Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists | ||||||||||
at America's daily newspapers | ||||||||||
with the communities that they serve | ||||||||||
Newsroom diversity report for | ||||||||||
The Meridian Star | ||||||||||
Meridian, Mississippi | ||||||||||
Owner: Community Newspaper Holdings (Ala.) | ||||||||||
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 | Did not report | |||||||||
2004 | Did not report | |||||||||
2003 | Did not report | |||||||||
2002 | Did not report | |||||||||
2001 | Did not report | |||||||||
2000 | Did not report | |||||||||
1999 | Did not report | |||||||||
1998 | 5.3 | |||||||||
1997 | 11.1 | |||||||||
1996 | Did not report | |||||||||
1995 | Did not report | |||||||||
1994 | Did not report | |||||||||
1993 | 9.1 | |||||||||
1992 | 5.3 | |||||||||
1991 | 4.4 | |||||||||
1990 | Did not report | |||||||||
The latest year at peak is | 1997 | |||||||||
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures. | ||||||||||
Newsroom Diversity Index | ||||||||||
for The Meridian Star | ||||||||||
Year | Non-white % of newsroom staff | Non-white % of circulation area | Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100) | |||||||
2005 | N/A | 42.2 | N/A | |||||||
2004 | N/A | 42.2 | N/A | |||||||
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, Community Newspaper Holdings (Ala.), | ||||||||||
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 41. | ||||||||||
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures. | ||||||||||
Peer group comparison | ||||||||||
for The Meridian Star | ||||||||||
This paper | ||||||||||
Peer group | ||||||||||
The median Diversity Index is 33 for all newspapers | ||||||||||
reporting in this circulation 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 Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat, Oklahoma, with a 43.5 percent non-white staff in a community that is 36.9 percent non-white. Its index is 118. | ||||||||||
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of | ||||||||||
approximately 15,379 ranks 601 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 Meridian Star | ||||||||||
Circulation area | ||||||||||
Race/ethnicity | % of population | Number of residents |
|
|||||||
Hispanic | 1.1 | 1,330 | ||||||||
Black | 40.1 | 50,775 | ||||||||
Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4 | 465 | ||||||||
Native-American | 0.1 | 183 | ||||||||
Other non-white | 0.0 | 53 | ||||||||
Multi-racial | 0.5 | 596 | ||||||||
Non-white | 42.2 | 53,402 | ||||||||
White | 57.8 | 73,132 | ||||||||
Total | 126,534 | |||||||||
Home county: Lauderdale | ||||||||||
Race/ethnicity | % of population | Number of residents |
|
|||||||
Hispanic | 1.1 | 888 | ||||||||
Black | 38.0 | 29,706 | ||||||||
Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5 | 406 | ||||||||
Native-American | 0.2 | 127 | ||||||||
Other non-white | 0.0 | 31 | ||||||||
Multi-racial | 0.5 | 416 | ||||||||
Non-white | 40.4 | 31,574 | ||||||||
White | 59.6 | 46,587 | ||||||||
Total | 78,161 | |||||||||
The home county of this newspaper is Lauderdale. | ||||||||||
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 Meridian Star | ||||||||||
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 |
|
39301 / Meridian / MS / 0 mi. | 5,691 | 11,294 | 50.4 | $24,390 | 49.6 | 0.9 | 47.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | |
39305 / Meridian / MS / 11.6 mi. | 2,849 | 7,644 | 37.3 | $43,563 | 20.0 | 1.3 | 17.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | |
