Billings Gazette... Racial diversity of its news staff and community

Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists

at America's daily newspapers

with the communities that they serve

Newsroom diversity report for

Billings Gazette

Billings, Montana

Owner: Lee Enterprises (Iowa)

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

0.0

2004

Did not report

2003

0.0

2002

0.0

2001

2.1

2000

4.3

1999

5.4

1998

Did not report

1997

Did not report

1996

2.8

1995

0.0

1994

0.0

1993

2.4

1992

2.4

1991

Did not report

1990

2.5

The latest year at peak is

1999

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Newsroom Diversity Index

for Billings Gazette

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

0.0

10.8

2004

N/A

10.6

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, Lee Enterprises (Iowa),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 47.

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Peer group comparison

for Billings Gazette

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 0.

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 123 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 Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois, with a 11.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 11 percent non-white. Its index is 101.

FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of

approximately 47,105 ranks 222 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 Billings Gazette

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.9

8,545

Black

0.3

759

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.4

1,243

Native-American

5.7

16,971

Other non-white

0.1

151

Multi-racial

1.3

3,776

Non-white

10.6

31,445

White

89.5

266,513

Total

297,958

Home county: Yellowstone

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

3.7

4,788

Black

0.4

542

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.6

720

Native-American

2.8

3,676

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

1.4

1,862

Non-white

9.0

11,654

White

91.0

117,698

Total

129,352

The home county of this newspaper is Yellowstone.

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

Billings Gazette

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

59102 / Hesper / MT / 3.9 mi.

10,557

18,866

56.0

$39,548

6.3

2.3

0.3

1.9

0.6

59101 / Lockwood / MT / 2.8 mi.

8,277

15,283

54.2

$26,772

16.2

7.0

0.8

5.7

0.5

59105 / Billings / MT / 2.4 mi.

4,473

8,614

51.9

$42,676

7.4

2.6

0.3

2.3

0.7

59106 / Billings / MT / 7.8 mi.

1,693

2,746

61.7

$66,250

4.6

1.9

0.2

1.0

0.8

82414 / Cody / WY / 88.6 mi.

1,638

5,949

27.5

$37,361

4.1

2.2

0.1

0.4

0.5

59044 / Laurel / MT / 14.8 mi.

1,395

3,730

37.4

$38,712

4.8

2.2

0.2

1.2

0.4

59301 / Miles City / MT / 125 mi.

945

4,623

20.4

$29,850

4.1

1.5

0.1

1.3

0.3

59034 / Hardin / MT / 40.3 mi.

825

1,785

46.2

$29,076

36.1

5.5

0.1

26.1

0.5

59330 / Glendive / MT / 187.5 mi.

822

3,327

24.7

$31,761

3.2

0.9

0.3

1.3

0.2

82435 / Willwood / WY / 69.3 mi.

778

3,917

19.9

$33,231

7.4

5.8

0.1

0.4

0.5

82801 / Sheridan / WY / 96.1 mi.

746

9,316

8.0

$34,307

5.4

2.4

0.2

1.0

0.6

59270 / Sidney / MT / 227.5 mi.

662

2,838

23.3

$33,614

5.1

2.3

0.1

1.7

0.3

59079 / Shepherd / MT / 10.8 mi.

634

1,056

60.0

$41,211

4.4

1.9

0.2

1.1

0.0

59715 / Bozeman / MT / 115.5 mi.

542

11,699

4.6

$35,022

5.4

1.4

0.3

1.0

1.5

59068 / Red Lodge / MT / 52.7 mi.

526

1,574

33.4

$34,566

3.7

1.5

0.3

0.7

0.3

59047 / Livingston / MT / 93.3 mi.

489

5,251

9.3

$31,416

4.4

1.9

0.3

0.9

0.3

59019 / Columbus / MT / 35.8 mi.

488

1,312

37.2

$39,421

3.9

1.8

0.1

0.8

0.2

59072 / Roundup / MT / 38.4 mi.

441

1,692

26.1

$25,396

4.2

1.7

0.1

1.2

0.1

59457 / Lewistown / MT / 90.6 mi.

