0.2 0.2
49060 / Hickory Corners / MI / 10 mi. 15 790 1.9 $61,201 3.5 1.1 0.0 0.3 1.1
49096 / Vermontville / MI / 19.7 mi. 13 1,172 1.1 $47,473 3.6 1.1 0.4 0.2 0.4
49052 / Fulton / MI / 19.7 mi. 7 297 2.4 $44,479 3.8 0.5 0.5 2.0 0.2
49002 / Portage / MI / 22.4 mi. 3 8,131 0.0 $42,172 8.6 2.1 2.9 0.4 1.4
48813 / Charlotte / MI / 22.4 mi. 2 7,545 0.0 $46,924 4.9 2.8 0.5 0.3 0.4
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