39307 / Meridian / MS / 14.6 mi. | 1,063 | 6,736 | 15.8 | $24,556 | 52.6 | 1.1 | 50.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | |
39325 / Collinsville / MS / 19.6 mi. | 932 | 1,873 | 49.8 | $45,206 | 13.4 | 0.7 | 11.9 | 0.1 | 0.3 | |
39350 / Philadelphia / MS / 43.4 mi. | 751 | 8,339 | 9.0 | $28,411 | 41.0 | 1.1 | 21.8 | 17.0 | 0.3 | |
39355 / Quitman / MS / 16.5 mi. | 611 | 2,915 | 21.0 | $31,415 | 29.9 | 0.9 | 28.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
39328 / De Kalb / MS / 26.7 mi. | 594 | 1,778 | 33.4 | $22,899 | 62.1 | 0.5 | 60.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
39345 / Newton / MS / 36.5 mi. | 557 | 2,534 | 22.0 | $26,778 | 54.3 | 0.7 | 52.8 | 0.1 | 0.4 | |
36907 / Cuba / AL / 13.9 mi. | 444 | 864 | 51.4 | $21,976 | 77.6 | 1.7 | 75.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
39335 / Lauderdale / MS / 15.3 mi. | 375 | 1,365 | 27.5 | $33,889 | 43.0 | 2.8 | 38.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | |
39365 / Union / MS / 27.7 mi. | 304 | 3,074 | 9.9 | $27,727 | 18.0 | 0.9 | 15.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | |
36904 / Butler / AL / 27.6 mi. | 262 | 1,932 | 13.6 | $27,823 | 37.9 | 0.6 | 36.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |
39326 / Daleville / MS / 16.4 mi. | 256 | 310 | 82.6 | $28,125 | 48.1 | 2.4 | 42.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 | |
39341 / Macon / MS / 51 mi. | 231 | 2,880 | 8.0 | $22,912 | 70.3 | 1.1 | 68.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | |
39356 / Rose Hill / MS / 28.6 mi. | 231 | 364 | 63.5 | $24,850 | 44.6 | 1.9 | 42.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
39363 / Stonewall / MS / 14.7 mi. | 215 | 808 | 26.6 | $24,199 | 28.0 | 0.4 | 26.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | |
39367 / Waynesboro / MS / 46 mi. | 209 | 5,981 | 3.5 | $26,192 | 40.2 | 0.7 | 39.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | |
36925 / York / AL / 23.1 mi. | 183 | 1,489 | 12.3 | $19,724 | 77.2 | 1.0 | 75.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
39327 / Decatur / MS / 32.3 mi. | 182 | 1,426 | 12.8 | $29,784 | 27.1 | 0.8 | 25.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
39320 / Bailey / MS / 13.3 mi. | 177 | 805 | 22.0 | $36,799 | 24.8 | 0.8 | 23.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
39323 / Chunky / MS / 22.3 mi. | 145 | 469 | 30.9 | $40,972 | 13.3 | 4.1 | 8.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | |
36912 / Lisman / AL / 14.7 mi. | 116 | 939 | 12.4 | $19,414 | 85.4 | 0.9 | 83.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | |
39364 / Toomsuba / MS / 10.4 mi. | 116 | 1,135 | 10.2 | $30,729 | 43.4 | 0.7 | 42.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | |
39330 / Enterprise / MS / 20.9 mi. | 111 | 1,020 | 10.9 | $30,500 | 24.5 | 0.4 | 23.7 | 0.1 | 0.3 | |
39092 / Lake / MS / 45.4 mi. | 93 | 923 | 10.1 | $25,081 | 34.6 | 1.0 | 33.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
36908 / Gilbertown / AL / 34.6 mi. | 75 | 1,271 | 5.9 | $28,828 | 16.5 | 0.8 | 15.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
39346 / Noxapater / MS / 56.4 mi. | 68 | 1,037 | 6.6 | $27,370 | 34.5 | 0.8 | 33.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | |
39358 / Scooba / MS / 36 mi. | 33 | 601 | 5.5 | $24,141 | 61.1 | 0.7 | 59.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |
File | ms_the_meridian_star | |||||||||
Time | 5/19/05 8:59 PM | |||||||||
Page | 600 | |||||||||
Member | 124150 |