412

3,775

10.9

$30,814

3.7

0.7

0.1

1.4

0.2

59201 / Wolf Point / MT / 196.3 mi.

392

1,769

22.2

$26,990

50.0

1.6

0.1

45.2

0.8

59230 / Tampico / MT / 174.5 mi.

388

1,943

20.0

$32,271

6.3

0.8

0.1

3.1

0.4

82431 / Lovell / WY / 65.7 mi.

381

1,253

30.4

$33,652

9.1

7.0

0.0

0.6

0.2

59327 / Forsyth / MT / 86.6 mi.

374

1,263

29.6

$35,254

4.7

1.3

0.1

1.8

0.7

59323 / Colstrip / MT / 84.5 mi.

363

860

42.2

$55,650

17.2

3.0

0.6

10.5

0.2

59041 / Silesia / MT / 30 mi.

336

725

46.3

$32,336

3.8

1.7

0.3

0.5

82401 / Worland / WY / 118.1 mi.

327

2,954

11.1

$35,968

14.9

12.5

0.1

0.4

0.7

59011 / Big Timber / MT / 65 mi.

312

1,255

24.9

$32,174

3.6

1.3

0.1

0.6

0.3

59254 / Plentywood / MT / 256 mi.

287

1,000

28.7

$29,435

3.3

1.1

0.1

0.9

0.4

59043 / Lame Deer / MT / 90.3 mi.

275

738

37.3

$23,271

94.7

2.2

0.0

91.4

0.0

58255 / Maida / ND / 484.7 mi.

272

13600.0

$61,250

0.0

59036 / Harlowton / MT / 71.5 mi.

269

647

41.6

$25,431

3.1

1.3

0.1

0.6

0.0

82834 / Buffalo / WY / 125.1 mi.

259

2,623

9.9

$33,455

4.1

1.8

0.1

0.6

0.1

59313 / Baker / MT / 192.5 mi.

254

952

26.7

$30,694

1.8

0.3

0.2

0.4

0.3

59001 / Absarokee / MT / 46.3 mi.

252

643

39.2

$42,938

4.2

2.5

0.1

0.3

0.1

82426 / Greybull / WY / 87.8 mi.

215

1,091

19.7

$31,583

7.8

5.2

0.3

0.8

0.4

59063 / Park City / MT / 21.8 mi.

206

640

32.2

$38,125

3.4

1.1

0.1

0.8

0.2

59538 / Wagner / MT / 166 mi.

201

1,299

15.5

$31,500

7.0

0.8

0.1

3.8

0.4

59014 / Warren / MT / 38.2 mi.

180

613

29.4

$29,816

3.9

2.0

0.0

0.5

0.2

59022 / Crow Agency / MT / 48 mi.

175

540

32.4

$26,850

89.8

1.1

0.0

87.6

0.0

59037 / Huntley / MT / 11.6 mi.

172

585

29.4

$40,463

5.1

2.8

0.2

0.6

0.5

59088 / Worden / MT / 18.5 mi.

172

478

36.0

$34,934

4.7

2.4

0.3

0.8

0.0

59029 / Fromberg / MT / 32.8 mi.

136

309

44.0

$29,342

6.1

4.8

0.0

0.3

0.1

82190 / Yellowstone Nati / WY / 121.5 mi.

134

558.3

$53,750

1.6

0.0

59263 / Scobey / MT / 234.3 mi.

133

659

20.2

$27,270

4.4

2.0

0.0

0.9

0.3

59070 / Roberts / MT / 40.3 mi.

124

310

40.0

$29,286

2.2

1.2

0.1

0.7

0.0

59215 / Circle / MT / 164.7 mi.

112

521

21.5

$28,452

2.7

0.9

0.4

0.0

59003 / Ashland / MT / 102.2 mi.

108

359

30.1

$27,019

61.0

3.7

0.1

53.7

0.2

59221 / Fairview / MT / 236.4 mi.

107

666

16.1

$29,469

3.5

2.1

0.0

0.6

0.0

59218 / McCabe / MT / 230.8 mi.

106

388

27.3

$30,417

10.9

1.2

0.2

5.9

0.2

59006 / Ballantine / MT / 20.5 mi.

