Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Reading Eagle
Reading, 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 2.1
2004 4.0
2003 4.0
2002 13.5
2001 Did not report
2000 2.1
1999 2.0
1998 3.0
1997 2.1
1996 1.1
1995 Did not report
1994 0.0
1993 1.0
1992 0.0
1991 Did not report
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 2002
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Reading Eagle
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 2.1 15.2 14
2004 4.0 15.2 26
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 Reading Eagle
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 14. This paper
Peer group
Compare that with 50, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 88 out of 90
newspapers reporting in the category of 50,001 to 100,000 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 Florida Today, Melbourne, Florida, with a 19.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 16.3 percent non-white. Its index is 117.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 61,897 ranks 169 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 Reading Eagle
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 9.8 36,333
Black 3.4 12,468
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0 3,796
Native-American 0.1 394
Other non-white 0.1 322
Multi-racial 0.9 3,291
  Non-white 15.2 56,604
White 84.8 315,363
Total 371,967
Home county:  Berks
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 9.7 36,357
Black 3.3 12,478
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0 3,770
Native-American 0.1 397
Other non-white 0.1 320
Multi-racial 0.9 3,291
  Non-white 15.2 56,613
White 84.9 317,025
Total 373,638
The home county of this newspaper is Berks.
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
Reading Eagle
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
19606 / Reading / PA / 5.9 mi. 5,634 11,710 48.1 $51,181 6.7 3.1 1.7 0.1 1.1
19601 / Reading / PA / 0 mi. 5,159 11,593 44.5 $24,891 62.1 42.7 15.6 0.3 1.3
19607 / Reading / PA / 5.3 mi. 4,374 9,161 47.7 $44,305 7.2 2.9 1.7 0.1 1.6
19610 / Reading / PA / 2.2 mi. 4,239 5,982 70.9 $61,814 7.1 2.0 1.3 0.1 2.8
19605 / Reading / PA / 2.6 mi. 4,221 6,795 62.1 $47,235 6.6 4.2 1.1 0.0 0.7
19604 / Reading / PA / 2.6 mi. 3,548 8,347 42.5 $32,300 39.5 28.8 6.9 0.2 1.7
19608 / Reading / PA / 5.2 mi. 3,328 6,287 52.9 $57,317 7.3 2.7 2.1 0.1 1.7
19522 / Fleetwood / PA / 10 mi. 2,434 5,302 45.9 $53,056 2.5 1.5 0.2 0.0 0.3
19609 / Reading / PA / 3.4 mi. 2,300 3,957 58.1 $47,243 5.1 2.1 1.1 0.1 1.2
19508 / Birdsboro / PA / 10.7 mi. 2,293 5,857 39.1 $51,395 4.1 1.2 1.3 0.2 0.4
19602 / Reading / PA / 3.4 mi. 1,966 6,827 28.8 $22,059 56.7 43.0 10.1 0.2 1.8
19526 / Hamburg / PA / 12.9 mi. 1,837 4,178 44.0 $45,494 2.4 1.1 0.3 0.1 0.2
19565 / Wernersville / PA / 7 mi. 1,650 2,861 57.7 $51,951 3.7 1.4 1.2 0.1 0.5
19540 / Mohnton / PA / 8.7 mi. 1,608 4,137 38.9 $52,994 3.4 1.5 0.7 0.1 0.4
19611 / Reading / PA / 3 mi. 1,410 3,929 35.9 $32,429 34.2 25.3 5.4 0.2 1.7
19533 / Leesport / PA / 3.9 mi. 1,249 2,190 57.0 $54,609 13.5 7.5 4.0 0.0 1.2
19560 / Temple / PA / 4.5 mi. 1,176 2,850 41.3 $40,886 5.5 4.0 0.8 0.1 0.3
19530 / Kutztown / PA / 14.9 mi. 1,108 4,540 24.4 $43,379 3.6 1.1 1.2 0.1 0.7
19506 / Bernville / PA / 11.6 mi. 1,101 2,314 47.6 $50,111 2.7 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.3
