The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg... Racial diversity of its news staff and community

Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists

at America's daily newspapers

with the communities that they serve

Newsroom diversity report for

The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, Virginia

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

10.3

2004

10.1

2003

6.2

2002

5.5

2001

6.5

2000

7.7

1999

7.8

1998

7.7

1997

8.9

1996

8.2

1995

12.2

1994

7.1

1993

Did not report

1992

Did not report

1991

Did not report

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

1995

See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

10.3

21.6

2004

10.1

21.6

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 The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 48.

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 60 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 The Jackson Sun, Tennessee, with a 37.5 percent non-white staff in a community that is 24.7 percent non-white. Its index is 152.

FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of

approximately 47,065 ranks 224 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 Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

3.0

8,044

Black

15.1

40,663

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.3

3,506

Native-American

0.4

1,042

Other non-white

0.2

484

Multi-racial

1.7

4,464

Non-white

21.6

58,203

White

78.5

211,845

Total

270,048

Home county: Spotsylvania

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.8

2,536

Black

12.3

11,127

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.4

1,267

Native-American

0.3

264

Other non-white

0.2

182

Multi-racial

1.6

1,473

Non-white

18.6

16,849

White

81.4

73,546

Total

90,395

The home county of this newspaper is Spotsylvania.

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 Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg

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

22407 / Fredericksburg / VA / 3.7 mi.

7,573

14,249

53.1

$58,861

20.9

3.6

13.3

0.3

1.9

22405 / Fredericksburg / VA / 4.7 mi.

4,987

8,105

61.5

$60,039

12.6

2.2

7.2

0.4

1.1

22553 / Spotsylvania / VA / 10 mi.

4,585

8,398

54.6

$57,091

16.2

1.7

11.6

0.4

0.9

22554 / Stafford / VA / 10.8 mi.

4,547

17,974

25.3

$70,558

23.6

4.3

14.4

0.4

2.0

22401 / Fredericksburg / VA / 0 mi.

4,518

8,102

55.8

$34,585

28.6

4.9

20.2

0.3

1.5

22408 / Fredericksburg / VA / 5.9 mi.

4,325

6,657

65.0

$57,823

17.9

3.1

11.4

0.3

1.2

22485 / Shiloh / VA / 17.6 mi.

2,725

5,884

46.3

$50,299

23.2

1.5

18.9

0.4

1.0

22406 / Fredericksburg / VA / 7.1 mi.

2,580

4,140

62.3

$65,000

16.4

2.6

9.4

0.4

1.7

22508 / Mine Run / VA / 15 mi.

1,752

3,119

56.2

$52,575

8.7

1.6

5.4

0.2

0.6

22546 / Ruther Glen / VA / 19 mi.

1,020

3,633

28.1

$43,917

36.7

1.1

33.4

0.3

0.4

22443 / Washingtons Birthplace / VA / 26.2 mi.

927

3,117

29.7

$35,935

24.2

4.7

17.6

0.3

0.4

22701 / Winston / VA / 29.1 mi.

692

8,360

8.3

$42,458

23.6

3.0

17.8

0.3

0.9

22580 / Woodford / VA / 12.9 mi.

637

1,751

36.4

$41,218

29.4

1.0

26.0

0.7

0.5

22520 / Montross / VA / 39.6 mi.

611

2,073

29.5

$37,953

39.4

3.4

34.3

0.2

0.4

22427 / Bowling Green / VA / 17.5 mi.

470

1,144

41.1

$35,854

46.1

2.5

41.0

1.0

0.4

22960 / Thornhill / VA / 31.8 mi.

352

3,618

9.7

$36,486

23.7

1.3

21.1

0.1

0.2

22534 / Partlow / VA / 17 mi.

342

705

48.5

$43,469

11.2

1.1

6.2

0.3

0.6

22567 / Unionville / VA / 22.1 mi.

305

710

43.0

$35,068

13.1

0.9

10.9

0.2

23024 / Bumpass / VA / 20.4 mi.

295

2,469

11.9

$43,625

13.3

0.5

11.2

0.6

0.3

22514 / Milford / VA / 23.5 mi.

254

831

30.6

$33,500

35.8

1.0

29.9

3.4

0.6

23117 / Mineral / VA / 38.7 mi.

246

2,828

8.7

$43,827

21.5

0.9

18.8

0.3

22720 / Goldvein / VA / 15.6 mi.

161

330

48.8

$71,964

11.6

0.5

8.4

0.1

0.7

22542 / Rhoadesville / VA / 21.4 mi.

155

585

26.5

$39,833

12.0

1.0

9.9

0.1

0.3

22476 / Hustle / VA / 28.3 mi.

123

154

79.9

$37,708

83.4

0.7

78.0

1.2

22535 / Port Royal / VA / 17 mi.

119

196

60.7

$37,000

34.1

1.5

29.1

0.2

23015 / Beaverdam / VA / 20.3 mi.

111

1,433

7.7

$51,026

14.9

0.7

12.5

0.1

0.5

22712 / Morrisville / VA / 23.5 mi.

101

2,319

4.4

$50,850

14.3

2.2

9.8

0.2

0.6

22026 / Montclair / VA / 19.8 mi.

7,316

1.3

$71,850

37.6

7.2

24.2

0.4

2.9

22742 / Sumerduck / VA / 15.2 mi.

580

15.9

$68,839

6.7

0.8

4.6

0.1

0.4

22191 / Woodbridge / VA / 23.9 mi.

13,405

0.6

$51,213

51.7

17.4

25.7

0.4

4.8

22560 / Tappahannock / VA / 39.6 mi.

2,275

2.9

$37,227

41.6

0.7

37.9

0.4

1.2

22728 / Midland / VA / 24.7 mi.

966

6.3

$60,750

13.3

1.6

10.5

0.2

0.3

22448 / Naval Surface Weapons Center / VA / 23.1 mi.

207

28.5

$40,385

27.7

6.9

15.6

0.8

1.7

22726 / Lignum / VA / 18 mi.

261

13.4

$37,292

30.1

1.8

25.2

0.0

1.8

22736 / Richardsville / VA / 12.2 mi.

42.0

$56,750

10.0

1.4

3.8

3.3

1.0

22572 / Warsaw / VA / 42.7 mi.

2,312

1.2

$34,063

38.9

2.4

35.4

0.1

0.3

22538 / Rappnhanck / VA / 13 mi.

25.5

$39,000

33.0

3.8

25.4

1.1

0.0

22433 / Burr Hill / VA / 20.7 mi.

55.3

$62,857

7.6

1.0

6.7

0.0

23093 / Louisa / VA / 30.1 mi.

3,882

0.5

$36,739

30.7

0.7

28.5

0.4

0.2

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