Columbus Ledger-Enquirer... 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

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Columbus, Georgia

Owner: Knight Ridder (Calif.)

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

24.1

2004

19.3

2003

16.9

2002

19.0

2001

20.0

2000

13.0

1999

20.6

1998

22.4

1997

28.6

1996

24.1

1995

20.4

1994

21.1

1993

20.3

1992

17.2

1991

14.6

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

1997

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

24.1

44.8

2004

19.3

45.6

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.)

Company index

This newspaper's owner, Knight Ridder (Calif.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 76.

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

Peer group comparison

for Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 54.

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 52 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 45,559 ranks 233 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 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

3.6

11,922

Black

39.1

128,216

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.2

3,883

Native-American

0.3

1,114

Other non-white

0.1

418

Multi-racial

1.2

3,957

Non-white

45.6

149,510

White

54.4

178,435

Total

327,945

Home county: Muscogee

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

4.5

8,372

Black

43.3

80,720

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.6

3,038

Native-American

0.3

618

Other non-white

0.2

297

Multi-racial

1.4

2,578

Non-white

51.3

95,623

White

48.7

90,668

Total

186,291

The home county of this newspaper is Muscogee.

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

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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

31907 / Columbus / GA / 4 mi.

8,536

20,427

41.8

$38,693

63.6

3.8

56.2

0.3

1.5

31904 / Columbus / GA / 1.3 mi.

5,765

12,076

47.7

$33,746

26.4

3.1

20.2

0.5

1.5

31909 / Columbus / GA / 3.6 mi.

5,422

10,812

50.1

$48,979

19.7

3.5

11.6

0.4

2.8

31906 / Columbus / GA / 2.3 mi.

4,128

10,372

39.8

$28,865

70.0

2.5

65.7

0.1

0.6

36867 / Phenix City / AL / 3 mi.

2,780

8,054

34.5

$30,363

30.7

1.7

27.3

0.3

0.7

31901 / Columbus / GA / 1.8 mi.

2,433

3,523

69.1

$17,817

59.1

2.2

55.1

0.3

0.4

31903 / Columbus / GA / 5.1 mi.

2,372

8,559

27.7

$21,892

80.9

7.5

70.0

0.2

1.6

36869 / Phenix City / AL / 4.6 mi.

1,703

7,147

23.8

$26,886

54.4

1.2

51.5

0.3

0.2

31905 / Fort Benning / GA / 9.1 mi.

1,542

3,905

39.5

$32,862

46.9

13.8

26.9

0.8

2.3

36870 / Phenix City / AL / 3 mi.

1,135

4,043

28.1

$41,172

15.1

2.4

10.9

0.4

36877 / Smiths Station / AL / 7.3 mi.

936

4,052

23.1

$42,905

18.2

1.6

14.8

0.4

31820 / Midland / GA / 8.1 mi.

903

1,752

51.5

$78,435

19.6

2.3

13.1

0.3

3.2

31804 / Cataula / GA / 9.8 mi.

862

1,601

53.8

$55,588

15.3

0.8

13.1

0.4

36874 / Salem / AL / 13.5 mi.

715

2,335

30.6

$41,062

26.6

0.7

24.5

0.2

0.3

36027 / Eufaula / AL / 40.7 mi.

653

6,849

9.5

$27,283

43.5

1.3

40.8

0.4

36856 / Fort Mitchell / AL / 10.5 mi.

511

518

98.6

$36,810

45.4

5.5

35.8

0.5

1.3

30240 / Lagrange / GA / 34.4 mi.

505

9,708

5.2

$40,454

28.0

1.9

24.4

0.1

0.8

31822 / Pine Mountain / GA / 25.9 mi.

478

1,823

26.2

$39,183

31.8

1.1

29.6

0.1

31808 / Fortson / GA / 6.2 mi.

460

1,734

26.5

$65,000

8.8

1.1

5.7

0.5

0.6

31816 / Manchester / GA / 29.9 mi.

454

2,327

19.5

$28,418

39.4

0.8

37.1

0.2

0.8

31811 / Hamilton / GA / 14.5 mi.

