Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
Hattiesburg American
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Owner: Gannett Co. (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	19.2
2004	17.4
2003	13.8
2002	17.4
2001	16.0
2000	21.1
1999	3.8
1998	23.8
1997	25.0
1996	24.1
1995	27.6
1994	16.7
1993	25.0
1992	12.0
1991	7.7
1990	8.3
The latest year at peak is	1995
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for Hattiesburg American
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	19.2	28.3	68
2004	17.4	28.3	62
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, Gannett Co. (Va.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 89.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for Hattiesburg American
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 68.				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 59 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 21,313 ranks 454 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 Hattiesburg American
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	1.1	2,008
Black	25.9	48,605
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.5	932
Native-American	0.2	369
Other non-white	0.1	93
Multi-racial	0.6	1,039
Non-white	28.3	53,046
White	71.7	134,616
Total		187,662
	Home county:  Forrest
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	1.3	912
Black	33.4	24,225
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.8	548
Native-American	0.2	131
Other non-white	0.1	75
Multi-racial	0.7	488
Non-white	36.3	26,379
White	63.7	46,225
Total		72,604
The home county of this newspaper is Forrest.
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
Hattiesburg American
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
39401 / Hattiesburg / MS / 0 mi.	6,739	15,432	43.7	$22,831	52.4	1.3	49.3	0.2	0.7
39402 / Hattiesburg / MS / 11.6 mi.	4,563	12,177	37.5	$41,166	18.8	1.2	15.3	0.1	1.4
39465 / Petal / MS / 11.3 mi.	2,373	6,274	37.8	$35,770	10.3	1.2	8.3	0.2	0.2
39475 / Purvis / MS / 15.8 mi.	1,033	3,424	30.2	$37,479	9.6	1.2	7.6	0.2	0.1
39482 / Sumrall / MS / 19.7 mi.	975	2,703	36.1	$30,879	12.8	0.7	11.3	0.2	0.1
39429 / Columbia / MS / 29 mi.	806	6,316	12.8	$24,779	37.2	0.6	35.4	0.3	0.3
39428 / Collins / MS / 36.2 mi.	672	3,487	19.3	$26,169	44.4	1.1	42.6	0.1	0.2
39455 / Lumberton / MS / 15.8 mi.	625	2,705	23.1	$24,974	21.6	1.1	19.6	0.3	0.2
39443 / Laurel / MS / 35.4 mi.	620	7,837	7.9	$30,716	15.5	1.0	13.8	0.1	0.1
39476 / Richton / MS / 24.5 mi.	531	2,646	20.1	$30,104	13.8	0.6	12.5	0.3	0.2
39459 / Moselle / MS / 19.9 mi.	495	1,203	41.1	$26,250	8.5	1.6	6.2	0.3	0.2
39437 / Ellisville / MS / 24.5 mi.	451	4,223	10.7	$31,113	18.2	1.0	16.4	0.2	0.2
39479 / Seminary / MS / 25.4 mi.	374	2,080	18.0	$29,238	8.4	0.7	7.1	0.3	0.1
39483 / Foxworth / MS / 40.8 mi.	276	2,021	13.7	$23,045	21.7	0.6	20.4	0.1	0.1
39425 / Brooklyn / MS / 15.2 mi.	271	347	78.1	$26,607	17.0	2.2	13.8	0.8	0.0
39423 / Beaumont / MS / 24.5 mi.	270	1,039	26.0	$25,301	39.7	0.6	37.7	0.6	0.0
39470 / Poplarville / MS / 29.1 mi.	182	4,076	4.5	$31,331	14.5	1.1	11.7	0.5	0.4
39451 / Leakesville / MS / 44.9 mi.	178	1,474	12.1	$28,007	34.8	0.8	33.2	0.3	0.1
39462 / New Augusta / MS / 15.9 mi.	161	458	35.2	$26,333	32.6	2.2	29.3	0.2	0.4
39474 / Prentiss / MS / 45.1 mi.	159	2,545	6.2	$21,126	63.4	0.8	61.9	0.0	0.1
39577 / Wiggins / MS / 24.7 mi.	129	3,812	3.4	$28,145	23.9	1.1	22.1	0.1	0.1
39421 / Bassfield / MS / 32 mi.	80	1,197	6.7	$22,375	60.1	0.5	58.8	0.2	0.0
39367 / Waynesboro / MS / 45.9 mi.	67	5,981	1.1	$26,192	40.2	0.7	39.1	0.1	0.2
39643 / Kokomo / MS / 42.3 mi.	57	438	13.0	$25,417	29.2	0.7	28.0	0.2	0.0
File	ms_hattiesburg_american
Time	5/21/05 10:30 AM
Page	454
Member	123950