Aberdeen American News... 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

Aberdeen American News

Aberdeen, South Dakota

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

4.5

2004

5.0

2003

0.0

2002

0.0

2001

0.0

2000

0.0

1999

0.0

1998

0.0

1997

4.5

1996

9.1

1995

0.0

1994

0.0

1993

5.6

1992

0.0

1991

0.0

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 Aberdeen American News

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

4.5

9.3

2004

5.0

5.5

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 Aberdeen American News

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 48.

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 92 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 Herald, Sharon, Pennsylvania, with a 8 percent non-white staff in a community that is 7.3 percent non-white. Its index is 110.

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

approximately 16,506 ranks 570 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 Aberdeen American News

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

0.6

505

Black

0.2

147

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.3

261

Native-American

3.6

3,020

Other non-white

0.0

Multi-racial

0.8

641

Non-white

5.5

4,587

White

94.5

78,989

Total

83,576

Home county: Brown

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

0.7

237

Black

0.3

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.5

168

Native-American

2.7

954

Other non-white

0.0

Multi-racial

0.8

281

Non-white

4.9

1,745

White

95.1

33,715

Total

35,460

The home county of this newspaper is Brown.

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

Aberdeen American News

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

57401 / Ordway / SD / 2 mi.

7,587

12,100

62.7

$34,743

5.7

0.7

0.3

3.2

0.6

57469 / Zell / SD / 39.9 mi.

618

1,455

42.5

$30,788

3.9

0.5

0.3

2.3

0.1

57430 / Sunset Colony / SD / 38.6 mi.

512

961

53.3

$32,224

2.2

0.7

0.0

0.8

0.1

57601 / Promise / SD / 87.5 mi.

486

1,769

27.5

$26,065

23.0

0.7

0.0

20.3

0.2

57445 / Putney / SD / 18.2 mi.

445

755

58.9

$37,989

1.4

0.4

0.0

0.5

0.0

57274 / Webster / SD / 45.4 mi.

414

1,274

32.5

$33,429

2.5

0.2

0.1

1.1

0.1

57451 / Powell / SD / 24.3 mi.

360

567

63.5

$32,045

1.4

0.5

0.1

0.5

0.1

57437 / Hillsview / SD / 53.8 mi.

330

766

43.1

$22,404

1.0

0.2

0.0

0.4

0.2

57442 / Gorman / SD / 74.9 mi.

317

740

42.8

$31,181

2.3

0.1

0.0

1.2

0.1

58436 / Monango / ND / 32.8 mi.

283

883

32.0

$25,750

2.8

0.8

0.1

0.7

0.3

57438 / Wecota / SD / 41.1 mi.

273

618

44.2

$29,375

0.7

0.2

0.1

0.0

57472 / Sitka / SD / 69.2 mi.

189

432

43.8

$31,477

1.4

0.2

0.0

0.9

0.0

57262 / Tekakwitha / SD / 66.2 mi.

170

1,677

10.1

$27,936

45.3

0.8

0.1

42.0

0.2

57456 / Leola / SD / 14.9 mi.

169

415

40.7

$23,810

0.3

0.0

0.1

57462 / Mina / SD / 11.6 mi.

162

295

54.9

$50,000

1.6

0.8

0.0

0.4

0.0

57428 / Bowdle / SD / 52.6 mi.

154

334

46.1

$27,031

0.7

0.3

0.1

57450 / Hoven / SD / 60.4 mi.

150

343

43.7

$28,947

1.2

0.4

0.1

0.0

0.2

57471 / Roscoe / SD / 38.1 mi.

140

291

48.1

$28,194

0.3

0.1

0.0

57454 / Langford / SD / 35.7 mi.

138

262

52.7

$30,438

2.0

1.0

0.0

1.0

0.0

58474 / Oakes / ND / 45.3 mi.

135

1,157

11.7

$31,179

3.6

2.0

0.1

0.8

57632 / Herreid / SD / 72.6 mi.

133

271

49.1

$28,611

0.3

0.0

0.3

0.0

57501 / Wendt / SD / 111.3 mi.

130

6,206

2.1

$43,531

10.9

1.2

0.2

7.7

0.4

57219 / Butler / SD / 40.6 mi.

119

274

43.4

$30,625

0.0

58413 / Venturia / ND / 52.6 mi.

119

585

20.3

$22,083

2.4

0.7

0.1

0.2

0.6

57446 / Hecla / SD / 29.5 mi.

118

260

45.4

$29,196

1.3

0.8

0.0

0.2

0.0

57638 / White Butte / SD / 167.4 mi.

117

883

13.3

$28,458

4.7

0.3

0.7

2.2

0.4

57441 / Frederick / SD / 21.7 mi.

