Comparing the racial diversity of the journalists
at America's daily newspapers
with the communities that they serve
Newsroom diversity report for
The Bellingham Herald
Bellingham, Washington
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	18.2
2004	13.2
2003	23.5
2002	22.9
2001	22.2
2000	13.5
1999	Did not report
1998	Did not report
1997	Did not report
1996	10.7
1995	0.0
1994	3.4
1993	7.1
1992	13.3
1991	7.7
1990	12.0
The latest year at peak is	2003
See the notes and definitions section below for the sources of these figures.
Newsroom Diversity Index
for The Bellingham Herald
Year	Non-white % of newsroom staff	Non-white % of circulation area	Newsroom Diversity Index (parity=100)
2005	18.2	13.9	131
2004	13.2	13.9	95
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 The Bellingham Herald
This newspaper's Newsroom Diversity Index is 131.				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 33 out of 259
newspapers reporting in the category of 10,001 to 25,000 daily sales.
FYI, in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of
approximately 23,938 ranks 409 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 Bellingham Herald
	Circulation area
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	5.3	8,586
Black	0.6	1,050
Asian and Pacific Islander	2.9	4,779
Native-American	2.7	4,369
Other non-white	0.2	342
Multi-racial	2.2	3,601
Non-white	13.9	22,727
White	86.1	140,745
Total		163,472
	Home county:  Whatcom
Race/ethnicity	% of population	Number of residents
Hispanic	5.2	8,687
Black	0.6	1,065
Asian and Pacific Islander	2.9	4,821
Native-American	2.6	4,396
Other non-white	0.2	349
Multi-racial	2.2	3,654
Non-white	13.8	22,972
White	86.2	143,842
Total		166,814
The home county of this newspaper is Whatcom.
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 Bellingham Herald
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
98225 / Marietta / WA / 5.1 mi.	6,496	17,809	36.5	$29,056	13.5	4.4	0.8	1.6	3.9
98226 / Silver Beach / WA / 2.8 mi.	5,472	22,045	24.8	$44,100	15.0	4.1	0.7	4.2	3.5
98248 / Pleasant Valley / WA / 9.3 mi.	2,938	6,475	45.4	$45,050	15.8	7.4	0.6	3.6	1.8
98264 / Lynden / WA / 9.2 mi.	2,239	5,879	38.1	$44,531	11.3	7.2	0.2	0.5	2.0
98230 / Blaine Air Force / WA / 17.5 mi.	1,186	4,364	27.2	$40,827	11.1	4.2	1.0	0.9	2.7
98247 / Van Buren / WA / 7.6 mi.	693	2,703	25.6	$42,191	16.6	10.3	0.3	3.3	1.0
98244 / Welcome / WA / 11.3 mi.	477	872	54.7	$50,833	13.1	2.5	0.5	5.2	0.8
98295 / Sumas / WA / 13.8 mi.	284	1,606	17.7	$35,414	11.6	6.0	0.2	1.9	1.2
98240 / Custer / WA / 13 mi.	268	963	27.8	$46,583	11.4	6.9	0.6	0.9	1.4
98262 / Snug Harbor / WA / 12.8 mi.	157	381	41.2	$42,279	4.7	0.7	0.5	0.7	0.5
98284 / Sedro Woolley / WA / 20.2 mi.	116	8,393	1.4	$40,851	10.3	5.4	0.4	2.0	0.8
98273 / Mount Vernon / WA / 25.7 mi.	61	9,053	0.7	$40,304	29.2	23.3	0.6	0.8	2.4
File	wa_the_bellingham_herald
Time	5/14/05 2:24 PM
Page	409
Member	148600