It will increasingly fail to serve our future needs as a targeting tool for circulation development. The gospel in journalistic circles nonetheless is that big projected increases in minority numbers require coverage geared to minorities to attract them as readers. The statistic cited most often to prove the point is that between the years 2000 and 2010 minorities will account for 87 percent of new U.S. population growth. True enough, but by the year 2010 non-minorities will still comprise nearly 70 percent of the population. If the declining presence of newspapers in America's households is to be reversed, the press will have to face up to the socio-economic barriers to reading that apply to all groups.
Daily newspapers have a big stake in the improvement of schools and the eradication of poverty.
Newspaper executives seem to have failed to learn from their own research reports. Certainly, diverse newsrooms and improved coverage of minority communities are overdue. Sensitive and informed coverage of all segments of society is in the interests of all readers.