103

328

31.4

$29,643

11.1

8.1

0.0

0.8

0.2

82410 / Basin / WY / 94.9 mi.

102

667

15.3

$33,485

4.3

2.3

0.1

1.1

0.2

59349 / Terry / MT / 155.3 mi.

416

23.3

$26,339

2.8

0.9

0.0

0.4

0.2

59601 / Helena / MT / 164.8 mi.

12,794

0.8

$35,462

6.1

1.7

0.2

1.9

0.8

59718 / Bozeman / MT / 121.9 mi.

6,491

1.5

$41,070

4.3

1.4

0.3

0.8

0.6

59038 / Sanders / MT / 64.7 mi.

299

28.1

$30,066

4.4

1.7

0.1

1.8

0.3

59353 / Wibaux / MT / 206.1 mi.

421

19.7

$28,224

2.3

0.4

0.2

0.5

0.2

59337 / Jordan / MT / 134.7 mi.

350

22.6

$25,278

1.8

0.6

0.1

0.6

0.1

59714 / Belgrade / MT / 119.3 mi.

3,931

1.9

$40,561

3.7

1.5

0.1

0.8

0.4

59074 / Ryegate / MT / 46.1 mi.

182

41.2

$29,250

1.7

0.7

0.0

1.0

0.0

59248 / Nashua / MT / 177.3 mi.

336

22.3

$26,856

11.3

0.9

0.3

7.4

0.1

59317 / Sonnette / MT / 142.2 mi.

485

14.8

$27,798

2.7

0.8

0.0

1.1

0.2

59030 / Jardine / MT / 111.5 mi.

848

7.2

$33,421

4.3

1.7

0.3

1.2

0.3

82443 / Thermopolis / WY / 140.6 mi.

2,071

2.9

$29,850

5.5

2.3

0.4

1.5

0.2

58601 / New Hradec / ND / 263.5 mi.

7,651

0.8

$32,965

3.3

1.1

0.2

1.0

0.3

59015 / Comanche / MT / 30.8 mi.

187

29.9

$32,188

5.1

3.3

0.2

0.6

0.4

59501 / Havre / MT / 183.4 mi.

5,377

1.0

$30,771

12.2

1.3

0.1

7.8

0.4

59046 / Lavina / MT / 28.1 mi.

172

32.0

$26,429

2.9

2.2

0.0

0.3

59067 / Rapelje / MT / 38 mi.

60.7

$23,750

7.2

4.5

0.0

0.9

59324 / Mill Iron / MT / 179.3 mi.

397

13.1

$25,438

1.8

0.8

0.1

0.4

0.2

59741 / Manhattan / MT / 126.4 mi.

1,442

3.6

$37,760

2.7

1.1

0.0

0.4

59028 / Fishtail / MT / 66.7 mi.

235

21.7

$42,019

5.0

2.1

0.4

59057 / Molt / MT / 13.7 mi.

164

31.1

$39,688

3.4

2.3

0.5

0.2

0.0

59213 / Brockton / MT / 227.3 mi.

257

19.8

$21,583

74.0

0.9

0.0

71.1

0.4

59008 / Belfry / MT / 56.7 mi.

157

31.8

$30,208

2.9

1.3

0.0

0.5

82420 / Cowley / WY / 60.1 mi.

259

19.3

$38,021

4.2

3.1

0.0

0.3

0.1

59226 / Froid / MT / 239.7 mi.

188

26.1

$26,607

12.8

0.7

0.0

6.2

0.0

59247 / Medicine Lake / MT / 246.6 mi.

157

30.6

$30,179

7.2

0.6

0.3

3.3

0.6

59759 / Whitehall / MT / 163.2 mi.

1,278

3.8

$32,692

5.2

2.1

0.1

1.1

0.4

59032 / Grass Range / MT / 115.6 mi.

158

29.7

$27,143

0.3

0.0

59526 / Harlem / MT / 180.2 mi.

837

5.5

$26,574

72.5

1.6

0.2

68.5

0.2

82433 / Meeteetse / WY / 104.2 mi.

343

13.4

$29,671

6.4

3.7

0.0

0.9

0.3

59061 / Nye / MT / 64.6 mi.

