Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Yakima Herald-Republic
Yakima, Washington
Owner: Seattle Times
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 8.1
2004 2.7
2003 7.7
2002 7.9
2001 5.0
2000 5.7
1999 2.5
1998 5.0
1997 8.1
1996 10.5
1995 11.8
1994 10.3
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 Yakima Herald-Republic
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 8.1 38.4 21
2004 2.7 38.4 7
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, Seattle Times,
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 99.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Yakima Herald-Republic
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 21. 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 115 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 Tucson Citizen, Arizona, with a 31.3 percent non-white staff in a community that is 44.7 percent non-white. Its index is 70.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 38,104 ranks 272 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 Yakima Herald-Republic
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 31.1 83,373
Black 0.8 2,085
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1 2,951
Native-American 3.6 9,508
Other non-white 0.1 308
Multi-racial 1.7 4,584
  Non-white 38.4 102,809
White 61.6 165,131
Total 267,940
Home county:  Yakima
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 35.9 79,905
Black 0.8 1,842
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9 2,066
Native-American 4.0 8,947
Other non-white 0.1 215
Multi-racial 1.7 3,873
  Non-white 43.5 96,848
White 56.5 125,733
Total 222,581
The home county of this newspaper is Yakima.
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
Yakima Herald-Republic
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
98902 / Yakima / WA / 5.6 mi. 8,184 16,300 50.2 $30,694 34.8 28.8 1.4 1.5 1.1
98908 / Yakima / WA / 11.3 mi. 7,197 12,433 57.9 $48,007 14.8 10.1 0.7 0.6 1.6
98901 / Yakima / WA / 0 mi. 4,830 9,186 52.6 $27,878 49.6 42.8 2.4 1.8 0.7
98942 / Selah / WA / 17 mi. 2,739 5,366 51.0 $46,418 13.8 9.8 0.3 1.0 0.7
98903 / Yakima / WA / 23 mi. 2,429 5,041 48.2 $36,239 22.9 17.7 0.5 2.1 0.6
98948 / Toppenish / WA / 22.2 mi. 1,883 3,555 53.0 $28,218 79.9 62.2 0.3 14.9 0.4
98944 / Sunnyside / WA / 28.1 mi. 1,789 5,591 32.0 $30,689 68.8 66.6 0.2 0.4 0.6
98926 / Ellensburg / WA / 27.4 mi. 1,650 9,749 16.9 $30,198 11.9 5.4 0.8 0.8 2.9
98951 / Wapato / WA / 11.3 mi. 1,351 3,659 36.9 $30,417 76.8 51.9 0.2 19.9 2.3
98953 / Zillah / WA / 15.9 mi. 1,257 1,974 63.7 $36,438 37.5 31.9 0.3 2.0 0.8
98930 / Grandview / WA / 34.8 mi. 891 3,810 23.4 $35,000 61.8 59.3 0.3 0.6 0.8
98937 / Naches / WA / 36.5 mi. 820 1,286 63.8 $36,860 11.5 8.2 0.2 0.3 0.5
98936 / Moxee / WA / 17.3 mi. 680 1,182 57.5 $41,984 29.1 25.6 0.6 1.2 0.4
99350 / Prosser / WA / 38.1 mi. 606 3,648 16.6 $39,055 37.9 35.6 0.2 0.5 0.7
98620 / Goldendale / WA / 47.1 mi. 362 2,704 13.4 $30,934 13.2 4.8 0.2 4.7 1.0
98922 / Cle Elum / WA / 56.6 mi. 314 1,967 16.0 $41,162 5.3 1.9 0.3 1.3 0.5
98934 / Kittitas / WA / 25 mi. 273 200 136.5 $23,000 13.4 9.4 1.0 1.0 0.0
98947 / Tieton / WA / 19.6 mi. 272 813 33.5 $34,866 43.9 41.3 0.1 1.2 0.4
98932 / Granger / WA / 25.2 mi. 265 1,046 25.3 $25,833 74.2 69.1 0.0 3.9 0.1
98923 / Cowiche / WA / 14.7 mi. 230 483 47.6 $41,694 31.5 29.7 0.0 0.6 0.2
98938 / Outlook / WA / 22.6 mi. 227 564 40.2 $38,700 53.4 50.8 0.1 0.7 0.3
98952 / White Swan / WA / 30.4 mi. 209 632 33.1 $33,700 78.2 14.5 0.5 58.2 0.6
98933 / Harrah / WA / 16.7 mi. 180 344 52.3 $42,708 64.6 35.2 0.3 25.4 0.3
99344 / Othello / WA / 49.6 mi. 111 4,022 2.8 $32,615 60.6 58.9 0.1 0.2 0.4
99349 / Mattawa / WA / 25.8 mi. 33 1,311 2.5 $34,167 74.4 72.5 0.1 0.3 0.7
98935 / Mabton / WA / 37.2 mi. 30 980 3.1 $31,915 75.7 71.8 0.1 1.9 0.4
98950 / Vantage / WA / 25.8 mi. 17 53 32.1 $33,750 50.6 49.4 0.0 0.0 0.6
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