Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The News-Messenger and News-Herald, Fremont/Port Clinton
Fremont, Ohio
Owner: Gannett Co. (Va.)
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 16.7
2004 5.3
2003 7.7
2002 0.0
2001 4.8
2000 10.0
1999 10.5
1998 12.5
1997 14.3
1996 16.7
1995 15.4
1994 15.4
1993 7.7
1992 8.3
1991 18.2
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1991
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The News-Messenger and News-Herald, Fremont/Port Clinton
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 16.7 11.2 150
2004 5.3 11.1 48
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, Gannett Co. (Va.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 89.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The News-Messenger and News-Herald, Fremont/Port Clinton
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 150. 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 28 out of 259
newspapers reporting in the category of 10,001 to 25,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 19,008 ranks 502 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 News-Messenger and News-Herald, Fremont/Port Clinton
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 7.1 4,391
Black 2.6 1,623
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3 172
Native-American 0.1 71
Other non-white 0.1 44
Multi-racial 1.0 594
  Non-white 11.1 6,895
White 88.9 54,973
Total 61,868
Home county:  Sandusky
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 7.0 4,298
Black 2.6 1,620
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3 175
Native-American 0.1 62
Other non-white 0.1 46
Multi-racial 0.9 576
  Non-white 11.0 6,777
White 89.0 55,015
Total 61,792
The home county of this newspaper is Sandusky.
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 News-Messenger and News-Herald, Fremont/Port Clinton
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
43420 / Fremont / OH / 0 mi. 8,048 12,588 63.9 $38,396 15.9 9.2 4.9 0.1 0.3
43410 / Clyde / OH / 7.7 mi. 2,017 3,756 53.7 $40,179 5.5 4.1 0.2 0.1 0.3
43431 / Gibsonburg / OH / 10.4 mi. 846 1,682 50.3 $44,618 9.3 8.4 0.2 0.1 0.2
43469 / Woodville / OH / 13.8 mi. 345 1,143 30.2 $48,352 4.5 3.7 0.2 0.2 0.0
44836 / Green Springs / OH / 7.7 mi. 339 908 37.3 $40,660 5.8 4.0 0.2 0.4 0.4
43435 / Millersville / OH / 8.9 mi. 266 585 45.5 $45,543 3.9 3.0 0.4 0.0 0.1
43442 / Lindsey / OH / 6.9 mi. 223 399 55.9 $48,000 10.0 9.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
43416 / Elmore / OH / 11.7 mi. 191 1,144 16.7 $42,204 5.1 4.1 0.1 0.2 0.2
43449 / Oak Harbor / OH / 12 mi. 175 3,175 5.5 $47,720 3.0 2.0 0.1 0.1 0.4
44811 / Bellevue / OH / 15.8 mi. 118 5,104 2.3 $42,900 3.2 2.2 0.2 0.1 0.2
43407 / Burgoon / OH / 7.7 mi. 102 230 44.3 $53,182 6.1 3.6 1.2 0.2 0.6
43464 / Vickery / OH / 8.8 mi. 97 570 17.0 $39,956 5.0 3.6 0.1 0.5 0.1
44815 / Bettsville / OH / 8.7 mi. 95 309 30.7 $37,500 7.6 6.1 0.1 0.1 0.5
44841 / Kansas / OH / 11 mi. 43 306 14.1 $51,193 4.2 2.7 0.5 0.0 0.1
43452 / Port Clinton / OH / 15.3 mi. 41 6,012 0.7 $38,947 7.8 5.1 1.5 0.2 0.3
44883 / Tiffin / OH / 14.9 mi. 32 11,502 0.3 $38,331 4.4 1.9 1.0 0.1 0.6
File oh_the_news-messenger_and_news-herald__fremont_port_clinton
Time 5/21/05 12:09 PM
Page 501
Member 135400