110

40.0

$48,750

5.6

3.9

0.3

0.7

0.3

59758 / West Yellowstone / MT / 139.6 mi.

726

5.9

$34,167

8.6

5.8

0.3

0.6

0.7

82412 / Byron / WY / 65.8 mi.

208

20.7

$33,958

13.9

13.1

0.0

0.3

0.0

59066 / Pryor / MT / 25.4 mi.

197

21.3

$25,000

84.3

1.1

0.0

79.8

0.1

59024 / Custer / MT / 44.7 mi.

144

28.5

$28,750

3.7

1.7

0.0

0.3

59645 / White Sulphur Sp / MT / 117.2 mi.

660

5.9

$30,398

3.4

1.6

0.0

1.0

0.2

59069 / Reed Point / MT / 47.3 mi.

185

20.5

$28,571

7.6

3.9

0.0

0.9

0.4

59087 / Winnett / MT / 77 mi.

211

18.0

$24,107

1.8

1.2

0.0

0.2

0.0

82839 / Ranchester / WY / 85.2 mi.

393

9.7

$38,409

9.7

3.5

0.0

4.3

0.3

59241 / Hinsdale / MT / 177.6 mi.

186

19.9

$23,229

3.5

1.6

0.0

1.4

0.0

82836 / Dayton / WY / 82.6 mi.

392

8.7

$36,181

6.8

3.3

0.1

2.1

0.4

59054 / Melstone / MT / 58 mi.

106

31.1

$30,972

2.8

1.4

0.0

0.4

59223 / Fort Peck / MT / 167.8 mi.

106

30.2

$44,583

4.3

0.0

1.8

0.0

59089 / Wyola / MT / 60.6 mi.

140

21.4

$22,500

75.2

4.3

0.0

69.0

0.0

59262 / Savage / MT / 212.2 mi.

275

10.9

$29,231

3.3

2.1

0.0

0.7

0.0

59053 / Martinsdale / MT / 98.4 mi.

118

24.6

$24,500

1.6

1.1

0.0

0.3

0.0

59259 / Richey / MT / 195.2 mi.

179

16.2

$27,500

0.9

0.7

0.0

59344 / Plevna / MT / 176.5 mi.

166

17.5

$27,250

1.2

0.7

0.0

0.5

59716 / Big Sky / MT / 129 mi.

259

10.8

$46,667

5.2

3.1

0.2

0.0

1.2

59225 / Lustre / MT / 193.8 mi.

208

12.5

$24,091

63.5

0.4

0.0

62.5

0.0

59453 / Judith Gap / MT / 70.5 mi.

120

21.7

$19,792

7.2

0.0

0.7

2.0

59275 / Westby / MT / 271.3 mi.

190

12.6

$28,542

2.0

0.8

0.0

0.5

0.3

59031 / Garryowen / MT / 60.3 mi.

27.7

$55,938

81.4

1.4

0.0

77.4

0.3

59064 / Pompeys Pillar / MT / 25.1 mi.

25.0

$34,583

13.5

7.0

0.0

82842 / Story / WY / 108.1 mi.

420

5.2

$33,125

2.1

1.4

0.1

0.2

59243 / Lambert / MT / 208 mi.

135

15.6

$26,944

1.4

0.8

0.0

59026 / Edgar / MT / 30.2 mi.

25.0

$34,583

2.6

1.6

0.0

0.5

0.0

59035 / Yellowtail / MT / 45.5 mi.

115

17.4

$24,688

48.8

4.0

0.0

44.5

0.0

59013 / Boyd / MT / 34.3 mi.

23.1

$32,500

3.0

0.0

2.0

0.0

59018 / Clyde Park / MT / 88 mi.

158

10.1

$36,094

2.7

0.3

0.0

0.5

0.0

82442 / Ten Sleep / WY / 124.5 mi.

334

3.6

$27,031

3.3

1.4

0.0

0.5

0.3

59065 / Wan I Gan / MT / 101.2 mi.

7.9

$39,583

1.1

0.0

File

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Time

5/19/05 4:46 PM

Page

222

Member

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