Chattanooga Times Free Press... 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

Chattanooga Times Free Press

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Owner: Wehco Media (Ark.)

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

7.2

2004

3.2

2003

Did not report

2002

4.3

2001

2.7

2000

Did not report

1999

Did not report

1998

Did not report

1997

Did not report

1996

Did not report

1995

Did not report

1994

Did not report

1993

Did not report

1992

Did not report

1991

Did not report

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 Chattanooga Times Free Press

Year

Non-white % of newsroom staff

Non-white % of circulation area

Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)

2005

7.2

15.8

2004

3.2

15.8

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, Wehco Media (Ark.),

has a companywide, circulation-weighted Diversity Index of 42.

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

Peer group comparison

for Chattanooga Times Free Press

This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 46.

This paper

Peer group

Compare that with 50, which is the median Diversity Index for all newspapers

reporting in this circulation category of 50,001 to 100,000 daily sales.

In that group, this newspaper's Diversity Index ranks 49 out of 90

newspapers reporting in the category of 50,001 to 100,000 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 Florida Today, Melbourne, Florida, with a 19.1 percent non-white staff in a community that is 16.3 percent non-white. Its index is 117.

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

approximately 71,327 ranks 140 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 Chattanooga Times Free Press

Circulation area

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.6

9,189

Black

12.0

70,149

Asian and Pacific Islander

0.9

5,264

Native-American

0.3

1,722

Other non-white

0.1

436

Multi-racial

1.0

5,568

Non-white

15.8

92,328

White

84.2

493,487

Total

585,815

Home county: Hamilton

Race/ethnicity

% of population

Number of residents

Hispanic

1.8

5,481

Black

20.1

61,750

Asian and Pacific Islander

1.3

4,013

Native-American

0.3

817

Other non-white

0.1

276

Multi-racial

1.0

3,084

Non-white

24.5

75,421

White

75.5

232,475

Total

307,896

The home county of this newspaper is Hamilton.

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

Chattanooga Times Free Press

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

37421 / Chattanooga / TN / 8.3 mi.

6,755

16,676

40.5

$46,828

19.3

1.6

13.4

0.2

2.8

37343 / Hixson / TN / 9.5 mi.

5,822

14,300

40.7

$49,838

7.8

1.5

3.1

0.2

2.1

37412 / Chattanooga / TN / 5.1 mi.

3,617

9,264

39.0

$36,205

7.1

1.1

3.0

0.3

1.7

30736 / Ringgold / GA / 13.7 mi.

3,464

12,457

27.8

$45,227

3.8

1.1

1.3

0.3

0.5

37415 / Chattanooga / TN / 5.8 mi.

3,335

10,935

30.5

$36,129

11.6

1.9

6.9

0.4

1.2

37379 / Soddy Daisy / TN / 18 mi.

3,095

8,861

34.9

$41,590

3.1

0.6

1.4

0.2

0.3

37411 / Chattanooga / TN / 4 mi.

3,095

7,565

40.9

$33,782

59.0

1.5

55.3

0.2

0.8

37404 / Chattanooga / TN / 1.8 mi.

2,873

4,990

57.6

$23,351

69.3

6.0

60.9

0.3

1.1

37377 / Signal Mountain / TN / 9.8 mi.

2,778

5,638

49.3

$60,555

2.2

0.8

0.2

0.4

37363 / Ooltewah / TN / 14.1 mi.

2,600

8,228

31.6

$52,419

11.3

3.2

5.2

0.3

1.3

30741 / Rossville / GA / 6.9 mi.

2,588

11,458

22.6

$29,784

5.3

1.1

2.2

0.5

0.6

37405 / Chattanooga / TN / 2.5 mi.

2,533

6,373

39.7

$31,813

15.1

1.5

10.5

0.2

1.5

37403 / Chattanooga / TN / 0 mi.

2,264

1,174

192.8

$20,282

57.4

2.5

51.3

0.3

1.8

37416 / Chattanooga / TN / 7.8 mi.

2,258

6,005

37.6

$41,347

40.3

1.1

36.6

0.2

1.2

30742 / Fort Oglethorpe / GA / 9.1 mi.

1,951

2,471

79.0

$31,240

7.7

1.6

2.6

0.2

1.9

37402 / Chattanooga / TN / 1.1 mi.

1,434

2,471

58.0

$10,562

63.9

2.6

59.2

0.1

0.9

37341 / Harrison / TN / 18.3 mi.

1,379

4,281

32.2

$52,158

7.2

0.9

4.7

0.4

0.5

37407 / Chattanooga / TN / 3.1 mi.

1,367

3,235

42.3

$19,886

35.1

2.9

29.0

0.7

0.6

37311 / Cleveland / TN / 23.6 mi.

1,302

10,139

12.8

$23,903

12.8

3.1

7.2

0.3

0.7

37312 / Cleveland / TN / 28.1 mi.

1,300

10,803

12.0

$43,734

8.0

2.2

3.7

0.2

0.9

37321 / Dayton / TN / 36.4 mi.

1,159

6,156

18.8

$30,310

6.6

2.2

2.4

0.4

37347 / Jasper / TN / 18.4 mi.