19551 / Robesonia / PA / 9.7 mi. 962 1,856 51.8 $51,391 3.7 1.7 0.9 0.0 0.4
19518 / Douglassville / PA / 13.2 mi. 862 3,915 22.0 $60,000 4.6 0.9 1.9 0.1 0.7
19547 / Oley / PA / 8.9 mi. 778 1,430 54.4 $55,023 1.9 0.9 0.2 0.1 0.3
19510 / Blandon / PA / 7 mi. 748 1,821 41.1 $63,470 5.5 2.4 1.0 0.1 1.5
19567 / Womelsdorf / PA / 13.4 mi. 725 1,864 38.9 $46,125 4.7 2.0 1.3 0.1 0.9
19512 / Boyertown / PA / 14.5 mi. 717 6,820 10.5 $50,345 3.4 0.6 2.0 0.1 0.4
19555 / Shoemakersville / PA / 8.8 mi. 696 1,502 46.3 $43,721 6.7 3.9 1.6 0.2 0.5
19541 / Mohrsville / PA / 8.3 mi. 500 1,279 39.1 $57,154 3.2 1.7 0.4 0.1 0.5
17901 / Pottsville / PA / 27.5 mi. 471 10,196 4.6 $33,962 7.1 2.0 3.9 0.1 0.5
17517 / Denver / PA / 12.3 mi. 428 4,941 8.7 $51,126 3.9 1.3 0.5 0.1 1.4
19543 / Morgantown / PA / 14.4 mi. 415 1,296 32.0 $48,784 2.5 0.8 0.5 0.1 0.6
19562 / Topton / PA / 16.4 mi. 353 861 41.0 $45,106 1.8 1.1 0.0 0.2 0.3
17569 / Reinholds / PA / 9.5 mi. 289 1,794 16.1 $48,659 2.7 1.2 0.3 0.0 0.6
19464 / Pottstown / PA / 19.2 mi. 281 16,576 1.7 $43,631 16.4 3.0 10.7 0.2 0.8
19539 / Mertztown / PA / 16.8 mi. 273 1,597 17.1 $54,598 1.7 0.8 0.1 0.1 0.3
19520 / Elverson / PA / 16.9 mi. 254 2,206 11.5 $55,211 2.5 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.5
19507 / Bethel / PA / 19.7 mi. 247 1,233 20.0 $48,136 2.8 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.5
17067 / Myerstown / PA / 19 mi. 235 4,574 5.1 $40,724 2.5 1.1 0.6 0.1 0.4
17972 / Schuylkill Haven / PA / 22 mi. 203 4,462 4.5 $36,445 2.5 0.8 0.6 0.1 0.6
19534 / Lenhartsville / PA / 15.3 mi. 195 749 26.0 $48,276 2.0 0.7 0.1 0.2 0.2
19525 / Gilbertsville / PA / 20 mi. 183 3,510 5.2 $62,325 2.5 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.9
17954 / Minersville / PA / 27.4 mi. 170 2,096 8.1 $28,864 1.9 0.6 0.4 0.0 0.2
17042 / Lebanon / PA / 24.8 mi. 147 13,429 1.1 $41,887 8.0 4.5 1.5 0.1 1.3
19554 / Shartlesville / PA / 12.8 mi. 139 101 137.6 $39,063 6.2 3.9 0.4 0.0 1.9
19501 / Adamstown / PA / 10.1 mi. 137 395 34.7 $42,976 1.4 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.3
17961 / Orwigsburg / PA / 19.4 mi. 131 2,529 5.2 $47,444 3.0 0.4 0.2 0.0 1.8
19559 / Strausstown / PA / 14.8 mi. 120 139 86.3 $38,125 1.8 0.6 0.0 0.0 1.2
19536 / Lyon Station / PA / 14.7 mi. 113 203 55.7 $40,500 3.4 1.2 1.0 0.0 0.2
17073 / Newmanstown / PA / 16.2 mi. 108 1,590 6.8 $44,792 2.2 0.9 0.6 0.0 0.2
19529 / Kempton / PA / 18.9 mi. 107 1,120 9.6 $49,340 1.8 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.2
17522 / Ephrata / PA / 17.2 mi. 102 10,847 0.9 $44,777 4.8 2.0 0.5 0.1 1.4
19468 / Royersford / PA / 25 mi. 101 8,186 1.2 $60,536 5.8 1.2 2.3 0.1 1.4
19505 / Bechtelsville / PA / 17.2 mi. 93 971 9.6 $51,000 1.8 0.9 0.4 0.2 0.1
19504 / Barto / PA / 19.8 mi. 92 1,949 4.7 $52,595 1.9 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.4
17087 / Richland / PA / 16.3 mi. 90 946 9.5 $41,925 1.9 0.8 0.2 0.0 0.2
18011 / Alburtis / PA / 18.1 mi. 72 1,768 4.1 $52,848 2.7 0.9 0.3 0.1 0.9
18252 / Tamaqua / PA / 27.9 mi. 65 4,847 1.3 $30,943 2.0 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.3
19550 / Rehrersburg / PA / 16.4 mi. 59 151 39.1 $44,306 31.1 12.3 16.4 0.3 0.6
17603 / Lancaster / PA / 32.3 mi. 54 23,271 0.2 $38,086 24.7 14.6 6.3 0.2 2.0
19545 / New Berlinville / PA / 17.3 mi. 54 78 69.2 $47,143 2.3 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0
