The Tuscaloosa News... 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 Tuscaloosa News

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Owner: New York Times Co.

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

15.4

2004

20.0

2003

Did not report

2002

10.8

2001

20.0

2000

17.2

1999

14.3

1998

12.5

1997

7.1

1996

9.7

1995

8.6

1994

2.9

1993

6.9

1992

7.1

1991

8.0

1990

6.5

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 Tuscaloosa News

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

15.4

39.3

2004

20.0

39.8

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, New York Times Co.,

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 69.

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

Peer group comparison

for The Tuscaloosa News

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 39.

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 81 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 34,332 ranks 297 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 Tuscaloosa News

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.2

2,632

Black

37.1

83,805

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.7

1,496

Native-American

0.2

390

Other non-white

0.1

117

Multi-racial

0.7

1,479

Non-white

39.8

89,919

White

60.2

136,052

Total

225,971

Home county: Tuscaloosa

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.3

2,130

Black

29.2

48,135

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.9

1,525

Native-American

0.2

348

Other non-white

0.1

107

Multi-racial

0.8

1,263

Non-white

32.5

53,508

White

67.6

111,367

Total

164,875

The home county of this newspaper is Tuscaloosa.

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 Tuscaloosa News

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

35405 / Tuscaloosa / AL / 5.2 mi.

5,443

12,627

43.1

$41,244

39.0

1.5

35.4

0.2

0.9

35401 / Veterans Hospital / AL / 3.9 mi.

5,021

14,281

35.2

$17,491

59.3

1.1

55.4

0.2

1.8

35476 / Northport / AL / 7.1 mi.

3,105

3,136

99.0

$24,136

48.8

3.3

44.2

0.1

0.3

35404 / Tuscaloosa / AL / 7.7 mi.

2,356

7,869

29.9

$31,159

38.8

1.7

35.5

0.2

0.6

35406 / Tuscaloosa / AL / 8.1 mi.

2,258

4,450

50.7

$53,638

10.5

0.6

6.8

0.1

2.1

35473 / Northport / AL / 5.6 mi.

1,830

5,212

35.1

$46,654

16.2

1.0

13.1

0.2

1.1

35453 / Cottondale / AL / 11.9 mi.

1,758

3,359

52.3

$40,019

12.8

0.8

10.4

0.4

0.2

35475 / Northport / AL / 6.3 mi.

1,454

3,999

36.4

$51,203

5.3

0.9

3.3

0.3

0.2

35462 / Eutaw / AL / 24.9 mi.

991

2,261

43.8

$19,854

80.5

0.4

79.3

0.2

0.1

35555 / Fayette / AL / 37.2 mi.

939

4,539

20.7

$28,578

18.8

0.8

17.2

0.2

35466 / Gordo / AL / 22.2 mi.

916

2,217

41.3

$34,155

16.8

0.9

15.0

0.2

36744 / Greensboro / AL / 28.6 mi.

739

2,925

25.3

$22,970

66.5

0.9

65.0

0.1

36732 / Demopolis / AL / 43 mi.

629

3,463

18.2

$26,837

53.9

0.9

52.1

0.1

0.2

35470 / Livingston / AL / 47.8 mi.

611

2,079

29.4

$16,569

66.6

1.0

64.7

0.1

35481 / Stansel / AL / 26.5 mi.

415

1,524

27.2

$23,683

36.4

0.5

34.8

0.3

0.1

35042 / Eoline / AL / 28.4 mi.

400

2,021

19.8

$33,571

14.8

1.2

13.1

0.1

35452 / Coker / AL / 9.3 mi.

363

1,161

31.3

$45,388

3.2

1.1

1.0

0.2

0.3

35463 / Fosters / AL / 6.3 mi.

356

519

68.6

$31,793

35.3

0.4

34.6

0.1

0.0

35456 / Duncanville / AL / 9.6 mi.

322

1,340

24.0

$35,560

17.1

0.9

14.6

0.3

0.4

35474 / Moundville / AL / 9 mi.

306

1,999

15.3

$35,854

35.9

0.9

33.6

0.4

35442 / McMullen / AL / 29.2 mi.

303

2,210

13.7

$20,994

75.2

0.8

73.8

0.1

35546 / Berry / AL / 23.2 mi.

270

1,482

18.2

$27,061

4.8

1.1

2.7

0.2

0.0

35447 / Carrollton / AL / 25.4 mi.

