Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton, Texas
Owner: Belo (Texas)
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 9.7
2004 7.4
2003 9.4
2002 6.5
2001 6.3
2000 6.7
1999 2.0
1998 2.9
1997 3.8
1996 13.6
1995 12.5
1994 13.6
1993 10.0
1992 9.1
1991 0.0
1990 3.6
The latest year at peak is 1996
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Denton Record-Chronicle
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 9.7 24.1 40
2004 7.4 24.1 31
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, Belo (Texas),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 40.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Denton Record-Chronicle
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 40. 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 110 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 Enterprise Ledger, Alabama, with a 16.7 percent non-white staff in a community that is 24.4 percent non-white. Its index is 68.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 17,435 ranks 542 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 Denton Record-Chronicle
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 12.2 52,619
Black 5.8 24,980
Asian and Pacific Islander 4.0 17,513
Native-American 0.5 2,093
Other non-white 0.1 559
Multi-racial 1.5 6,363
  Non-white 24.1 104,127
White 76.0 328,849
Total 432,976
Home county:  Denton
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 12.2 52,619
Black 5.8 24,980
Asian and Pacific Islander 4.0 17,513
Native-American 0.5 2,093
Other non-white 0.1 559
Multi-racial 1.5 6,363
  Non-white 24.1 104,127
White 76.0 328,849
Total 432,976
For this newspaper the home county was used as the circulation area. That county is Denton.
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: Newspaper's home county. 
  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.
      
File tx_denton_record-chronicle
Time 5/19/05 7:44 PM
Page 541
Member 0