ASNE releases 2015 newsroom census results

The percentage of minority journalists in daily newspaper newsrooms remained relatively stable in 2014 at 12.76 percent even as newsroom employment declined by 10.4 percent, according to the annual census released by the American Society of News Editors and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University. 

This year's census also found that the percentage of news organizations that reported having at least one woman among their top three editors remains steady at 63 percent. The number of minority leaders has dropped by 3 percentage points, with 12 percent of participating organizations saying at least one of their top three editors is a person of color. This was the second year the questions about women and minorities in leadership were asked.

Overall, the survey found, there are about 32,900 full-time journalists at nearly 1,400 daily newspapers in the United States. That's a 3,800-person decrease from 36,700 in 2013. Of those 32,900 employees, about 4,200, or 12.76 percent, are racial minorities. That's a 0.58 percent decrease from last year's 13.34 percent despite the substantially smaller newsroom employment in 2014.

The percentage of minority journalists has hovered between 12 and 14 percent for more than a decade. In 1978, when ASNE launched its Newsroom Employment Census of professional full-time journalists, 3.95 percent were minorities.

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