Observer-Dispatch, Utica... 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

Observer-Dispatch, Utica

Utica, New York

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

8.3

2004

8.9

2003

10.0

2002

9.6

2001

5.8

2000

1.9

1999

8.0

1998

7.7

1997

10.4

1996

13.0

1995

10.2

1994

10.4

1993

8.5

1992

11.8

1991

7.6

1990

Did not report

The latest year at peak is

1996

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

Newsroom Diversity Index

for Observer-Dispatch, Utica

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

8.3

10.0

2004

8.9

10.0

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 Observer-Dispatch, Utica

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 83.

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 22 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 43,421 ranks 242 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 Observer-Dispatch, Utica

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

2.9

8,097

Black

4.7

13,205

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.1

3,075

Native-American

0.2

531

Other non-white

0.1

263

Multi-racial

1.2

3,290

Non-white

10.0

28,461

White

90.0

255,670

Total

284,131

Home county: Oneida

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

3.2

7,545

Black

5.5

12,937

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.2

2,751

Native-American

0.2

488

Other non-white

0.1

242

Multi-racial

1.2

2,906

Non-white

11.4

26,869

White

88.6

208,600

Total

235,469

The home county of this newspaper is Oneida.

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

Observer-Dispatch, Utica

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

13502 / Utica / NY / 5.3 mi.

7,258

13,812

52.5

$29,470

14.7

3.8

7.9

0.3

1.1

13501 / Utica / NY / 0 mi.

6,636

14,679

45.2

$23,815

26.8

6.4

13.9

0.2

2.9

13413 / New Hartford / NY / 3.3 mi.

5,053

6,338

79.7

$47,204

5.2

0.7

0.9

0.1

3.0

13440 / Rome / NY / 16.5 mi.

2,924

17,256

16.9

$36,866

12.0

3.9

5.7

0.2

0.8

13492 / Whitesboro / NY / 5.6 mi.

2,691

4,722

57.0

$43,510

2.4

1.0

0.4

0.0

0.5

13323 / Clinton / NY / 8.6 mi.

1,870

4,056

46.1

$46,885

4.4

1.2

1.1

0.1

1.1

13357 / Ilion / NY / 10.7 mi.

1,464

4,539

32.3

$33,990

3.1

1.3

0.6

0.1

0.2

13350 / Herkimer / NY / 11 mi.

1,283

4,083

31.4

$28,441

3.9

1.2

0.9

0.2

1.0

13340 / Frankfort / NY / 5.9 mi.

1,261

3,150

40.0

$37,091

3.0

1.0

0.5

0.1

0.2

13417 / New York Mills / NY / 3.6 mi.

1,178

1,541

76.4

$30,827

2.4

1.1

0.4

0.1

0.4

13403 / Marcy / NY / 6.7 mi.

1,070

1,568

68.2

$47,157

41.9

16.4

24.3

0.2

0.4

13424 / Oriskany / NY / 8.2 mi.

757

872

86.8

$40,890

9.0

2.5

5.0

0.3

0.7

13491 / West Winfield / NY / 14.9 mi.

745

1,415

52.7

$35,361

2.1

0.8

0.2

0.1

0.3

13365 / Little Falls / NY / 18 mi.

740

3,732

19.8

$28,657

2.2

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.5

13495 / Yorkville / NY / 3.2 mi.

657

973

67.5

$33,594

2.9

1.3

0.7

0.0

0.4

13438 / Remsen / NY / 19.1 mi.

548

1,680

32.6

$38,065

1.9

0.2

0.4

0.2

0.4

13304 / Barneveld / NY / 10.5 mi.

545

635

85.8

$54,083

2.4

0.4

0.5

0.1

0.7

13407 / Mohawk / NY / 16.5 mi.

534

2,276

23.5

$34,034

2.4

1.2

0.4

0.1

0.2

13480 / Waterville / NY / 13 mi.

526

1,252

42.0

$37,925

2.8

0.7

0.5

0.2

0.4

13439 / Richfield Springs / NY / 19.7 mi.

522

1,529

34.1

$34,787

3.1

0.6

0.3

0.6

13431 / Poland / NY / 10.1 mi.

514

688

74.7

$37,368

2.6

1.1

0.1

0.3

0.4

13322 / Clayville / NY / 7.6 mi.

467

401

116.5

$35,208

1.4

0.4

0.3

0.2

13328 / Deansboro / NY / 13 mi.

422

478

88.3

$40,781

2.5

0.7

1.0

0.1

0.4

13309 / Boonville / NY / 27.5 mi.

408

2,277

17.9

$34,736

1.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

13354 / Holland Patent / NY / 12.4 mi.

391

1,145

34.1

$49,063

2.3

0.5

0.3

0.1

0.2

13456 / Sauquoit / NY / 6 mi.