227

1,328

17.1

$26,932

50.5

0.9

48.4

0.0

0.1

36748 / Linden / AL / 55.2 mi.

181

1,603

11.3

$28,194

43.5

0.8

41.9

0.1

0.3

35446 / Romulus / AL / 9.8 mi.

161

637

25.3

$33,799

9.6

1.6

6.7

0.4

0.0

36925 / York / AL / 56.3 mi.

156

1,489

10.5

$19,724

77.2

1.0

75.5

0.1

35480 / Ralph / AL / 10.4 mi.

154

400

38.5

$34,474

36.4

0.6

35.6

0.1

0.0

35184 / West Blocton / AL / 29.3 mi.

143

2,024

7.1

$31,537

11.4

0.8

10.0

0.2

0.0

35034 / Brent / AL / 27.4 mi.

142

1,614

8.8

$23,258

54.6

1.2

52.7

0.1

0.2

35444 / Brookwood / AL / 29.2 mi.

139

1,137

12.2

$39,522

2.5

0.5

0.3

0.1

35574 / Kingville / AL / 35.9 mi.

125

686

18.2

$29,583

10.2

1.1

8.4

0.2

0.1

35594 / Winfield / AL / 51.3 mi.

122

3,071

4.0

$31,583

5.7

0.9

4.0

0.3

0.1

35490 / Vance / AL / 26.1 mi.

119

1,001

11.9

$36,671

8.0

1.9

5.1

0.3

0.0

36756 / Marion / AL / 37.1 mi.

114

2,126

5.4

$21,337

60.5

1.0

58.9

0.2

0.1

36742 / Gallion / AL / 39.3 mi.

106

1,014

10.5

$31,534

43.1

0.8

41.7

0.0

0.4

35576 / Millport / AL / 40.5 mi.

100

1,430

7.0

$29,395

17.2

0.9

15.8

0.0

35592 / Vernon / AL / 47.8 mi.

2,007

4.9

$27,359

12.0

1.2

10.2

0.1

35443 / Mount Hebron / AL / 33.4 mi.

895

10.7

$15,833

88.6

0.8

87.4

0.0

36776 / Sawyerville / AL / 28.6 mi.

627

14.2

$17,833

88.9

1.0

87.5

0.0

35441 / Stewart / AL / 18.7 mi.

613

13.9

$25,764

57.4

0.5

56.6

0.0

35461 / Ethelsville / AL / 36.1 mi.

846

8.0

$31,667

32.5

0.4

31.0

0.2

0.1

35542 / Bankston / AL / 36.2 mi.

485

14.0

$30,625

3.1

0.6

2.0

0.0

35586 / Sulligent / AL / 55.7 mi.

2,010

3.2

$26,788

17.4

2.0

14.7

0.1

0.0

36786 / Uniontown / AL / 45 mi.

1,382

4.6

$15,269

90.7

1.0

89.4

0.0

35111 / McCalla / AL / 26.3 mi.

3,809

1.5

$48,391

4.9

0.9

2.8

0.3

0.1

36740 / Forkland / AL / 34.8 mi.

518

11.2

$26,429

77.6

0.5

77.0

0.0

35458 / Elrod / AL / 17.4 mi.

114

50.0

$34,464

6.5

0.7

2.4

1.4

0.3

36765 / Newbern / AL / 38.6 mi.

507

10.5

$21,071

79.5

0.6

77.6

0.1

0.0

35459 / Geiger / AL / 45.2 mi.

340

13.5

$28,036

74.4

0.2

74.0

0.1

0.0

36907 / Cuba / AL / 63.3 mi.

864

5.1

$21,976

77.6

1.7

75.6

0.0

35188 / Woodstock / AL / 23.9 mi.

847

4.1

$37,548

6.6

0.8

4.6

0.1

0.0

35460 / Sumterville / AL / 39.2 mi.

258

10.5

$16,724

83.9

0.3

82.4

0.2

0.6

35469 / Knoxville / AL / 15.3 mi.

203

13.3

$22,500

61.3

2.0

58.9

0.4

0.0

35464 / Gainesville / AL / 36.2 mi.

223

11.7

$17,813

83.3

2.3

80.8

0.0

36738 / Faunsdale / AL / 47.7 mi.

300

7.7

$23,313

72.8

3.6

68.5

0.0

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