Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Observer-Reporter, Washington
Washington, Pennsylvania
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 0.0
2004 0.0
2003 0.0
2002 0.0
2001 0.0
2000 0.0
1999 0.0
1998 0.0
1997 0.0
1996 0.0
1995 2.3
1994 0.0
1993 2.4
1992 0.0
1991 Did not report
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 1993
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Observer-Reporter, Washington
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 0.0 5.1 0
2004 0.0 5.1 0
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 Observer-Reporter, Washington
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 0. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 44, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 25,001 to 50,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 123 out of 140
newspapers reporting in the category of 25,001 to 50,000 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 Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois, with a 11.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 11 percent non-white. Its index is 101.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 33,714 ranks 305 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 Observer-Reporter, Washington
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.6 1,183
Black 3.3 6,595
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4 745
Native-American 0.1 174
Other non-white 0.1 172
Multi-racial 0.7 1,437
  Non-white 5.1 10,306
White 94.9 191,299
Total 201,605
Home county:  Washington
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 0.6 1,170
Black 3.2 6,554
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4 746
Native-American 0.1 162
Other non-white 0.1 226
Multi-racial 0.8 1,528
  Non-white 5.1 10,386
White 94.9 192,511
Total 202,897
The home county of this newspaper is Washington.
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
Observer-Reporter, Washington
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
15301 / Washington / PA / 0 mi. 12,124 20,047 60.5 $34,625 8.0 0.6 5.8 0.1 0.3
15317 / Canonsburg / PA / 9.5 mi. 4,232 12,357 34.2 $52,864 4.9 0.7 2.6 0.0 0.8
15370 / Waynesburg / PA / 21.2 mi. 2,703 5,148 52.5 $31,776 11.9 1.6 9.3 0.1 0.4
15342 / Houston / PA / 6.9 mi. 1,147 2,148 53.4 $34,744 6.3 0.4 5.0 0.0 0.2
15021 / Burgettstown / PA / 19 mi. 936 3,063 30.6 $39,767 3.5 1.0 1.6 0.1 0.1
15057 / Mc Donald / PA / 14.2 mi. 911 4,319 21.1 $44,345 4.1 0.3 2.7 0.1 0.4
15323 / Claysville / PA / 7.8 mi. 904 1,771 51.0 $38,638 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
15312 / Avella / PA / 12.7 mi. 876 1,382 63.4 $37,938 1.8 0.2 0.7 0.0 0.1
15330 / Eighty Four / PA / 10.2 mi. 788 1,926 40.9 $51,200 2.3 0.4 1.3 0.0 0.2
15314 / Bentleyville / PA / 13.6 mi. 702 1,567 44.8 $29,295 3.3 0.4 1.3 0.1 0.1
15320 / Carmichaels / PA / 24.4 mi. 585 2,113 27.7 $28,851 1.5 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.0
15063 / Monongahela / PA / 16.9 mi. 483 5,126 9.4 $35,932 3.4 0.7 1.8 0.1 0.2
15345 / Marianna / PA / 11.2 mi. 346 722 47.9 $29,087 4.7 0.0 3.5 0.3 0.1
15360 / Scenery Hill / PA / 9.5 mi. 344 716 48.0 $45,417 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1
15333 / Fredericktown / PA / 14.9 mi. 335 980 34.2 $28,036 2.6 0.5 1.0 0.3 0.0
15340 / Hickory / PA / 9.6 mi. 335 567 59.1 $40,000 1.1 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.1
15357 / Rices Landing / PA / 20.7 mi. 335 623 53.8 $35,735 1.8 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.5
15322 / Clarksville / PA / 16.9 mi. 326 879 37.1 $28,622 4.8 0.3 3.4 0.3 0.3
15017 / Bridgeville / PA / 14.1 mi. 317 6,197 5.1 $44,615 7.0 0.8 4.2 0.1 1.3
15367 / Venetia / PA / 12.8 mi. 314 1,805 17.4 $69,150 2.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 1.5
15329 / Prosperity / PA / 9.7 mi. 313 721 43.4 $42,162 1.4 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1
15332 / Finleyville / PA / 15.5 mi. 304 3,112 9.8 $41,551 2.4 0.5 1.1 0.0 0.2
15022 / Charleroi / PA / 16.3 mi. 276 5,085 5.4 $31,347 4.0 0.7 2.3 0.1 0.3
15344 / Jefferson / PA / 19.7 mi. 262 575 45.6 $29,583 3.0 0.6 1.9 0.3 0.0
15376 / West Alexander / PA / 12.8 mi. 262 659 39.8 $35,302 1.5 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.2
15311 / Amity / PA / 8.1 mi. 259 506 51.2 $43,672 1.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
15347 / Meadow Lands / PA / 4.3 mi. 224 26 861.5 $58,750 4.8 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0
