Month: March 2011

Gender check: 3/3/11 – Midwest

Jasmine R. LinabaryLeave a comment

*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 2:45 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 3, was titled “Jury finds Shepard guilty after he confesses killing University City police sergeant.” Its subject was a man, who the article describes as “mixed race but considers himself black,” being found guilty by a jury after admitting to killing a white police officer, partly as retribution for the shooting of his girlfriend, also black, by a different white police officer who was later cleared in the incident.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, suspect

2. Male, judge

3. Male, prosecutor


Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:45 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 3, was titled “29,000 answers, one question: How do cities grow?.” Its subject was a look at a population loss of 29,000 people over the course of a decade in St. Louis and what that says about the city and its future.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, resident, talk show host

2. Male, alderman

3. Female, press secretary for mayor

4. Male, director of research

5. Male, executive director of restoration group

6. Male, new arrival

7. Female, new arrival (married to above, moved due to her job)

8. Female, new arrival

9. Male, alderman

10. Male, alderman

11. Male, alderman

12. Female, resident, formerly did city planning work

Notes/analysis: The City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen is composed of 28 ward representatives, eight of which are female.

Gender Check 3/2/11 Northeast

Joy BaconLeave a comment
*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: The New York Times

On The New York Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8 p.m. EST on March 2 was titled “Justices Rule For Protestors At Military Funerals. ” Its subject was the Supreme Court’s decision 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist church’s right to free speech under the First Amendment.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – chief justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the majority opinion)

2. Male – justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the dissent)

3. Male – justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the concurring opinion)

Notes/analysis: None of the quotes used in the story came from interviews, but rather the written rulings in the case. Currently three of the nine justices are women.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8 p.m. EST on March 2 was titled “A Test Where The Banks Had The Questions And The Answers.” Its subject was the upcoming tests for banks by the Federal Reserve and possible problems with the current way banks are evaluated.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – national bank executive

2. Male -national bank executive

3. Male – wealthy citizen

4. Male – financial analyst

5. Male – member of Congressional oversight panel

6. Male – law professor

Notes/analysis: It’s not surprising that a story focusing on financial systems and banking executives is dominated, exclusively, by male sources.

Gender check: 3/1/11 – West

Jasmine R. LinabaryLeave a comment

*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: Seattle Times

On the Seattle Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 1, was titled “State’s monthly job results good, as unemployment drops.” Its subject was the drop in unemployment and strongest monthly job picture in three years.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, chief economist

2. Male, spokesman

Notes/analysis: The article was mostly recently released numbers from the Employment Security Department.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 1, was titled “Report: Early warnings kept from Seattle School Board.” Its subject was a look at who had knowledge of a report that warned of a billing scandal in a small business contracting program for the school district based on information revealed through internal documents that were recently released.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, former director of facilities (from note)

2. Female, former prosecutor (from report she prepared)

3. Male, accountant

4. Male, former employee, subject of issue (in e-mail)

Notes/analysis: Most sources were referenced from documents they had written that were recently released such as a report, e-mails and notes. At the center of the issue are a male employee and a male supervisor of that employee. Also now in question is the female schools superintendent.