17931 / Frackville / PA / 32.6 mi. 45 2,455 1.8 $31,165 24.3 3.9 19.3 0.1 0.8
17578 / Stevens / PA / 16.3 mi. 44 2,274 1.9 $51,890 3.8 1.3 0.2 0.1 1.3
17555 / Narvon / PA / 16.8 mi. 42 2,023 2.1 $50,625 1.8 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.4
19503 / Bally / PA / 19.6 mi. 40 397 10.1 $49,609 1.6 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.5
17922 / Auburn / PA / 18.1 mi. 35 1,677 2.1 $44,184 1.8 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.2
19511 / Bowers / PA / 14 mi. 35 108 32.4 $55,313 3.4 0.4 1.1 0.8 0.4
17970 / Saint Clair / PA / 29.5 mi. 34 1,620 2.1 $27,867 1.6 0.7 0.6 0.1 0.1
19544 / Mount Aetna / PA / 18.2 mi. 34 61 55.7 $48,000 5.0 2.5 2.5 0.0 0.0
19516 / Centerport / PA / 8.8 mi. 32 129 24.8 $47,115 4.3 3.1 0.6 0.6 0.0
18201 / Hazleton / PA / 41.1 mi. 30 15,416 0.2 $29,994 5.4 3.7 0.5 0.1 0.6
19523 / Geigertown / PA / 12.9 mi. 29 45 64.4 $44,375 4.3 1.7 2.6 0.0 0.0
17921 / Ashland / PA / 34.1 mi. 28 2,716 1.0 $32,696 1.0 0.1 0.4 0.0 0.2
17976 / Shenandoah / PA / 33.3 mi. 27 3,553 0.8 $23,486 3.1 2.1 0.3 0.1 0.3
19549 / Port Clinton / PA / 15.4 mi. 27 131 20.6 $27,500 3.5 2.8 0.0 0.4 0.0
17965 / Port Carbon / PA / 25.8 mi. 26 962 2.7 $31,004 1.4 0.5 0.6 0.0 0.1
17557 / New Holland / PA / 19.1 mi. 23 4,588 0.5 $43,315 6.9 3.2 0.7 0.1 2.1
17851 / Mount Carmel / PA / 38.9 mi. 23 3,759 0.6 $22,981 1.6 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.2
19519 / Earlville / PA / 12 mi. 23 40 57.5 $38,500 6.6 1.1 3.3 1.1 0.0
17872 / Shamokin / PA / 43.6 mi. 20 4,490 0.4 $22,708 1.5 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.3
19344 / Honey Brook / PA / 19.5 mi. 20 3,399 0.6 $49,484 3.5 1.1 1.1 0.2 0.3
17963 / Pine Grove / PA / 23.9 mi. 18 3,519 0.5 $39,420 1.1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.3
17543 / Lititz / PA / 22.1 mi. 16 13,369 0.1 $51,165 4.1 1.6 0.7 0.1 1.0
17959 / New Philadelphia / PA / 27.2 mi. 16 700 2.3 $28,125 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.4
17088 / Schaefferstown / PA / 18.5 mi. 12 354 3.4 $48,036 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1
17960 / New Ringgold / PA / 24.1 mi. 11 1,208 0.9 $36,422 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.3
17038 / Jonestown / PA / 31.9 mi. 9 2,457 0.4 $42,653 3.0 1.0 0.8 0.2 0.5
18049 / Emmaus / PA / 26 mi. 9 7,117 0.1 $51,668 4.3 1.4 0.5 0.0 1.7
18087 / Trexlertown / PA / 23.1 mi. 8 327 2.4 $38,214 15.2 7.0 2.9 0.0 4.8
18232 / Lansford / PA / 32.5 mi. 8 1,878 0.4 $27,478 2.7 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.4
18056 / Hereford / PA / 20.4 mi. 7 318 2.2 $41,696 4.3 2.7 0.4 0.1 0.4
18042 / Easton / PA / 42.7 mi. 6 14,776 0.0 $36,449 20.0 7.5 8.7 0.1 1.6
18015 / Bethlehem / PA / 34.3 mi. 5 10,507 0.0 $35,579 31.7 23.9 3.6 0.2 2.5
19460 / Phoenixville / PA / 27.7 mi. 5 12,972 0.0 $55,989 9.9 2.0 4.6 0.1 2.3
18062 / Macungie / PA / 23 mi. 4 5,486 0.1 $61,285 5.5 1.3 0.8 0.1 2.7
17026 / Fredericksburg / PA / 26.4 mi. 2 1,050 0.2 $44,621 2.5 1.6 0.5 0.1 0.1
17866 / Coal Township / PA / 41 mi. 2 3,705 0.1 $26,487 11.8 2.1 8.9 0.1 0.2
18071 / Palmerton / PA / 38 mi. 2 4,013 0.0 $36,029 2.7 1.8 0.1 0.1 0.2
17701 / Williamsport / PA / 82.3 mi. 1 18,791 0.0 $29,925 12.4 0.9 9.0 0.3 0.7
18240 / Nesquehoning / PA / 35.1 mi. 1 1,600 0.1 $38,115 3.0 1.3 0.5 0.1 0.4
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