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