15349 / Mount Morris / PA / 29.2 mi. 211 780 27.1 $35,987 1.7 0.5 0.1 0.3 0.0
15338 / Greensboro / PA / 28.8 mi. 195 688 28.3 $30,197 1.4 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.2
15363 / Strabane / PA / 6.7 mi. 192 374 51.3 $27,045 4.0 0.9 2.9 0.0 0.1
15060 / Midway / PA / 14.5 mi. 191 411 46.5 $36,078 1.5 0.6 0.4 0.0 0.2
15321 / Cecil / PA / 11.5 mi. 188 693 27.1 $50,250 1.1 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.2
15358 / Richeyville / PA / 15.5 mi. 184 324 56.8 $29,412 1.5 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.1
15331 / Ellsworth / PA / 12.9 mi. 179 484 37.0 $31,477 4.6 0.7 2.3 0.0 0.1
15337 / Graysville / PA / 19.7 mi. 165 322 51.2 $36,181 1.7 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.0
15019 / Bulger / PA / 19 mi. 159 755 21.1 $37,644 2.1 0.3 0.8 0.2 0.1
15423 / Coal Center / PA / 20.3 mi. 149 797 18.7 $36,667 2.5 0.5 0.9 0.1 0.2
15324 / Cokeburg / PA / 10.7 mi. 142 308 46.1 $30,179 1.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1
15417 / Brownsville / PA / 18.2 mi. 135 3,933 3.4 $28,915 8.0 0.6 5.7 0.1 0.1
15380 / Wind Ridge / PA / 22 mi. 132 354 37.3 $31,875 1.0 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0
15341 / Holbrook / PA / 22.3 mi. 120 375 32.0 $31,250 1.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1
15346 / Mather / PA / 16.3 mi. 119 313 38.0 $29,375 1.7 0.1 1.2 0.0 0.0
15350 / Muse / PA / 9.4 mi. 119 271 43.9 $40,556 3.3 0.6 1.5 0.2 0.3
15419 / California / PA / 18.9 mi. 117 1,538 7.6 $21,717 7.3 0.5 4.9 0.2 0.9
15377 / West Finley / PA / 15.8 mi. 116 311 37.3 $34,375 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0
15055 / Lawrence / PA / 11.8 mi. 113 563 20.1 $57,727 6.7 0.9 4.1 0.2 1.1
15364 / Sycamore / PA / 14.4 mi. 108 246 43.9 $32,386 2.5 0.5 1.2 0.0 0.0
15067 / New Eagle / PA / 16.2 mi. 102 966 10.6 $31,134 3.0 0.0 1.1 0.1 0.6
15352 / New Freeport / PA / 30 mi. 101 343 29.4 $24,605 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0
15362 / Spraggs / PA / 27.6 mi. 98 277 35.4 $28,750 1.0 0.3 0.6 0.0 0.1
15102 / Bethel Park / PA / 15.9 mi. 93 12,143 0.8 $54,472 3.3 0.5 1.1 0.0 1.1
15427 / Daisytown / PA / 15.5 mi. 87 464 18.8 $34,511 8.2 0.9 5.5 0.3 0.3
15313 / Beallsville / PA / 13.7 mi. 85 149 57.0 $32,813 1.1 0.0 1.1 0.0 0.0
15054 / Langeloth / PA / 16.5 mi. 83 243 34.2 $30,893 3.3 3.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
15327 / Dilliner / PA / 31.2 mi. 79 597 13.2 $21,532 1.1 0.3 0.5 0.0 0.0
15368 / Vestaburg / PA / 17.2 mi. 76 208 36.5 $26,042 1.4 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.2
15078 / Slovan / PA / 15.6 mi. 73 192 38.0 $20,536 3.8 1.4 1.7 0.0 0.5
15033 / Donora / PA / 20.6 mi. 60 2,516 2.4 $28,086 19.2 2.0 14.5 0.1 0.3
15351 / Nemacolin / PA / 26.2 mi. 60 401 15.0 $23,458 3.2 1.5 0.5 0.2 0.0
15325 / Crucible / PA / 21.2 mi. 59 256 23.0 $23,707 1.1 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0
15310 / Aleppo / PA / 25.8 mi. 58 154 37.7 $19,722 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
15359 / Rogersville / PA / 17.7 mi. 58 74 78.4 $32,500 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
15315 / Bobtown / PA / 31 mi. 55 339 16.2 $25,521 2.8 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.6
26003 / Wheeling / WV / 21.9 mi. 48 19,306 0.2 $31,141 5.9 0.5 3.6 0.1 0.8
15348 / Millsboro / PA / 18.2 mi. 45 112 40.2 $26,667 3.1 0.0 2.7 0.0 0.0
15004 / Atlasburg / PA / 14.2 mi. 45 126 35.7 $32,500 1.3 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0
15106 / Carnegie / PA / 18.7 mi. 42 8,656 0.5 $35,452 6.0 0.8 3.3 0.0 0.9
15379 / West Middletown / PA / 10.7 mi. 38 61 62.3 $41,250 9.7 0.0 4.2 0.0 1.4
15053 / Joffre / PA / 16.4 mi. 37 29 127.6 $25,500 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
15038 / Elrama / PA / 18.5 mi. 35 126 27.8 $28,864 3.1 0.0 1.7 0.0 0.3
15012 / Belle Vernon / PA / 23.4 mi. 34 6,959 0.5 $33,909 3.3 0.5 1.8 0.1 0.4
15334 / Garards Fort / PA / 26.8 mi. 32 76 42.1 $43,750 1.1 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.6
15361 / Southview / PA / 11.5 mi. 32 73 43.8 $23,047 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
15378 / Westland / PA / 8.1 mi. 31 70 44.3 $39,231 43.4 0.0 43.4 0.0 0.0
15071 / Oakdale / PA / 18 mi. 27 3,873 0.7 $49,694 7.1 1.0 2.4 0.1 2.9
15062 / Monessen / PA / 19.7 mi. 26 3,919 0.7 $26,659 16.9 0.8 13.9 0.1 0.2
15353 / Nineveh / PA / 13.3 mi. 24 44 54.5 $42,500 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0
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