Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika... 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

Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika

Opelika, Alabama

Owner: Media General (Va.)

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

18.2

2004

Did not report

2003

Did not report

2002

Did not report

2001

Did not report

2000

Did not report

1999

0.0

1998

18.8

1997

11.1

1996

15.0

1995

20.0

1994

Did not report

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 Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

18.2

34.1

2004

N/A

34.1

N/A

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, Media General (Va.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 39.

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

Peer group comparison

for Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 53.

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 79 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 14,924 ranks 612 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 Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.2

1,266

Black

30.2

31,662

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.7

1,776

Native-American

0.2

194

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.8

809

Non-white

34.1

35,771

White

65.9

69,081

Total

104,852

Home county: Lee

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.4

1,645

Black

22.6

25,954

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.6

1,883

Native-American

0.2

251

Other non-white

0.1

Multi-racial

0.8

962

Non-white

26.8

30,794

White

73.2

84,298

Total

115,092

The home county of this newspaper is Lee.

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

Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika

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

36801 / Opelika / AL / 0 mi.

5,276

8,159

64.7

$32,175

45.3

1.2

42.5

0.2

0.8

36830 / Auburn / AL / 11.2 mi.

3,871

12,181

31.8

$27,167

22.2

1.8

15.7

0.2

3.4

36804 / Opelika / AL / 1.8 mi.

1,424

5,606

25.4

$37,867

28.7

0.7

25.9

0.2

1.1

36832 / Auburn / AL / 11.5 mi.

992

8,472

11.7

$12,028

31.6

1.1

26.7

0.2

2.6

36874 / Salem / AL / 7.3 mi.

385

2,335

16.5

$41,062

26.6

0.7

24.5

0.2

0.3

36862 / Lafayette / AL / 24.1 mi.

347

2,631

13.2

$26,927

59.4

0.8

58.1

0.1

36853 / Dadeville / AL / 29.7 mi.

258

3,243

8.0

$35,288

24.4

0.7

22.4

0.3

0.2

36854 / Valley / AL / 15 mi.

250

5,761

4.3

$32,653

23.3

0.8

21.4

0.2

0.3

36866 / Notasulga / AL / 21 mi.

242

1,429

16.9

$30,651

36.7

1.1

34.8

0.3

0.1

36850 / Camp Hill / AL / 22.2 mi.

183

1,223

15.0

$23,397

69.9

1.1

68.1

0.0

36083 / Tuskegee / AL / 22.8 mi.

148

4,519

3.3

$20,828

92.1

0.8

90.3

0.1

0.2

36879 / Waverly / AL / 16.6 mi.

128

479

26.7

$27,500

39.1

1.2

37.5

0.1

0.0

36877 / Smiths / AL / 12.7 mi.

123

4,052

3.0

$42,905

18.2

1.6

14.8

0.4

36863 / Lanett / AL / 21 mi.

5,463

1.6

$30,046

41.7

0.8

40.0

0.1

0.2

36852 / Cusseta / AL / 11.9 mi.

669

12.3

$36,689

19.5

0.9

17.0

0.3

0.2

36078 / Tallassee / AL / 33.9 mi.

4,820

0.9

$29,856

23.4

1.0

21.2

0.3

0.2

36861 / Jacksons Gap / AL / 36.8 mi.

1,405

2.1

$35,545

11.7

0.6

10.2

0.3

0.2

36088 / Tuskegee Institute / AL / 26.4 mi.

1,687

1.4

$19,651

97.6

0.5

94.7

0.2

1.1

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