The Nation - News from Aug. 25, 1988

Blacks and other racial minorities constitute 16% of the work force of American newspapers but only 8% of the news and editorial staffs, according to the American Newspaper Publishers Assn. The ANPA survey also said that 37% of the papers’ employees are women. In the nation’s overall work force, minorities constitute 21% and women 47% of the total. Ten percent of newsroom employees were members of minorities, and, when clerical and administrative workers were subtracted, the number dropped to 8%, ANPA said. Findings of the study, based on responses from 546 of the 1,443 daily newspapers that were sent questionnaires, approximate results of an annual American Society of Newspaper Editors survey.