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Readership by Region

• West/Northwest 16%
• North 8%
• Midwest: 16%
• South/Southeast 12%
• East 46%
• Alaska/Hawaii 1%
• International 1%

Readership Information

READERSHIP:
Nationwide, weekly readership of 120,000
(44% have been avid readers for 10-20 years.)

GENDER:
62% Female
38% Male

AVERAGE INCOME:
$30,000 - $100,000 (40%=$50,000 to $100,000)

EDUCATION:
80% of our readers are college graduates with varying degrees (More than 67% have a Master’s, Doctorate or Professional Degree.)

WORK BACKGROUND:
Educational professionals, ordained and non-ordained church ministry, health/medical professionals, business/finance professionals, counselors, art/music professionals, science/technology professionals, media-related professionals

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES:
Church (e.g., 56% in religious education, lector, eucharistic minister), fund raising, school/arts/civic, nursing home/shut-ins, social service, community pantry/soup kitchen, homeless and women’s shelters, ecology and health care

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:
Members of a parish/eucharistic community, meditation/centering prayer group, attend Mass weekly (60%), attend spiritual retreats, house of prayer, day of reflections, renewal and sabbatical programs, monastic and hermitage experiences and practice Tai Chi/Chi Gung and Yoga for spiritual development

CULTURAL/SOCIAL/LEISURE ACTIVITIES:
Attend music/dance performances, movies, museums/art shows/galleries (73%)
Take 1-10 trips nationally/internationally every year (53%)
Have traveled to another country in past 3 years (49%)
Participate in outdoor/indoor gardening (51%), cooking (41%),
photography (25%)

PEACE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE:
Attend peace rallies, take active roles in civic/social justice/disobedience issues, are members of nonviolence/social justice groups, traveled to a third world country

HEALTH/WELLNESS/AGING ACTIVITIES:
Read food labels, take vitamins, herbs or supplements, exercise regularly, shop at natural food stores and follow health conscious diets, members of health clubs, use message therapy/products, acupuncture and aromatherapy

HEALTH CARE VOLUNTEERS:
Involved in primary care for friend or relative, volunteer with hospice, assist in funeral planning

FAMILY/HOME LIFE:
Single and family dwellings, interested in family-based television and home schooling programs , live in households with pets

ENVIRONMENTAL:
Practice recycling/composting, use earth-friendly products, go backpacking/hiking and camping, support vegetarian lifestyles

CONTRIBUTIONS:
90% contribute to charities/nonprofit causes, parishes, food programs, Catholic Charities and Catholic education, children’s funds and United Way

INTERNET USAGE:
77% have access to internet at home or work, purchase on internet, arrange travel plans, purchase books/music/religious goods on internet, visit NCR’s web site and visit web sites mentioned in NCR or NCR’s web site

LEARNING/CREATIVITY:
Attend (or gave) workshops/lectures, conferences, study/pilgrimage tours, personal creative development courses, justice programs, internet or correspondence courses, foreign language courses, theological/spirituality programs

FINANCIAL PLANNING:
Homeowners, socially conscious investors, have annuities or planned giving programs

PURCHASING ACTIVITIES:
49% made purchases by mail or phone, 37% purchase religious goods and supplies, 28% read NCR classified section regularly, purchase products/good/services seen in NCR, 50% purchase 1-10 books per year and/or are members of book clubs, purchase CD’s, DVD’s, audio/video products or instructional tapes

Mission statement

The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company seeks to inform and inspire a just and peaceful world, serving as a platform for discussions of church, society and global community. As a company, we are committed in our publishing efforts to the Roman Catholic tradition and people. We identify with those trying to live by Christ's life-affirming teachings of justice and compassion.

Having developed through the inspiration of the Second Vatican Council, our spirit is independent, our management lay, our vision ecumenical. We attempt to contribute to the Catholic conversation by supporting freedom, honesty, openness and shared responsibility within the NCR reader community, the communities in which we live, and in the church, and by promoting the vision of a pilgrim church intimately linked with humanity and its history. We realize our unique responsibilities as North American Catholic publishers, both in our own society and in the worldwide faith community.

From these perspectives, our biweekly newspaper reports and comments on the church in the modern world. Both our print and Web publishing efforts foster an active, engaged spirituality in support of human dignity, social justice, environmental responsibility and world peace. As we dialogue within the Catholic community and with those beyond, we balance integrity and sensitivity, keeping an editorial vision that is both prophetic and reconciling -- discerning the work of God's Spirit and also aware of human limitations.

We try, in all our management and publishing decisions, to evaluate carefully the needs of the faith community we serve and to respond effectively to those needs.

About NCR

The National Catholic Reporter is the independent Catholic newspaper that has covered events related to the church in the world since 1964. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council, NCR continues to meet the need for aggressive reporting of the religious dimension of the news and provides an open forum for reader discussion. Insightful articles challenge our readership of more than 100,000 who want to know the facts, yet want to form their own opinions as free thinkers in today's church.

NCR has won the Catholic Press Association's Award for General Excellence for the past eight years. Our senior correspondent was a leader of CNN's coverage of the last papal conclave, and our editorial staff includes Pulitzer Prize nominees and former writers for TIME Magazine, RNS, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. We benefit from our relationships with a network of 200 writers and journalists, whose articles have also appeared in The New York Times, U.S. Catholic, Sojourners, The Sun, Newsday, The Tablet and Christian Century, among others. The New York Times has called NCR "a brave little newspaper." A Kansas City magazine referred to NCR as "the gutsiest newspaper in the U.S. -- and maybe the world."

The Kansas City-based, lay-edited NCR is proud of its editors and writers and of its 44-year history. NCR first went to press in October 1964 during the Second Vatican Council. It was very much the "godchild" of the council -- and was, indeed, part of the needed fresh air of which Pope John XXIII spoke when he announced the council a few years earlier. From NCR's energetic beginnings, through its adolescence, it has now settled into adulthood with new confidence and purpose.

Shortly before he died, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin told NCR's publisher that he viewed NCR as a "candle providing light during a long dark night." He added that it was our responsibility to make certain that the NCR candle would stay lit until the dawn. This is a responsibility that we feel blessed to take seriously.

VALUES
We are called to:

JUSTICE
bringing light to darkness, hope to the marginalized of the world

RENEWAL
operating out of the spirit of the Second Vatican Council

COMPASSION
making forgiveness and love foundational in our actions

HUMAN DIGNITY
respect and honor for all members of the human family

INCLUSIVENESS
embracing the global family, its rich diversity and sacredness of all creation

EXCELLENCE
striving to achieve the highest quality of journalism

"National Catholic Reporter is a brave little newspaper" -- The New York Times