Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Robesonian, Lumberton
Lumberton, North Carolina
Owner: Heartland Publications (Fla.)
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	21.4
2004	13.3
2003	16.7
2002	14.3
2001	41.7
2000	16.7
1999	23.1
1998	14.3
1997	46.2
1996	Did not report
1995	13.3
1994	Did not report
1993	23.1
1992	18.2
1991	18.2
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 The Robesonian, Lumberton
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	21.4	71.0	30
2004	13.3	71.0	19
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, Heartland Publications (Fla.),
has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 85.
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Peer group comparison
for The Robesonian, Lumberton
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 30.				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 134 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 The Salinas Californian, California, with a 45.8 percent non-white staff in a community that is 72 percent non-white. Its index is 64.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 12,689 ranks 687 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 Robesonian, Lumberton
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	5.0	6,068
Black	24.7	30,023
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.4	444
Native-American	39.7	48,210
Other non-white	0.2	187
Multi-racial	1.2	1,401
Non-white	71.0	86,333
White	29.0	35,255
Total		121,588
	Home county:  Robeson
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	4.9	5,994
Black	25.0	30,827
Asian and Pacific Islander	0.4	432
Native-American	37.7	46,459
Other non-white	0.2	201
Multi-racial	1.2	1,427
Non-white	69.2	85,340
White	30.8	37,999
Total		123,339
The home county of this newspaper is Robeson.
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 Robesonian, Lumberton
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
28358 / Lumberton / NC / 0 mi.	5,620	13,601	41.3	$29,275	51.6	3.8	28.8	17.3	0.6
28360 / Lumberton / NC / 0.7 mi.	1,857	4,373	42.5	$29,727	79.2	7.4	10.5	59.5	0.2
28372 / Pembroke / NC / 10.7 mi.	1,588	4,151	38.3	$28,515	91.4	1.7	4.7	83.2	0.3
28340 / Fairmont / NC / 13.6 mi.	1,200	4,044	29.7	$26,015	70.3	1.9	39.0	28.2	0.1
28364 / Maxton / NC / 19.1 mi.	509	4,689	10.9	$25,550	89.0	1.1	24.6	61.5	0.3
28377 / Red Springs / NC / 14.5 mi.	473	3,975	11.9	$26,606	79.9	9.3	32.4	36.6	0.3
28384 / Saint Pauls / NC / 11.6 mi.	443	3,707	12.0	$24,979	53.1	10.2	29.4	12.1	0.4
28383 / Rowland / NC / 16.1 mi.	373	2,680	13.9	$28,430	87.1	1.2	29.5	55.1	0.1
28386 / Shannon / NC / 21.1 mi.	231	1,736	13.3	$28,378	85.9	16.9	14.8	52.3	0.2
28320 / Bladenboro / NC / 14.1 mi.	195	3,719	5.2	$26,738	23.5	1.5	20.6	0.7	0.1
28371 / Parkton / NC / 18.9 mi.	130	1,714	7.6	$38,994	37.1	4.0	25.2	5.4	0.5
28369 / Orrum / NC / 13.9 mi.	87	1,061	8.2	$32,610	39.4	2.8	26.0	9.3	0.1
28357 / Lumber Bridge / NC / 17.8 mi.	61	991	6.2	$35,151	54.1	3.6	35.1	13.3	0.4
File	nc_the_robesonian__lumberton
Time	5/21/05 8:36 PM
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