Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Jackson Sun
Jackson, Tennessee
Owner: Gannett Co. (Va.)
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 37.5
2004 38.2
2003 35.3
2002 Did not report
2001 27.0
2000 21.1
1999 31.6
1998 25.5
1997 30.8
1996 26.2
1995 26.8
1994 Did not report
1993 25.6
1992 29.4
1991 27.3
1990 Did not report
The latest year at peak is 2004
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Jackson Sun
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 37.5 24.7 152
2004 38.2 24.7 155
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, Gannett Co. (Va.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 89.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Jackson Sun
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 152. 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 9 out of 140
newspapers reporting in the category of 25,001 to 50,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 35,080 ranks 290 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 Jackson Sun
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.7 4,673
Black 21.8 61,054
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3 893
Native-American 0.2 490
Other non-white 0.1 138
Multi-racial 0.7 2,062
  Non-white 24.7 69,310
White 75.3 211,460
Total 280,770
Home county:  Madison
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.7 1,572
Black 32.3 29,657
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6 572
Native-American 0.2 137
Other non-white 0.1 56
Multi-racial 0.8 690
  Non-white 35.6 32,684
White 64.4 59,153
Total 91,837
The home county of this newspaper is Madison.
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
The Jackson Sun
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
38305 / Jackson / TN / 6.1 mi. 8,432 15,689 53.7 $47,142 25.0 2.2 20.6 0.2 1.2
38301 / Jackson / TN / 2.4 mi. 7,068 15,723 45.0 $26,549 50.7 1.4 48.1 0.2 0.2
38351 / Lexington / TN / 24.5 mi. 2,001 6,626 30.2 $31,791 11.2 1.0 8.8 0.1 0.2
38343 / Three Way / TN / 16.1 mi. 1,577 6,522 24.2 $31,644 31.4 1.2 29.2 0.2 0.1
38340 / Henderson / TN / 15.2 mi. 1,186 4,185 28.3 $34,311 14.7 1.0 12.3 0.2 0.3
38358 / Milan Army Ammunition Plant / TN / 21.9 mi. 1,123 4,844 23.2 $32,904 19.0 1.3 16.3 0.2 0.3
38382 / Trenton / TN / 25.2 mi. 1,107 4,023 27.5 $30,564 21.7 1.4 19.2 0.1 0.2
38344 / Leach / TN / 35.2 mi. 939 3,617 26.0 $30,597 15.7 1.1 13.2 0.3 0.1
38012 / Brownsville / TN / 21.5 mi. 796 5,737 13.9 $28,403 57.0 3.1 53.3 0.1 0.1
38375 / Selmer / TN / 30.5 mi. 736 3,594 20.5 $29,144 13.5 1.1 10.8 0.1 0.2
38008 / Bolivar / TN / 22.4 mi. 689 3,969 17.4 $30,214 51.3 0.7 49.7 0.1 0.3
38320 / Camden / TN / 49.8 mi. 669 4,462 15.0 $29,277 5.2 1.0 2.9 0.3 0.3
38363 / Parsons / TN / 38.6 mi. 649 2,447 26.5 $28,219 7.7 2.7 4.0 0.2 0.2
38201 / McKenzie / TN / 39.2 mi. 582 3,873 15.0 $31,444 11.7 1.8 8.3 0.1 0.3
38006 / Bells / TN / 15.1 mi. 562 1,906 29.5 $28,961 27.0 12.0 14.4 0.1 0.1
38237 / Martin / TN / 48.2 mi. 456 5,829 7.8 $31,030 16.8 1.6 11.3 0.1 2.8
38372 / Savannah / TN / 40.5 mi. 431 6,952 6.2 $27,199 6.2 1.0 4.0 0.2 0.2
