Our community is evolving. The Post-Crescent's staff and coverage will evolve, too, to better reflect the Fox Cities
Larry GallupAPPLETON - Over the past year, The Post-Crescent has been exploring the changing face of the Fox Cities through our series "Home is Here."
Using demographic data from the 2020 U.S. census as our jumping-off point, we've written about the growing diversity of our communities, along with the challenges and successes that have sprung from those changes.
The Fox Cities are richer because they've become more diverse, though we continue to work through growing pains related to acceptance and opportunity.
It's clear that, for all of us who live here to truly thrive, we need to embrace inclusivity and diversity.
Likewise, for The Post-Crescent to succeed, we must have an inclusive and diverse workplace where employees are valued and feel empowered.
To that end, we're committed to building and sustaining a workforce that's a reflection of the diversity in the communities we serve.
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As part of that commitment, we're publishing the makeup of our newsroom staff each year. That same commitment is being carried out across the USA TODAY Network, which is made up of more than 200 local publications and USA TODAY.
"We will never achieve our quest for truth until our newsrooms fully reflect the communities we serve. Only then will we have diversity of perspectives to understand the facts we report in their full and proper context," said Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of the USA TODAY Network, in announcing a new diversity initiative in 2020.
This information, a snapshot as of July 1, includes the gender and racial makeup of our news workforce and our coverage area, as well as for managers within our newsroom.
We believe that a diverse and inclusive newsroom staff helps us better connect and serve you — our readers and our partners in working to make the Fox Cities a great place to live for everyone.
MORE: Gannett newsrooms making steady progress in overall diversity
Having a staff that's representative of our community's diversity is just one part of our efforts, though.
We've expanded our source list to include more people of color in our coverage. We've expanded our coverage to report on issues of importance to communities who've been traditionally underserved. And we've vowed to listen — really listen — to help understand what issues are vital in helping people thrive here.
Our goal is that the newsroom staff of The Post-Crescent will closely reflect the audience we serve by 2025.
Like the Fox Cities as a whole, we know we have work to do. We're committed to doing it.
Note: The American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau asks two separate questions, one about Hispanic origin and one about race, allowing individuals to self-select from multiple options.
However, to compare with internal Gannett employee information that asks individuals to mark only one option, we used the following categories: Hispanic or Latino (for ACS, regardless of any other race selected), White (not Hispanic or Latino), Black or African American (not Hispanic or Latino), Asian (not Hispanic or Latino), American Indian or Alaska Native (not Hispanic or Latino), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (not Hispanic or Latino), or two or more races (not Hispanic or Latino).
All information on racial identity is provided voluntarily by employees. Gannett also allows an individual to not disclose their race or ethnicity.
Larry Gallup is the editor of The Post-Crescent. Contact him at (920) 996-7216 or lgallup@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @LarryGallup.