Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Houston Chronicle
Houston, Texas
Owner: Hearst Newspapers (N.Y.)
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	21.3
2004	20.2
2003	18.4
2002	18.3
2001	17.3
2000	15.6
1999	14.5
1998	12.4
1997	12.5
1996	11.7
1995	12.7
1994	11.4
1993	11.1
1992	10.7
1991	9.9
1990	9.8
The latest year at peak is	2005
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Houston Chronicle
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	21.3	51.2	42
2004	20.2	51.2	39
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, Hearst Newspapers (N.Y.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 45.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Houston Chronicle
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 42.				This paper
				Peer group
Compare that with 46, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers
reporting in this circulation category of more than 500,000 daily sales.
In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 6 out of 10
newspapers reporting in the category of more than 500,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 554,783 ranks 9 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 Houston Chronicle
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	28.1	1,318,426
Black	16.7	784,890
Asian and Pacific Islander	4.8	225,708
Native-American	0.3	11,529
Other non-white	0.1	5,801
Multi-racial	1.2	57,178
Non-white	51.2	2,403,532
White	48.8	2,289,881
Total		4,693,413
	Home county:  Harris
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	32.9	1,119,751
Black	18.2	619,694
Asian and Pacific Islander	5.1	174,418
Native-American	0.2	7,103
Other non-white	0.1	4,499
Multi-racial	1.3	42,849
Non-white	57.9	1,968,314
White	42.1	1,432,264
Total		3,400,578
The home county of this newspaper is Harris.
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
Houston Chronicle
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
77002 / Houston / TX / 0 mi.	10,639	1,776	599.0	$35,588	64.3	22.0	40.4	0.1	1.3
77024 / Houston / TX / 9.2 mi.	8,544	14,025	60.9	$82,620	15.9	5.5	0.8	0.1	8.2
77450 / Katy / TX / 23.2 mi.	8,113	15,577	52.1	$83,078	21.7	10.7	3.4	0.2	6.0
77479 / Sugar Land / TX / 20.5 mi.	7,890	16,512	47.8	$96,118	40.0	7.6	6.3	0.2	23.7
77009 / Houston / TX / 2.5 mi.	7,151	14,247	50.2	$32,995	79.8	72.7	5.8	0.2	0.6
77379 / Spring / TX / 21.9 mi.	7,047	15,101	46.7	$82,706	19.5	8.9	3.9	0.2	5.2
77478 / Sugar Land / TX / 18.2 mi.	6,882	17,052	40.4	$70,561	45.6	14.7	8.8	0.2	19.7
77096 / Houston / TX / 9.1 mi.	6,591	14,178	46.5	$46,140	41.0	14.5	19.1	0.1	5.8
77077 / Houston / TX / 15.1 mi.	6,369	20,101	31.7	$52,667	34.6	14.8	9.2	0.2	7.7
77079 / Houston / TX / 14.5 mi.	6,286	11,977	52.5	$70,587	23.4	9.8	2.9	0.2	8.7
77021 / Houston / TX / 4.3 mi.	6,153	8,745	70.4	$21,950	96.4	12.0	82.3	0.1	1.2
77429 / Cypress / TX / 25 mi.	6,102	14,090	43.3	$78,527	16.1	9.1	3.0	0.2	2.6
77084 / Houston / TX / 18.8 mi.	6,055	21,932	27.6	$53,075	41.5	24.3	8.9	0.3	5.9
77381 / Spring / TX / 29.7 mi.	5,942	12,294	48.3	$91,488	11.4	5.9	1.6	0.3	2.6
77004 / Houston / TX / 2.4 mi.	5,702	11,614	49.1	$20,840	88.2	11.8	71.9	0.2	2.9
77095 / Houston / TX / 20.4 mi.	5,620	13,302	42.2	$76,814	28.2	12.3	6.5	0.3	7.5
77057 / Houston / TX / 7.6 mi.	5,608	20,060	28.0	$46,563	34.8	22.6	4.6	0.2	5.2
77008 / Houston / TX / 4.3 mi.	5,603	12,541	44.7	$39,926	49.9	43.2	4.2	0.3	1.1
77005 / Houston / TX / 4.6 mi.	5,488	9,469	58.0	$104,035	13.5	5.6	1.2	0.1	5.3
77546 / Friendswood / TX / 20 mi.	5,362	13,276	40.4	$70,773	20.5	9.9	4.3	0.3	4.6
77020 / Houston / TX / 3.1 mi.	5,339	8,269	64.6	$21,864	96.0	65.2	30.2	0.2	0.2
77070 / Houston / TX / 19.8 mi.	5,329	12,050	44.2	$60,887	24.5	12.6	5.6	0.2	4.7
77036 / Houston / TX / 11.2 mi.	5,232	28,311	18.5	$26,931	85.8	44.7	24.4	0.2	14.8
77469 / Richmond / TX / 27.2 mi.	5,084	13,350	38.1	$59,318	44.9	30.0	12.1	0.2	1.7
77055 / Houston / TX / 8.2 mi.	5,077	13,980	36.3	$36,760	65.1	56.8	3.7	0.2	3.5