At the Inquirer 17.2 percent of the newsroom staff is nonwhite, which is above the industry average of 13.4 percent. But in 2005 the paper's number of minority journalists decreased for the first time in five years.

"This is an industry-wide phenomenon," says Keith Woods, dean of faculty of the Poynter Institute for journalism, "and the future crisis of American newspapers. I don't have any doubt that American newspapers will become white female more and more."

With the buyout the Inquirer has lost an estimated 10 black journalists. Possible layoffs threaten more.
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