Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Daily Star, Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Owner: Paxton Media Group (Ky.)
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 7.1
2004 13.3
2003 7.1
2002 0.0
2001 0.0
2000 4.9
1999 0.0
1998 12.5
1997 6.7
1996 0.0
1995 8.3
1994 8.3
1993 9.1
1992 12.5
1991 Did not report
1990 0.0
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 Daily Star, Hammond
Year Non-white % of newsroom staff Non-white % of circulation area Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005 7.1 28.5 25
2004 13.3 28.5 47
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, Paxton Media Group (Ky.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 18.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Daily Star, Hammond
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 25. 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 141 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 Greeley Tribune, Colorado, with a 26.3 percent non-white staff in a community that is 30 percent non-white. Its index is 88.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 10,527 ranks 765 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 Daily Star, Hammond
Circulation area
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.4 1,716
Black 25.8 30,772
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.3 404
Native-American 0.2 278
Other non-white 0.1 67
Multi-racial 0.7 818
  Non-white 28.5 34,055
White 71.5 85,354
Total 119,409
Home county:  Tangipahoa
Race/ethnicity % of population Number of residents
Hispanic 1.5 1,536
Black 28.2 28,388
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4 392
Native-American 0.2 222
Other non-white 0.1 62
Multi-racial 0.7 688
  Non-white 31.1 31,288
White 68.9 69,300
Total 100,588
The home county of this newspaper is Tangipahoa.
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 Daily Star, Hammond
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
70403 / Hammond / LA / 0 mi. 3,088 7,441 41.5 $28,767 37.0 1.4 34.2 0.3 0.6
70454 / Ponchatoula / LA / 8.6 mi. 2,401 7,231 33.2 $33,210 15.2 1.0 13.0 0.2 0.3
70401 / Hammond / LA / 3.8 mi. 1,783 6,936 25.7 $27,255 35.9 2.0 32.1 0.2 0.6
70443 / Independence / LA / 11.5 mi. 1,004 3,364 29.8 $29,359 29.8 2.0 26.5 0.3 0.3
70466 / Tickfaw / LA / 6.1 mi. 794 2,347 33.8 $30,344 20.4 2.6 16.5 0.3 0.2
70422 / Amite / LA / 20.6 mi. 785 4,306 18.2 $29,727 43.5 1.2 41.2 0.2 0.3
70446 / Loranger / LA / 14 mi. 477 1,691 28.2 $36,176 12.0 1.6 8.7 0.4 0.2
70711 / Albany / LA / 7.8 mi. 447 1,395 32.0 $33,103 12.8 1.5 9.5 0.6 0.1
70462 / Springfield / LA / 9.9 mi. 415 1,715 24.2 $31,148 18.1 0.6 16.7 0.2 0.1
70444 / Kentwood / LA / 27.7 mi. 405 3,627 11.2 $27,899 35.5 0.9 33.8 0.1 0.2
70744 / Holden / LA / 12.4 mi. 210 1,679 12.5 $32,917 4.3 1.1 2.3 0.2 0.0
70455 / Robert / LA / 9.6 mi. 159 498 31.9 $27,083 4.6 1.6 1.9 0.3 0.0
70456 / Roseland / LA / 21.5 mi. 137 1,046 13.1 $23,049 58.5 0.9 56.2 0.3 0.2
70451 / Natalbany / LA / 4.5 mi. 54 71 76.1 $40,227 23.4 2.9 19.4 0.0 0.0
70442 / Husser / LA / 16.2 mi. 49 131 37.4 $30,000 3.6 0.0 2.8 0.6 0.0
70437 / Folsom / LA / 20 mi. 47 2,203 2.1 $40,478 17.8 3.0 13.5 0.4 0.2
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