Not sure what to make of this, but …

… according to this piece in the Los Angeles Times (Bugmenot will get you in without registration), the Sacramento Bee has the most diverse sports staff of any big newspaper in the country.

The level of The Bee’s diversity wasn’t noted in the LAT piece, but the national stats showed that “94.7% of sports editors, 89.9% of columnists and 87.4% of reporters are white. The study also showed that 95% of the editors, 93% of the columnists and 90% of the reporters are male.” From the LAT:

The report, the first of its kind, was released Thursday at the Associated Press Sports Editors’ convention in Las Vegas. It was requested last year by the APSE board. [Richard] Lapchick, who compiles similar reports on professional sports leagues and the NCAA, said this was his first such report requested by the organization studied.

“We hope they’ll be looking at this as a tool by which to expand who will be hired in the future, to better represent the workforce and the athletes they are covering,” Lapchick said, noting that women make up 40% of the country’s workforce, that minorities constitute more than 37%, that black athletes dominate the NFL and NBA, and that Latinos have a strong presence in baseball and soccer.