38330 / Dyer / TN / 31.9 mi. 422 1,780 23.7 $30,745 12.7 0.6 11.4 0.1 0.1
38316 / Bradford / TN / 30.5 mi. 342 1,183 28.9 $32,607 5.9 0.7 4.2 0.2 0.0
38220 / Atwood / TN / 27.9 mi. 329 848 38.8 $27,361 18.0 1.5 15.3 0.1 0.1
38313 / Beech Bluff / TN / 11.2 mi. 297 1,073 27.7 $37,319 6.0 1.0 4.0 0.2 0.2
38001 / Alamo / TN / 18.3 mi. 276 1,735 15.9 $29,536 19.7 3.1 15.6 0.1 0.1
38329 / Decaturville / TN / 39.6 mi. 262 1,299 20.2 $30,354 6.4 1.2 3.8 0.2 0.2
38369 / Rutherford / TN / 35 mi. 262 823 31.8 $30,430 16.5 0.5 15.1 0.3 0.1
38310 / Adamsville / TN / 34 mi. 232 2,250 10.3 $31,301 3.0 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.1
38366 / Pinson / TN / 9.1 mi. 217 793 27.4 $42,614 12.5 1.3 10.4 0.1 0.0
38225 / Dresden / TN / 45.6 mi. 211 2,600 8.1 $30,735 5.1 0.5 3.6 0.1 0.2
38388 / Wildersville / TN / 26 mi. 208 685 30.4 $30,167 29.6 1.5 27.4 0.1 0.1
38334 / Finger / TN / 22.3 mi. 203 663 30.6 $34,732 5.3 0.5 2.5 1.0 0.3
38261 / Union City / TN / 54.7 mi. 200 6,950 2.9 $33,915 18.7 2.8 14.6 0.2 0.3
38374 / Scotts Hill / TN / 33.2 mi. 192 667 28.8 $31,638 2.3 1.2 0.2 0.3 0.1
38230 / Greenfield / TN / 36.3 mi. 182 1,628 11.2 $27,813 7.5 1.3 5.4 0.3 0.1
38355 / Medina / TN / 11.7 mi. 180 1,025 17.6 $39,583 3.2 0.6 1.4 0.2 0.0
38321 / Cedar Grove / TN / 24.9 mi. 174 908 19.2 $29,550 5.4 0.2 4.4 0.4 0.1
38337 / Gadsden / TN / 13.4 mi. 169 593 28.5 $38,977 12.9 1.1 10.4 0.3 0.0
38024 / Dyersburg / TN / 39.7 mi. 156 11,160 1.4 $32,185 17.4 1.2 14.9 0.2 0.4
38050 / Maury City / TN / 23.9 mi. 149 169 88.2 $25,192 45.4 1.0 43.6 0.0 0.0
38368 / Reagan / TN / 26.9 mi. 148 741 20.0 $30,313 2.6 1.4 0.7 0.3 0.0
38229 / Gleason / TN / 42.1 mi. 147 1,229 12.0 $29,684 1.9 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.0
38034 / Friendship / TN / 26.9 mi. 145 1,375 10.5 $26,883 12.7 1.7 10.6 0.2 0.0
38317 / Bruceton / TN / 43.1 mi. 142 1,108 12.8 $28,297 8.6 0.8 6.6 0.3 0.1
38315 / Bethel Springs / TN / 25.9 mi. 138 1,488 9.3 $28,750 5.2 0.9 3.4 0.2 0.0
38255 / Sharon / TN / 41.4 mi. 107 1,002 10.7 $30,337 6.5 0.8 5.3 0.0 0.0
38390 / Yuma / TN / 30.6 mi. 99 383 25.8 $27,778 8.4 2.2 4.0 0.5 0.6
38391 / Denmark / TN / 7.6 mi. 96 457 21.0 $33,618 76.8 0.6 74.6 0.2 0.1
38044 / Hornsby / TN / 23.8 mi. 71 381 18.6 $29,375 2.7 0.1 1.4 0.0 0.0
38258 / Trezevant / TN / 31.4 mi. 32 684 4.7 $26,078 15.6 1.0 13.9 0.0 0.0
38052 / Middleton / TN / 34.1 mi. 31 1,453 2.1 $31,932 9.2 0.3 7.6 0.0 0.7
38342 / Hollow Rock / TN / 41.5 mi. 28 649 4.3 $28,750 7.8 0.5 6.2 0.1 0.1
38059 / Newbern / TN / 39.8 mi. 27 2,536 1.1 $33,214 8.7 0.9 6.7 0.2 0.3
38075 / Whiteville / TN / 23 mi. 25 1,225 2.0 $29,455 57.0 1.9 52.5 0.8 0.3
38235 / McLemoresville / TN / 29.1 mi. 17 105 16.2 $27,946 7.5 3.1 3.5 0.4 0.0
38361 / Morris Chapel / TN / 35 mi. 15 376 4.0 $27,159 12.0 0.9 9.4 0.1 0.1
38370 / Saltillo / TN / 36.7 mi. 15 307 4.9 $22,400 15.3 0.2 14.6 0.2 0.2
38359 / Milledgeville / TN / 28.8 mi. 14 122 11.5 $27,813 3.9 0.8 0.0 1.2 0.4
38378 / Spring Creek / TN / 15.3 mi. 11 21 52.4 $53,542 1.7 0.0 1.7 0.0 0.0
38242 / Paris / TN / 53.8 mi. 10 7,961 0.1 $29,313 14.9 0.9 12.4 0.1 0.4
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