Texas dailies hire more minority journalists, study shows

Daily percentages

Texas daily newspapers are better at hiring minority journalists than their national counterparts, according to the 26th annual Newsroom Census.

The survey, conducted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, shows that last year Texas dailies had an average 15.61 percent minority population in their newsrooms.

Nationwide the number of minority journalists grew to 12.53 percent in 2002.

More than half of Texas’ 90 dailies responded to the annual survey that was established to measure newsroom diversity. Of the 49 newspapers responding, 84 percent had minority staffers compared to only 60 percent of newspapers nationwide.

“In the midst of budget cutbacks over the last two years, diversity is a survivor,” said Diane H. McFarlin, ASNE president. “That’s something to celebrate. Looking ahead, though, we have a lot of work to do to quicken the pace of progress.”

The Texas statistics show that the number of minorities at dailies largely depends on where the publication is located.

Border and Valley newspapers reported more than half of their news staff being minority with The Brownsville Herald at 64.7 percent, Laredo Morning Times at 75.9 percent and the Alice Echo News the highest in the state at 83.3 percent.

Dailies in large cities or metropolitan areas also recorded high numbers of minorities — Austin American-Statesman 22.1 percent, The Dallas Morning News, 17.5 percent, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 19.9 percent, Houston Chronicle, 18.4 percent and San Antonio Express-News 29.7 percent.

But many smaller daily newspapers across the state also are making headway in increasing their newsroom diversity. The Vernon Daily Record reported 16.7 percent and New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and Palestine Herald-Press both came in at 12.5 percent.

Eight of the dailies that responded to the survey reported no minorities on staff.

Overall the survey found that diversity in the newsrooms of American daily newspapers improved by nearly .5 percent in 2002, but still lagged behind the percentage of minorities in the U.S. population, which is now 31.1 percent.

The survey also showed that news staffs grew slightly with a net gain of about 300 journalists after a recession-driven loss of nearly 2,000 jobs in 2001. Current newsroom employment is 55,000.

The annual census also found that the number of newspapers with no minorities dropped by nearly 100 newspapers. The numbers dropped from 471 papers to 373 papers this year. That means that 60 percent of daily newspapers responding to the survey had minority staffers.

The gain in overall diversity staffing was the second successive increase of nearly a half a percentage point. But the total percentage fell three percentage points short of three-year benchmarks set by ASNE to chart newsrooms’ progress toward the goal of parity of newsrooms with their communities by 2025.

Year-over-year the gain by Asian Americans was greatest among the minority groups, growing by 152 journalists to 2.62 percent.

African Americans have the largest total number in newsrooms at 5.33 percent.

“Any time we can report even small progress on the diversity front that is good news,” said Gregory L. Moore, editor of The Denver Post and chair of ASNE’s Diversity Committee. “Obviously we need to achieve bigger gains. We have much work to do as an industry to reach our goal of parity by 2025. It is going to require our best thinking and the most aggressive solutions available.”

Minority Percentages at Texas Newspapers

Abilene Reporter-News, 12.8

Alice Echo-News, 83.3

Amarillo Globe-News, 5.1

Austin American-Statesman, 22.1

The Baytown Sun, 14.3

Beaumont Enterprise, 19.6

Big Spring Herald, 0.0

Borger News-Herald, 0.0

The Brownsville Herald, 64.7

Bryan-College Station Eagle, Bryan, 10.7

The Brazosport Facts, Clute, 27.8

Conroe Courier, 6.7

Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 20.0

Corsicana Daily Sun, 14.3

Dalhart Daily Texan, 0.0

The Dallas Morning News, 17.5

Denton Record-Chronicle, 9.4

El Paso Times, 61.4

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19.9

Galveston Co. Daily News, 15.8

Greenville Herald-Banner, 0.0

Houston Chronicle, 18.4

The Huntsville Item, 11.1

Kerrville Daily Times, 0.0

Laredo Morning Times, 75.9

Longview News-Journal, 16.7

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 9.8

Lufkin Daily News, 6.7

The Monitor, McAllen, 34.0

Midland Reporter-Telegram, 16.0

The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, 7.1

Herald-Zeitung, New Braunfels, 12.5

Odessa American, 4.2

Palestine Herald-Press, 12.5

The Paris News, 11.1

Plainview Daily Herald, 10.0

Plano Star-Courier, 11.1

San Angelo Standard-Times, 16.7

San Antonio Express-News, 29.7

Sulphur Springs News-Telegram, 16.7

Taylor Daily Press, 0.0

Temple Daily Telegram, 12.5

Texarkana Gazette, 15.6

The Sun, Texas City, 0.0

The Vernon Daily Record, 16.7

The Victoria Advocate, 10.8

Waco Tribune-Herald, 10.2

The Weatherford Democrat, 0.0

Times Record News, Wichita Falls, 17.5