*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 2:30 p.m. MST May 12 was titled “Gunman who caused Rolla campus lockdown captured.” Its subject was the capture of a gunman.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author:
Female and male, dual byline
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, police chief
2. Female, secretary of freshmen engineering department
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) May 12 was titled “With veto-proof majorities, legislature passes new abortion restrictions.” Its subject was the Missouri Legislature passing restrictions that would make it a felony to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless two physicians determined the woman’s life or bodily function is endangered or the fetus is non-viable.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author:
Male and female, dual byline
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, head of anti-abortion lobbying group
2. Female, Planned Parenthood’s vp for public policy
3. Male, House majority leader
4. Male, state representative
5. Female, state representative
6. Female, state representative
Notes/analysis: Though the split is even for both genders in authorship and sources, it is interesting to note that regarding an issue that directly affects women the sources are divided by gender — the male sources speak on the anti-abortion side of the debate and all the female sources opposing the restrictions.
The Gender Report 