Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina
Owner: Wick Communications (Ariz.)
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 33.3
2004 37.5
2003 12.5
2002 12.5
2001 11.8
2000 0.0
1999 0.0
1998 15.4
1997 0.0
1996 0.0
1995 0.0
1994 0.0
1993 0.0
1992 Did not report
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 Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 33.3 56.3 59
2004 37.5 56.3 67
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, Wick Communications (Ariz.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 24.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 59. 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 69 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 Santa Fe New Mexican, New Mexico, with a 41.5 percent non-white staff in a community that is 56.2 percent non-white. Its index is 74.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 10,811 ranks 751 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 Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.8 598
Black 51.8 37,677
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5 339
Native-American 2.5 1,847
Other non-white 0.1 45
Multi-racial 0.6 443
  Non-white 56.3 40,949
White 43.7 31,784
Total 72,733
Home county:  Halifax
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.0 579
Black 52.3 30,018
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6 316
Native-American 3.1 1,778
Other non-white 0.1 58
Multi-racial 0.6 352
  Non-white 57.7 33,101
White 42.3 24,269
Total 57,370
The home county of this newspaper is Halifax.
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
Daily Herald, Roanoke Rapids
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
27870 / Roanoke Rapids Air Force Sta / NC / 0 mi. 6,019 11,118 54.1 $28,784 38.8 0.8 35.8 0.5 1.0
27850 / Littleton / NC / 15.6 mi. 956 3,195 29.9 $35,108 45.9 0.9 42.7 1.6 0.2
27823 / Enfield / NC / 17.7 mi. 734 3,124 23.5 $23,861 85.2 0.9 81.4 2.2 0.1
27839 / Halifax / NC / 8.9 mi. 411 1,280 32.1 $24,306 69.9 0.9 67.9 0.6 0.2
27832 / Gaston / NC / 3 mi. 380 1,294 29.4 $25,022 62.7 0.9 60.6 0.1 0.0
27831 / Gumberry / NC / 3.5 mi. 378 1,238 30.5 $23,525 88.1 0.8 86.2 0.4 0.1
27890 / Weldon / NC / 3.1 mi. 368 1,074 34.3 $24,755 76.2 0.6 74.3 0.2 0.1
27845 / Lasker / NC / 12.8 mi. 314 772 40.7 $26,354 61.6 0.5 60.1 0.5 0.0
27842 / Henrico / NC / 11.9 mi. 289 670 43.1 $42,625 30.8 0.5 29.7 0.0 0.4
27820 / Conway / NC / 20.7 mi. 288 1,096 26.3 $29,012 39.2 0.3 38.0 0.1 0.4
27876 / Seaboard / NC / 11.3 mi. 248 618 40.1 $24,688 62.2 0.6 60.7 0.1 0.2
27844 / Hollister / NC / 18.8 mi. 238 886 26.9 $16,969 95.8 1.4 35.0 55.6 0.2
27869 / Rich Square / NC / 22.5 mi. 184 1,039 17.7 $27,647 67.5 1.0 65.6 0.4 0.0
27874 / Scotland Neck / NC / 24.1 mi. 147 2,255 6.5 $21,875 73.9 1.7 71.5 0.1 0.0
27866 / Pleasant Hill / NC / 8.7 mi. 117 333 35.1 $29,500 68.0 0.4 66.6 0.4 0.0
27897 / Woodland / NC / 24.4 mi. 66 857 7.7 $22,045 64.7 1.0 62.7 0.4 0.0
27853 / Margarettsville / NC / 19.4 mi. 54 273 19.8 $20,298 55.2 0.8 52.8 0.9 0.0
27862 / Pendleton / NC / 24.4 mi. 32 344 9.3 $25,833 54.0 0.2 53.4 0.1 0.1
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