Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Altus Times
Altus, Oklahoma
Owner: Heartland Publications (Fla.)
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 Did not report
2003 Did not report
2002 Did not report
2001 Did not report
2000 28.6
1999 42.9
1998 33.3
1997 0.0
1996 Did not report
1995 Did not report
1994 0.0
1993 Did not report
1992 Did not report
1991 Did not report
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1999
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Altus Times
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 33.3 28.5 117
2004 N/A 28.5 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, Heartland Publications (Fla.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 85.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Altus Times
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 117. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 0, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 5,000 and fewer daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 14 out of 132
newspapers reporting in the category of 5,000 and fewer daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 4,591 ranks 1192 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 Altus Times
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 15.6 4,446
Black 7.9 2,245
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3 359
Native-American 1.6 442
Other non-white 0.1 24
Multi-racial 2.1 594
  Non-white 28.5 8,110
White 71.5 20,329
Total 28,439
Home county:  Jackson
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 15.6 4,446
Black 7.9 2,245
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3 359
Native-American 1.6 442
Other non-white 0.1 24
Multi-racial 2.1 594
  Non-white 28.5 8,110
White 71.5 20,329
Total 28,439
For this newspaper the home county was used as the circulation area. That county is Jackson.
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: Newspaper's home county. 
  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.
      
File ok_the_altus_times
Time 5/15/05 8:05 PM
Page 1191
Member 0