Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Wilson Daily Times
Wilson, North Carolina
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 5.6
2004 5.0
2003 5.3
2002 15.8
2001 5.9
2000 14.3
1999 6.7
1998 6.3
1997 11.8
1996 6.3
1995 0.0
1994 0.0
1993 0.0
1992 0.0
1991 0.0
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 2002
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Wilson Daily Times
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 5.6 42.6 13
2004 5.0 42.6 12
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.)
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Wilson Daily Times
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 13. 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 157 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 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 16,498 ranks 571 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 Wilson Daily Times
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 6.7 6,766
Black 34.7 34,892
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3 314
Native-American 0.2 194
Other non-white 0.1 63
Multi-racial 0.6 645
  Non-white 42.6 42,874
White 57.4 57,745
Total 100,619
Home county:  Wilson
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 6.0 4,457
Black 39.1 28,886
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4 300
Native-American 0.2 144
Other non-white 0.1 50
Multi-racial 0.7 479
  Non-white 46.5 34,316
White 53.5 39,498
Total 73,814
The home county of this newspaper is Wilson.
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 Wilson Daily Times
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
27893 / Wilson / NC / 0 mi. 7,315 15,842 46.2 $26,655 63.1 8.4 53.5 0.2 0.3
27896 / Wilson / NC / 4.4 mi. 3,853 5,528 69.7 $54,150 15.9 1.6 12.4 0.2 1.0
27851 / Lucama / NC / 7.3 mi. 1,069 1,848 57.8 $36,090 20.6 3.7 15.9 0.2 0.3
27822 / Elm City / NC / 8.1 mi. 818 3,030 27.0 $33,908 35.3 1.9 32.4 0.3 0.1
27542 / Kenly / NC / 13.9 mi. 781 2,963 26.4 $32,386 25.8 7.7 17.1 0.2 0.1
27807 / Bailey / NC / 11.9 mi. 554 2,130 26.0 $34,375 34.0 11.6 21.3 0.2 0.1
27883 / Stantonsburg / NC / 9.6 mi. 441 1,279 34.5 $31,575 42.3 6.5 35.0 0.1 0.1
27873 / Saratoga / NC / 10.1 mi. 374 159 235.2 $31,458 26.1 5.8 19.7 0.0 0.0
27557 / Middlesex / NC / 16.4 mi. 299 2,540 11.8 $33,668 34.1 8.7 24.6 0.3 0.2
27888 / Walstonburg / NC / 14.8 mi. 277 938 29.5 $33,826 51.6 13.1 36.9 0.0 0.2
27880 / Sims / NC / 10 mi. 199 808 24.6 $40,741 34.4 13.2 20.7 0.1 0.0
27813 / Black Creek / NC / 4.5 mi. 163 142 114.8 $30,893 22.2 2.2 17.2 0.0 0.3
27878 / Sharpsburg / NC / 12.1 mi. 148 653 22.7 $29,514 31.3 1.6 28.8 0.1 0.2
27852 / Macclesfield / NC / 18 mi. 119 1,076 11.1 $33,500 23.3 1.9 20.8 0.0 0.0
27864 / Pinetops / NC / 14.7 mi. 47 1,589 3.0 $32,413 45.7 2.2 43.2 0.1 0.1
27830 / Fremont / NC / 13 mi. 38 1,982 1.9 $32,500 30.5 3.4 25.4 0.5 0.6
File nc_the_wilson_daily_times
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