1,119

3,031

36.9

$35,176

7.6

0.9

5.1

0.3

0.4

30728 / La Fayette / GA / 26.5 mi.

1,075

6,670

16.1

$30,006

7.2

1.0

4.8

0.2

0.3

37406 / Chattanooga / TN / 3.4 mi.

1,019

5,686

17.9

$23,335

83.2

0.9

81.0

0.2

37397 / Whitwell / TN / 15.5 mi.

833

3,833

21.7

$29,040

2.4

0.7

1.1

0.2

0.1

30752 / Trenton / GA / 15 mi.

742

3,317

22.4

$33,976

2.4

0.9

0.1

0.5

0.2

37419 / Chattanooga / TN / 5.3 mi.

720

2,322

31.0

$39,351

2.3

0.5

0.3

0.6

30707 / Chickamauga / GA / 19 mi.

712

5,243

13.6

$35,729

6.4

0.5

4.8

0.2

37380 / South Pittsburg / TN / 27.9 mi.

664

2,454

27.1

$29,368

11.8

0.7

9.9

0.2

30720 / Dalton / GA / 27.3 mi.

625

9,134

6.8

$41,586

30.1

23.1

3.8

0.2

2.1

37327 / Dunlap / TN / 24.8 mi.

589

3,503

16.8

$31,722

2.0

0.8

0.2

0.3

0.2

37303 / Athens / TN / 48.4 mi.

578

9,669

6.0

$32,066

10.4

2.2

5.8

0.2

1.1

37307 / Benton / TN / 37.7 mi.

424

1,875

22.6

$31,806

1.8

1.0

0.1

0.0

37367 / Pikeville / TN / 39.9 mi.

412

3,466

11.9

$28,719

6.9

1.1

4.5

0.3

0.2

30750 / Lookout Mountain / GA / 12.6 mi.

381

1,290

29.5

$50,500

2.9

1.2

0.3

0.1

0.4

37323 / Cleveland / TN / 25.2 mi.

377

9,824

3.8

$36,474

4.5

1.4

1.6

0.2

0.3

37381 / Spring City / TN / 49.9 mi.

363

3,286

11.0

$29,897

4.2

1.1

1.9

0.4

0.2

37409 / Chattanooga / TN / 3.9 mi.

360

1,071

33.6

$32,925

42.9

4.6

35.3

0.2

0.6

37410 / Chattanooga / TN / 3.1 mi.

334

1,809

18.5

$12,428

95.0

1.8

91.7

0.1

0.2

37350 / Lookout Mountain / TN / 4.8 mi.

326

838

38.9

$100,106

3.3

0.4

2.0

0.1

0.6

37408 / Chattanooga / TN / 1.4 mi.

318

708

44.9

$9,891

93.3

6.4

84.4

0.3

1.1

30738 / Rising Fawn / GA / 20.4 mi.

285

1,316

21.7

$35,915

1.4

0.5

0.0

0.3

0.2

30725 / Flintstone / GA / 9.1 mi.

275

1,346

20.4

$40,963

4.2

0.8

1.9

0.2

0.6

30721 / Dalton / GA / 28.1 mi.

225

13,605

1.7

$35,590

36.1

30.0

4.6

0.2

0.4

38555 / Crossville / TN / 60.1 mi.

223

13,132

1.7

$28,613

2.9

1.5

0.1

0.3

30757 / Wildwood / GA / 9 mi.

217

772

28.1

$32,738

7.2

0.7

4.2

0.8

1.3

30747 / Summerville / GA / 38.2 mi.

202

5,798

3.5

$29,775

17.8

0.9

15.7

0.1

30739 / Rock Spring / GA / 16.6 mi.

198

1,278

15.5

$34,853

6.4

0.8

4.6

0.1

37356 / Monteagle / TN / 32.5 mi.

193

967

20.0

$21,885

3.6

0.5

0.8

0.5

0.4

37322 / Decatur / TN / 42.1 mi.

188

3,037

6.2

$31,119

2.2

0.7

0.2

0.1

30740 / Rocky Face / GA / 23.8 mi.

176

2,428

7.2

$46,602

6.5

3.6

1.6

0.1

0.5

35740 / Bridgeport / AL / 27.1 mi.

174

1,603

10.9

$29,519

12.3

1.0

6.6

1.7

0.2

37387 / Tracy City / TN / 29.6 mi.

172

1,571

10.9

$23,731

1.7

0.6

0.0

0.4

0.2

30755 / Tunnel Hill / GA / 19.4 mi.

169

3,237

5.2

$37,255

5.6

2.7

1.3

0.3

37353 / Mc Donald / TN / 17.6 mi.

167

1,541

10.8

$35,000

3.8

1.6

0.4

0.3

0.2

30710 / Cohutta / GA / 22.2 mi.

160

1,902

8.4

$49,277

5.2

2.2

1.3

0.2

30753 / Trion / GA / 34.1 mi.

160

2,685

6.0

$30,752

7.6

5.1

1.3

0.0

0.1

35967 / Fort Payne / AL / 49.9 mi.

