BY GINA HOLLAND/AP

American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) began tracking minority newsroom employment numbers 23 years ago. Through recruiting programs, that percentage increased every year-but this one.

According to the 2000 Census, some 27 percent of the U.S. population 18 years or older are Latino, African American, Asian American, Native American or Pacific Islander. But minorities hold just 11.64 percent of full-time jobs at newspapers, down from 11.85 percent a year ago, the ASNE study showed.

"It’s painful to hear," said John Seigenthaler, founder of the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. "If the commitment has diminished, that shocking news of a decline will, in my view, reinvigorate" it.

In the past year, 698 minority journalists left the field, many quitting jobs at small newspapers, ASNE said. The hiring of roughly 600 minorities for first-time newsroom jobs- more than in any year of the past decade-didn’t offset the loss.

"It’s certainly not for the lack of good intentions," said William Hilliard, retired editor of The Oregonian of Portland and former ASNE president. OThere’s been an effort you wouldn’t believe to diversify newsrooms over the last 15 to 20 years. This was a closed profession."

But Hilliard, who is black, also said the atmosphere in newspaper offices needs to change. He said minorities "don’t feel as comfortable as they’d like to feel in newsrooms."

The retention rate for minorities declined from 96 percent to 90 percent, according to the ASNE study based on data this year from 950 newspapers.

The study, released on April 4 at the editors’ convention in Washington, found that minorities hold 6,563 of the 56,393 newsroom jobs at daily newspapers, down from 6,665 last year. The breakdown was 2,951 blacks, 2,064 Hispanics, 1,299 Asian Americans and 249 American Indians.

Charles L. Overby, chairman of the Freedom Forum, which promotes media issues, said newspaper managements "are notorious for ‘sink or swim’ mentalities." He recommended that editors nurture new employees to improve retention rates.

The Freedom Forum, ASNE and the Associated Press Managing Editors organization are partners in a program to bring minority journalists to small newspapers. In response to the findings, the editors group is beginning a study of newsroom management practices that affect retention.

The study also found:
* Two-thirds of minority journalists work at papers with circulations over 100,000. In all, 422 newspapers, or 44 percent, had no minority staff, up from 39 percent a year ago.
* Women hold about 37 percent of newsroom jobs, about the same as a year ago. Also steady was the percent of female supervisors, 34 percent.
* About one-fourth of men in the business are supervisors, 44 percent are reporters, 18 percent copy editors and 13 percent photographers. For women, 22 percent are supervisors, 21 percent copy editors, 49 percent reporters and 8 percent photographers.