108

271

39.9

$32,500

3.8

0.9

0.0

2.5

0.0

57448 / Hosmer / SD / 46.5 mi.

174

53.4

$26,806

1.8

1.1

0.0

0.2

57434 / Verdon / SD / 30.5 mi.

260

35.4

$31,625

1.2

0.0

0.7

0.2

57432 / Huffton / SD / 22.4 mi.

182

44.5

$29,286

0.0

57433 / Tacoma Park / SD / 15.2 mi.

172

45.3

$32,386

2.8

0.5

0.0

1.0

0.0

57465 / Northville / SD / 23.4 mi.

137

56.9

$36,875

1.6

1.4

0.0

0.3

0.0

57481 / Wetonka / SD / 10.5 mi.

208

33.7

$33,000

0.9

0.2

0.6

0.0

57461 / Mellette / SD / 21.6 mi.

194

35.1

$36,953

1.6

0.2

0.0

1.0

0.0

57648 / Pollock / SD / 85.5 mi.

195

34.9

$27,500

0.9

0.5

0.0

57460 / Mansfield / SD / 19 mi.

137

48.9

$41,125

1.8

0.0

1.8

0.0

57273 / Waubay / SD / 54.7 mi.

499

13.2

$26,466

33.1

0.7

0.0

30.4

0.1

57642 / McLaughlin / SD / 113.3 mi.

620

10.5

$20,389

77.6

2.8

0.1

73.3

0.0

57656 / Timber Lake / SD / 116.7 mi.

324

19.8

$28,261

39.3

1.1

0.0

34.5

0.6

57436 / Doland / SD / 48.8 mi.

253

24.9

$32,143

1.4

0.3

0.5

0.0

57564 / Onida / SD / 87.7 mi.

439

14.4

$35,208

2.1

0.3

0.0

0.8

0.2

57435 / Cresbard / SD / 29 mi.

121

50.4

$30,417

1.4

0.0

0.7

0.3

57452 / Java / SD / 59.6 mi.

163

33.1

$28,462

2.1

0.0

2.1

0.0

57422 / Andover / SD / 26.7 mi.

130

40.8

$37,083

0.6

0.0

0.3

57440 / Spink Colony / SD / 48.3 mi.

221

23.5

$33,750

0.5

0.2

0.0

0.2

0.0

57424 / Athol / SD / 30.1 mi.

150

34.0

$36,250

0.3

0.0

57261 / Roslyn / SD / 41 mi.

170

29.4

$23,472

2.1

0.0

1.0

0.2

57270 / Veblen / SD / 59.5 mi.

260

16.5

$21,167

18.8

1.5

0.0

15.3

0.2

57468 / Pierpont / SD / 31.7 mi.

118

36.4

$29,306

4.0

3.3

0.0

0.4

0.0

57476 / Tulare / SD / 50.2 mi.

197

21.3

$32,019

2.0

0.0

0.4

58439 / Forbes / ND / 38 mi.

95.5

$22,188

0.9

0.0

57646 / Mound City / SD / 70.4 mi.

111

36.9

$35,000

2.9

0.0

1.5

0.4

57449 / Houghton / SD / 26.8 mi.

44.7

$31,250

0.0

57477 / Turton / SD / 35.1 mi.

46.7

$29,375

0.0

57467 / Polo / SD / 50.8 mi.

124

27.4

$26,389

0.3

0.0

0.3

57473 / Seneca / SD / 41.2 mi.

43.6

$23,571

2.7

0.0

0.5

57466 / Onaka / SD / 47.1 mi.

43.4

$32,054

1.1

0.0

57475 / Tolstoy / SD / 56 mi.

43.2

$23,250

0.6

0.0

57247 / Red Iron Lake / SD / 53.1 mi.

122

25.4

$33,750

3.0

0.0

1.7

0.0

57631 / Glenham / SD / 80.2 mi.

158

19.0

$33,542

4.9

1.2

0.0

1.7

0.2

57625 / Standing Rock Re / SD / 128.6 mi.

1,220

2.3

$22,403

88.0

1.1

0.1

86.0

0.1

57345 / Tennis / SD / 76.3 mi.

570

4.7

$30,000

3.1

0.2

0.0

2.4

0.2

57641 / McIntosh / SD / 141.5 mi.

150

18.0

$25,795

19.1

1.5

0.0

16.5

0.0

57457 / Longlake / SD / 38.3 mi.

41.7

$12,188

1.6

0.0

57239 / Grenville / SD / 49 mi.

114

17.5

$20,469

8.2

0.0

7.8

0.0

57474 / Stratford / SD / 16.7 mi.

113

17.7

$24,167

1.1

0.6

0.0

57362 / Miller / SD / 66.6 mi.

968

1.9

$31,012

0.8

0.3

0.1

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