Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Dispatch, Lexington
Lexington, North Carolina
Owner: New York Times Co.
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 7.1
2004 7.1
2003 14.3
2002 15.4
2001 13.3
2000 6.7
1999 6.7
1998 6.7
1997 7.7
1996 8.3
1995 16.7
1994 16.7
1993 8.3
1992 0.0
1991 10.0
1990 9.1
The latest year at peak is 1995
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Dispatch, Lexington
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 7.1 18.0 39
2004 7.1 18.0 39
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, New York Times Co.,
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 69.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Dispatch, Lexington
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 39. 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 114 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 Enterprise Ledger, Alabama, with a 16.7 percent non-white staff in a community that is 24.4 percent non-white. Its index is 68.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 11,704 ranks 717 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 Dispatch, Lexington
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 4.2 2,173
Black 11.8 6,089
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 409
Native-American 0.3 167
Other non-white 0.1 39
Multi-racial 0.8 411
  Non-white 18.0 9,288
White 82.0 42,283
Total 51,571
Home county:  Davidson
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 3.2 4,765
Black 9.1 13,389
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8 1,193
Native-American 0.3 466
Other non-white 0.1 137
Multi-racial 0.8 1,138
  Non-white 14.3 21,088
White 85.7 126,158
Total 147,246
The home county of this newspaper is Davidson.
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 Dispatch, Lexington
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
27292 / Lexington / NC / 0 mi. 9,160 15,295 59.9 $34,237 22.8 5.2 15.4 0.4 0.9
27299 / Linwood / NC / 7.8 mi. 514 1,584 32.4 $38,023 5.8 1.4 2.3 0.4 0.6
27239 / Denton / NC / 16.5 mi. 395 3,298 12.0 $38,125 2.3 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.3
27360 / Thomasville / NC / 9.7 mi. 268 16,736 1.6 $35,939 17.4 3.8 11.9 0.4 0.5
27107 / Winston Salem / NC / 15.8 mi. 196 14,588 1.3 $36,279 43.6 10.8 31.6 0.3 0.2
27127 / Winston Salem / NC / 15.5 mi. 81 10,906 0.7 $42,594 32.1 5.9 23.4 0.3 1.3
27012 / Clemmons / NC / 15.7 mi. 68 8,123 0.8 $60,765 8.9 2.2 4.3 0.1 1.4
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