331

1,601

20.7

$43,488

2.0

0.4

0.1

0.2

13420 / Old Forge / NY / 48.3 mi.

308

704

43.8

$36,000

2.8

1.1

0.6

0.3

13478 / Verona / NY / 18.2 mi.

297

1,210

24.5

$47,105

2.5

0.3

0.4

0.7

13476 / Vernon / NY / 16.6 mi.

290

1,261

23.0

$37,862

2.7

0.9

0.6

0.2

0.3

13461 / Sherrill / NY / 18.7 mi.

248

1,278

19.4

$48,446

2.7

0.9

0.2

0.4

0.6

13329 / Dolgeville / NY / 26 mi.

238

1,594

14.9

$30,992

2.4

0.7

0.4

0.3

13346 / Hamilton / NY / 24.1 mi.

230

1,601

14.4

$41,144

8.0

2.1

1.8

0.2

2.6

13421 / Oneida / NY / 21.5 mi.

200

5,334

3.7

$35,859

4.0

0.8

0.6

1.2

0.5

13477 / Vernon Center / NY / 15 mi.

192

517

37.1

$37,857

3.0

0.3

0.1

0.3

1.7

13406 / Middleville / NY / 15.8 mi.

191

248

77.0

$39,327

2.7

0.1

0.6

0.1

0.0

13319 / Chadwicks / NY / 4.2 mi.

165

399

41.4

$41,343

1.9

0.6

0.4

0.1

0.8

13416 / Newport / NY / 16.3 mi.

140

826

16.9

$40,134

1.3

0.4

0.3

0.0

13425 / Oriskany Falls / NY / 15.6 mi.

128

755

17.0

$33,021

1.6

0.7

0.4

0.0

0.1

13316 / Camden / NY / 33.4 mi.

123

2,453

5.0

$37,989

2.1

0.7

0.3

0.1

0.4

13490 / Westmoreland / NY / 11.1 mi.

120

610

19.7

$46,985

2.5

1.1

0.7

0.2

13338 / Forestport / NY / 29.2 mi.

119

702

17.0

$34,265

1.3

0.1

0.3

0.2

13313 / Bridgewater / NY / 14 mi.

111

219

50.7

$28,173

3.4

1.8

0.7

0.0

13314 / Brookfield / NY / 19 mi.

349

20.6

$33,750

1.1

0.2

0.3

0.1

13341 / Franklin Springs / NY / 8.9 mi.

300.0

$55,357

0.0

13360 / Inlet / NY / 51 mi.

190

35.3

$32,574

5.1

2.4

0.0

13308 / Blossvale / NY / 25.8 mi.

1,885

2.9

$37,870

2.4

0.7

0.3

0.4

13331 / Eagle Bay / NY / 53.5 mi.

130

38.5

$28,750

1.4

0.0

0.7

0.0

13452 / Saint Johnsville / NY / 30.7 mi.

1,717

2.7

$32,083

2.1

1.0

0.2

0.3

0.2

13301 / Alder Creek / NY / 23.2 mi.

50.0

$40,333

0.0

13469 / Stittville / NY / 10.3 mi.

293

14.3

$44,722

2.5

0.3

0.1

0.5

13471 / Taberg / NY / 29.1 mi.

1,221

3.1

$36,571

3.5

0.8

2.0

0.2

0.1

13402 / Madison / NY / 18.6 mi.

670

4.9

$28,542

2.8

0.7

0.3

0.0

0.9

13460 / Sherburne / NY / 29.5 mi.

1,749

1.9

$31,826

1.8

0.9

0.2

0.0

0.1

13486 / Westernville / NY / 19.2 mi.

308

9.4

$38,125

2.8

0.7

0.1

13436 / Raquette Lake / NY / 64.1 mi.

43.5

$22,813

0.0

13454 / Salisbury Center / NY / 24.1 mi.

247

10.9

$34,625

3.4

0.1

0.3

0.1

0.8

13339 / Fort Plain / NY / 28.2 mi.

2,600

1.0

$30,989

2.6

1.0

0.4

0.1

0.5

13411 / New Berlin / NY / 30 mi.

1,262

1.9

$27,674

2.1

0.8

0.3

0.1

0.2

13335 / Edmeston / NY / 23.9 mi.

554

4.0

$39,766

2.4

1.2

0.4

0.3

0.0

13355 / Hubbardsville / NY / 20.9 mi.

242

5.4

$39,408

2.0

0.9

0.6

0.1

13324 / Cold Brook / NY / 30.1 mi.

764

1.6

$30,954

2.3

0.4

0.5

0.8

0.4

13418 / North Brookfield / NY / 17.8 mi.

113

9.7

$31,346

2.5

0.0

1.9

13332 / Earlville / NY / 28 mi.

903

1.0

$35,094

1.5

0.5

0.2

0.0

0.2

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