420

1,455

28.9

$40,121

27.3

0.8

24.7

0.3

0.6

36854 / Valley / AL / 23 mi.

417

5,761

7.2

$32,653

23.3

0.8

21.4

0.2

0.3

31803 / Tazewell / GA / 27.8 mi.

357

1,780

20.1

$26,046

57.8

7.8

48.7

0.1

31829 / Upatoi / GA / 13.5 mi.

319

286

111.5

$60,670

15.9

1.0

12.6

0.0

1.0

36830 / Auburn / AL / 28 mi.

315

12,181

2.6

$27,167

22.2

1.8

15.7

0.2

3.4

31807 / Ellerslie / GA / 13.1 mi.

293

559

52.4

$48,563

14.0

2.3

9.6

0.3

0.8

31831 / Waverly Hall / GA / 17.7 mi.

281

951

29.5

$40,667

29.7

1.0

27.0

0.4

0.6

36801 / Opelika / AL / 23.9 mi.

280

8,159

3.4

$32,175

45.3

1.2

42.5

0.2

0.8

31825 / Richland / GA / 31.3 mi.

258

889

29.0

$25,568

58.0

2.3

54.4

0.1

0.4

36863 / Lanett / AL / 27.7 mi.

230

5,463

4.2

$30,046

41.7

0.8

40.0

0.1

0.2

36875 / Seale / AL / 10.8 mi.

228

1,900

12.0

$30,103

34.4

1.6

30.9

0.2

0.4

31805 / Cusseta / GA / 17.2 mi.

206

1,119

18.4

$30,806

38.4

1.7

33.8

0.5

1.1

31815 / Lumpkin / GA / 30.4 mi.

205

919

22.3

$22,583

65.8

0.9

64.4

0.2

0.0

31827 / Talbotton / GA / 29.5 mi.

201

881

22.8

$26,500

75.7

1.4

72.2

0.4

0.7

31830 / Warm Springs / GA / 29.4 mi.

197

886

22.2

$36,163

30.5

0.7

27.3

0.8

0.5

36804 / Opelika / AL / 24.1 mi.

183

5,606

3.3

$37,867

28.7

0.7

25.9

0.2

1.1

31812 / Junction City / GA / 28.9 mi.

160

223

71.7

$23,125

58.2

3.0

53.7

0.4

0.5

31006 / Butler / GA / 40 mi.

153

1,770

8.6

$24,498

49.5

2.5

46.3

0.1

31833 / West Point / GA / 26.7 mi.

136

2,586

5.3

$32,553

44.2

0.7

42.5

0.1

0.5

31709 / Americus / GA / 49.3 mi.

133

9,794

1.4

$30,459

54.5

2.5

50.6

0.2

0.7

31801 / Juniper / GA / 15.9 mi.

129

932

13.8

$36,214

23.4

1.2

20.1

0.4

0.3

31754 / Georgetown / GA / 41.4 mi.

114

1,061

10.7

$26,919

46.8

0.5

45.7

0.2

0.0

31836 / Woodland / GA / 28.8 mi.

109

452

24.1

$20,688

56.1

1.6

53.3

0.1

0.0

36860 / Hurtsboro / AL / 29.5 mi.

108

860

12.6

$18,153

84.0

0.4

82.7

0.1

31740 / Cuthbert / GA / 48 mi.

2,158

4.4

$20,806

61.2

1.5

58.7

0.4

0.3

36862 / Lafayette / AL / 35.7 mi.

2,631

2.5

$26,927

59.4

0.8

58.1

0.1

31751 / Fort Gaines / GA / 57.7 mi.

1,000

5.4

$19,688

65.0

1.2

62.8

0.2

0.1

31824 / Preston / GA / 35.7 mi.

645

7.8

$28,542

54.7

3.2

50.9

0.1

0.0

36016 / Clayton / AL / 47.3 mi.

1,508

2.7

$22,056

58.9

1.4

56.4

0.3

0.1

36871 / Pittsview / AL / 24.3 mi.

625

4.2

$28,194

55.6

2.6

51.1

0.9

0.3

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