Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Grants Pass Daily Courier
Grants Pass, Oregon
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 3.8
2004 3.7
2003 3.8
2002 3.7
2001 3.6
2000 3.7
1999 4.0
1998 4.0
1997 4.3
1996 4.2
1995 4.3
1994 4.3
1993 4.3
1992 4.0
1991 3.9
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1997
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Grants Pass Daily Courier
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 3.8 8.6 44
2004 3.7 8.6 43
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 Grants Pass Daily Courier
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 44. 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 99 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 Herald, Sharon, Pennsylvania, with a 8 percent non-white staff in a community that is 7.3 percent non-white. Its index is 110.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 16,403 ranks 574 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 Grants Pass Daily Courier
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 4.3 3,645
Black 0.2 206
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7 600
Native-American 1.1 973
Other non-white 0.1 65
Multi-racial 2.2 1,869
  Non-white 8.6 7,358
White 91.4 78,188
Total 85,546
Home county:  Josephine
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 4.3 3,229
Black 0.3 192
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7 538
Native-American 1.1 844
Other non-white 0.1 52
Multi-racial 2.2 1,638
  Non-white 8.6 6,493
White 91.4 69,233
Total 75,726
The home county of this newspaper is Josephine.
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
Grants Pass Daily Courier
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
97526 / Grants Pass / OR / 0 mi. 7,260 13,131 55.3 $32,260 9.1 4.7 0.3 1.0 0.9
97527 / Grants Pass / OR / 21 mi. 5,658 11,876 47.6 $31,901 7.7 4.2 0.2 1.0 0.5
97537 / Rogue River / OR / 29.6 mi. 812 2,851 28.5 $33,166 7.5 3.7 0.2 1.0 0.6
97523 / Cave Junction / OR / 36 mi. 600 2,543 23.6 $21,539 10.6 4.4 0.3 2.0 0.8
97532 / Merlin / OR / 13.5 mi. 540 859 62.9 $39,441 7.6 3.2 0.3 1.1 0.8
97544 / Williams / OR / 38.2 mi. 258 858 30.1 $34,932 6.2 2.3 0.2 1.0 0.8
97442 / Glendale / OR / 16.2 mi. 236 811 29.1 $29,541 13.4 7.0 0.1 2.2 0.9
97538 / Selma / OR / 18 mi. 227 781 29.1 $28,363 9.9 3.0 0.3 2.2 0.6
97497 / Wolf Creek / OR / 16.1 mi. 168 656 25.6 $28,250 8.1 2.5 0.3 2.3 0.4
97525 / Gold Hill / OR / 34.9 mi. 134 2,204 6.1 $33,397 7.5 3.9 0.2 1.0 0.5
97543 / Wilderville / OR / 16.1 mi. 122 32 381.3 $27,344 14.5 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0
97504 / Medford / OR / 50.8 mi. 49 16,692 0.3 $43,891 9.9 5.4 0.3 0.7 1.6
97410 / Azalea / OR / 31.8 mi. 43 283 15.2 $35,000 6.5 1.7 0.3 1.9 0.2
97534 / O Brien / OR / 39.7 mi. 43 232 18.5 $24,148 7.9 2.9 1.1 0.9 0.4
97530 / Jacksonville / OR / 46.2 mi. 37 2,691 1.4 $41,520 6.7 3.2 0.2 0.5 0.5
97531 / Kerby / OR / 27.5 mi. 34 170 20.0 $14,046 15.8 8.8 0.0 1.8 0.5
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