*Gender Checks are quick examinations of gender representation in individual news articles for the purpose of discovering trends over time. Click here to read more.
Website: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (stltoday.com)
On Stltoday.com, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 17, was titled “Death penalty supporters advance bills in Illinois House.” Its subject was efforts to reinstate the death penalty in the state of Illinois.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Female
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
2. Male, state representative
Website: St. Louis Beacon
On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 17, was titled “Missouri House debate on Prop B reveals deep rural-urban split.” Its subject was a debate on regulations around dog breeding currently in the Missouri House.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, state representative
2. Male, state representative
3. Male, state senator
4. Male, president of the Humane Society of the United States
5. Male, state representative
6. Male, state representative
7. Male, state senator
8. Female, state senator
9. Female, state representative
10. Male, state representative
11. Male, state representative
12. Male, political science professor
13. Male, governor
14. Male, state House speaker
Notes/analysis: A lot of male voices dominated this story, but, as discussed in earlier Gender Checks, they also make up the majority of legislators in Missouri’s state government. However, the House has more of a balance than the Senate. Women make up more than 40 percent of the state House, while constituting only 23 percent of the state Senate.
The Gender Report 