The Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus... 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 Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

Moline, Illinois

Owner: Small Newspapers (Ill.)

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

7.8

2004

3.9

2003

5.7

2002

3.8

2001

5.6

2000

5.8

1999

7.4

1998

2.0

1997

1.9

1996

0.0

1995

0.0

1994

0.0

1993

0.0

1992

0.0

1991

1.8

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

2005

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for The Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

7.8

14.2

2004

3.9

14.2

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, Small Newspapers (Ill.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 38.

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

Peer group comparison

for The Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 55.

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 49 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 Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois, with a 11.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 11 percent non-white. Its index is 101.

FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of

approximately 44,597 ranks 237 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 Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

6.6

13,647

Black

5.5

11,256

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.8

1,643

Native-American

0.2

340

Other non-white

0.1

124

Multi-racial

1.0

2,139

Non-white

14.2

29,149

White

85.8

176,459

Total

205,608

Home county: Rock Island

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

8.6

12,791

Black

7.4

11,099

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.0

1,533

Native-American

0.2

288

Other non-white

0.1

109

Multi-racial

1.2

1,849

Non-white

18.5

27,669

White

81.5

121,705

Total

149,374

The home county of this newspaper is Rock Island.

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 Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus

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

61265 / Quad City Airpor / IL / 0 mi.

10,830

19,605

55.2

$39,754

17.3

11.6

2.9

0.1

1.4

61201 / Rock Island / IL / 3.7 mi.

7,784

15,985

48.7

$34,362

25.9

5.9

17.3

0.2

0.7

61244 / Whites Addition / IL / 3.8 mi.

4,776

9,321

51.2

$36,025

24.4

13.9

6.6

0.3

2.1

61254 / Hanna / IL / 16.1 mi.

2,451

4,356

56.3

$48,715

2.3

1.2

0.3

0.1

0.3

61264 / Oak Grove / IL / 5.8 mi.

2,272

4,651

48.8

$40,353

12.7

3.1

8.6

0.2

61282 / Silvis / IL / 3.8 mi.

1,605

3,671

43.7

$35,082

18.6

13.0

3.6

0.2

0.7

61241 / Green Rock / IL / 8 mi.

1,275

2,623

48.6

$43,474

5.1

3.7

0.2

0.1

0.2

61240 / Coal Valley / IL / 3.9 mi.

1,237

2,174

56.9

$52,881

4.6

2.6

1.0

0.1

0.4

61231 / Wanlock / IL / 22.4 mi.

1,030

2,374

43.4

$36,518

2.2

0.8

0.4

0.1

0.3

61275 / Port Byron / IL / 10.9 mi.

721

1,771

40.7

$52,713

3.5

2.0

0.3

0.2

61273 / Western / IL / 10.2 mi.

704

1,213

58.0

$52,478

2.0

1.3

0.2

0.0

0.2

61281 / Sherrard / IL / 11.5 mi.

610

969

63.0

$59,302

3.0

1.7

0.3

0.2

52722 / Riverdale / IA / 4.1 mi.

574

13,377

4.3

$54,786

6.3

2.4

1.5

0.2

1.4

61284 / Taylor Ridge / IL / 13.4 mi.

571

1,274

44.8

$62,882

2.9

1.4

0.6

0.1

0.3

61238 / Weller / IL / 18.9 mi.

453

1,311

34.6

$40,323

1.9

0.5

0.2

61250 / Erie / IL / 22.4 mi.

402

1,059

38.0

$45,219

1.7

0.9

0.1

61256 / Hampton / IL / 5.9 mi.

352

576

61.1

$50,865

5.8

4.3

0.3

0.9

0.1

52806 / Davenport / IA / 7.5 mi.

301

9,957

3.0

$42,225

16.9

4.0

8.9

0.2

1.9

61257 / Hillsdale / IL / 15.7 mi.

263

500

52.6

$46,574

5.5

2.4

1.1

0.5

0.7

61277 / Wethersfield / IL / 29.6 mi.

256

1,357

18.9

$38,077

2.9

1.5

0.5

0.2

0.1

52803 / Davenport / IA / 4.3 mi.

248

9,724

2.6

$36,174

22.9

5.4

13.6

0.3

1.5

61486 / Viola / IL / 19 mi.

247

616

40.1

$40,000

4.4

3.2

0.3

0.0

0.1

61235 / Cornwall / IL / 23.6 mi.