153

6,572

2.3

$31,565

15.7

9.9

3.5

0.7

0.5

35772 / Stevenson / AL / 37 mi.

150

2,048

7.3

$28,986

16.0

1.4

11.3

1.3

0.1

35978 / Henagar / AL / 38.5 mi.

137

2,169

6.3

$30,561

4.0

1.1

0.0

1.6

0.0

37375 / Sewanee / TN / 36.4 mi.

136

1,057

12.9

$44,950

6.8

1.4

3.6

0.2

0.7

35958 / Bryant / AL / 20.8 mi.

134

1,261

10.6

$33,688

4.7

0.8

0.0

1.4

0.1

37332 / Evensville / TN / 42.8 mi.

131

902

14.5

$33,237

2.4

0.6

0.4

0.5

0.3

37302 / Apison / TN / 16.3 mi.

130

967

13.4

$42,059

6.5

2.3

0.8

0.2

1.5

37308 / Birchwood / TN / 26.4 mi.

121

872

13.9

$35,714

2.9

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.1

37331 / Etowah / TN / 48.9 mi.

121

3,313

3.7

$29,504

9.0

1.4

6.2

0.2

37338 / Graysville / TN / 26.9 mi.

110

983

11.2

$30,872

3.8

1.6

0.4

0.3

0.0

37336 / Georgetown / TN / 27.6 mi.

107

1,289

8.3

$38,125

4.7

0.7

2.6

0.4

0.2

37874 / Sweetwater / TN / 62.5 mi.

107

5,169

2.1

$29,872

9.2

2.0

5.2

0.2

0.7

37329 / Englewood / TN / 53.4 mi.

103

2,083

4.9

$30,645

2.4

0.8

0.2

0.3

0.2

35966 / Flat Rock / AL / 31.8 mi.

1,484

6.1

$29,054

4.9

0.7

0.1

1.9

0.1

37748 / Harriman / TN / 79.3 mi.

7,436

1.2

$29,170

5.8

0.6

3.6

0.2

30701 / Calhoun / GA / 43.9 mi.

10,836

0.8

$40,280

16.5

10.1

4.6

0.2

0.7

37365 / Palmer / TN / 27.7 mi.

616

13.5

$23,259

1.4

0.1

0.0

0.3

35979 / Higdon / AL / 22.4 mi.

450

16.9

$34,000

2.2

0.5

0.1

0.7

0.0

37388 / Tullahoma / TN / 56.5 mi.

9,512

0.7

$35,619

9.5

1.6

5.4

0.2

1.0

37317 / Copperhill / TN / 50.9 mi.

1,046

5.8

$25,718

3.4

0.9

0.5

0.2

0.5

37374 / Sequatchie / TN / 22.9 mi.

681

8.1

$28,485

3.0

0.5

0.7

0.5

0.2

37854 / Rockwood / TN / 65.1 mi.

4,878

1.1

$29,938

5.0

0.5

3.0

0.3

37373 / Sale Creek / TN / 26.2 mi.

1,069

5.0

$36,556

2.1

0.6

0.1

0.5

0.3

35768 / Scottsboro / AL / 51.1 mi.

4,730

1.1

$30,405

10.7

1.6

5.7

1.5

0.4

37326 / Ducktown / TN / 51.4 mi.

244

20.1

$22,697

2.4

0.5

0.0

0.6

0.0

30731 / Menlo / GA / 31.3 mi.

967

4.6

$35,417

5.3

2.0

2.4

0.1

0.2

35981 / Ider / AL / 29.2 mi.

865

5.0

$28,281

2.8

0.4

0.1

0.9

0.1

37337 / Grandview / TN / 55.3 mi.

601

7.2

$31,359

1.8

0.1

0.4

0.2

0.1

35989 / Valley Head / AL / 38.3 mi.

1,372

2.6

$30,392

6.9

3.6

1.0

0.8

0.1

37110 / Mc Minnville / TN / 50.3 mi.

12,478

0.3

$29,823

9.4

4.9

3.2

0.2

0.5

37310 / Charleston / TN / 33.1 mi.

1,366

2.6

$42,835

8.2

0.9

6.0

0.5

0.1

37313 / Coalmont / TN / 31.8 mi.

556

5.9

$22,955

2.4

1.2

0.1

0.3

0.0

37340 / Guild / TN / 12.3 mi.

315

10.5

$21,042

6.2

1.2

2.6

0.1

0.9

37351 / Lupton City / TN / 4.5 mi.

121

27.3

$39,750

5.2

0.4

0.7

1.9

0.0

37339 / Gruetli Laager / TN / 33.4 mi.

764

3.5

$22,656

1.4

0.7

0.0

0.1

37325 / Delano / TN / 40.9 mi.

624

4.0

$31,198

1.6

0.3

0.1

0.2

0.1

30705 / Chatsworth / GA / 37.3 mi.

11,454

0.2

$37,605

7.9

6.2

0.6

0.3

37398 / Winchester / TN / 47.5 mi.

5,535

0.4

$35,953

11.5

1.7

8.1

0.2

0.4

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