235

597

39.4

$41,188

1.9

0.8

0.3

0.0

0.1

61279 / Reynolds / IL / 14 mi.

221

399

55.4

$43,466

1.4

1.1

0.0

61239 / Carbon Cliff / IL / 5 mi.

215

117

183.8

$40,536

3.3

1.7

0.3

0.0

61242 / Cordova / IL / 16 mi.

215

447

48.1

$55,761

3.5

1.9

0.1

0.0

0.3

52804 / Davenport / IA / 7 mi.

209

10,569

2.0

$39,218

15.1

4.9

5.8

0.3

2.3

52807 / Davenport / IA / 5.2 mi.

191

4,754

4.0

$39,757

14.6

2.8

7.4

0.1

2.6

61232 / Andalusia / IL / 11.6 mi.

190

146

130.1

$42,500

2.5

1.4

0.6

0.0

61443 / Kewanee / IL / 31.7 mi.

186

5,898

3.2

$30,743

10.9

5.8

3.3

0.1

0.4

61465 / New Windsor / IL / 18.8 mi.

186

464

40.1

$40,069

3.6

2.6

0.0

0.2

61234 / Annawan / IL / 28.8 mi.

181

517

35.0

$36,250

1.0

0.9

0.0

61413 / Alpha / IL / 20.2 mi.

177

493

35.9

$37,212

1.6

0.9

0.2

0.0

61259 / Illinois City / IL / 20.6 mi.

169

445

38.0

$46,741

2.6

1.9

0.0

0.2

61263 / Matherville / IL / 14.9 mi.

148

113

131.0

$36,944

1.6

0.3

0.0

0.7

61260 / Joy / IL / 26.6 mi.

143

326

43.9

$35,170

1.2

0.6

0.0

0.1

0.0

61262 / Swedona / IL / 16.2 mi.

130

311

41.8

$51,518

3.3

2.3

0.0

0.5

61272 / New Boston / IL / 28.6 mi.

127

602

21.1

$35,735

1.2

0.8

0.1

61233 / Andover / IL / 16 mi.

116

193

60.1

$47,083

2.5

0.8

0.0

0.2

1.0

61490 / Woodhull / IL / 21.9 mi.

104

397

26.2

$35,917

2.4

1.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

61455 / Macomb / IL / 67.1 mi.

7,837

1.1

$29,165

11.4

1.9

5.1

0.1

3.0

61442 / Keithsburg / IL / 33.1 mi.

376

22.3

$32,375

1.5

0.4

0.0

0.1

0.0

52802 / Davenport / IA / 6.5 mi.

4,280

1.8

$29,314

22.1

11.2

6.3

0.7

1.8

61412 / Shanghai City / IL / 27.6 mi.

568

12.0

$39,420

2.0

1.4

0.4

0.0

61476 / Seaton / IL / 29.1 mi.

162

39.5

$37,639

1.6

0.0

1.6

0.0

61274 / Osco / IL / 13.8 mi.

148

39.9

$39,808

2.7

1.2

0.0

0.3

0.5

52801 / Davenport / IA / 4.6 mi.

588

9.7

$10,205

30.8

5.2

21.9

0.7

0.6

52726 / Blue Grass / IA / 12.6 mi.

1,636

2.4

$62,415

3.0

1.8

0.2

0.3

0.2

61081 / Sterling / IL / 42.9 mi.

8,904

0.4

$40,816

19.0

15.6

1.7

0.2

0.8

61230 / Ceffco / IL / 22.4 mi.

462

8.2

$44,926

2.5

1.2

0.6

0.0

61276 / Preemption / IL / 14.9 mi.

109.4

$60,000

0.0

52753 / Le Claire / IA / 9.7 mi.

1,621

1.9

$50,332

3.9

2.1

0.1

0.6

52761 / Muscatine / IA / 27.5 mi.

11,644

0.2

$41,026

12.7

10.3

0.8

0.2

0.6

61283 / Thomas / IL / 35.5 mi.

590

4.9

$37,386

1.6

1.0

0.1

0.2

0.0

61261 / Lyndon / IL / 31.8 mi.

376

6.4

$38,672

4.2

1.7

0.1

0.5

0.3

61453 / Little York / IL / 33.3 mi.

285

8.4

$38,750

1.4

0.6

0.1

61236 / Barstow / IL / 6.1 mi.

109.5

$41,250

1.7

0.0

61344 / Mineral / IL / 32.4 mi.

169

13.6

$40,833

5.6

3.7

0.5

0.0

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