Year: 2011

Gender Check 7/22/11 – South

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 Miami Herald

On the Miami Herald, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 11 a.m. (EST) on Friday, July 22 was titled “Feds Investigate Congressman David Rivera On Casino Contract.” Its subject was the inquiry into a $1 million consulting contract in Miami.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (shared byline)

–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male – Congressman (as quoted from an email)
  2. Male – attorney

Website: Patch (Seminole Heights)

On Patch of Seminole Heights, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 11 a.m. (EST) on Friday, July 22 was titled “Red Light Cameras Going Up.” Its subject was the addition of cameras to five Tampa intersections.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):

none

Notes/Analysis: Most of this information was being recycled from reporting originally posted on TBO.com. The author credits these other reporters, both male.

Gender check: 7/21/11 – 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 11:10 a.m. (PDT) Thursday, July 21, was titled “5-year-old fatally shot by brother, 10, in Belleville.” Its subject was the death of a 5-year-old boy by gunshots, the third fatal shooting involving a child recently in the area (all accidental).

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, police chief
  2. Male, police captain
  3. Female, grandmother of the boys
  4. Male, neighbor

Notes/analysis: The boys’ mother declined to comment.


Website: St. Louis Beacon

St. Louis Beacon, 7/21/11

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 1:10 a.m. (PDT) Thursday, July 21, was titled “Republican legislators announce deal that could affect China hub effort.” Its subject was a deal reached on economic development that also affects the state’s tax credit programs.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, spokesman (unnamed) for governor
  2. Male, state House speaker
  3. Male, state representative
  4. Male, chief executive of chamber of commerce and industry
  5. Male, chief executive of regional chamber and growth association

Notes/analysis: The article contains two mug shots, both of males. It also has an image from a press conference where the majority visible are male. As we’ve pointed out before, the majority of those in leadership in the Missouri Legislature are male. At last count, the state’s House of Representatives had 23 women and 34 men. Eight of the 34 members of the state’s Senate were female.

Gender Check 7/20/11 – 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 3 p.m. EST on Wednesday, July 20 was titled “British Leader Defends His Actions in Hacking Case.” Its subject was the testimony of Prime Minister David Cameron in the continued investigation into the phone hacking scandal

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male – prime minister
  2. Male – former editor
  3. Male – member of Parliament

Notes/Analysis: Much of this story and its quotes were taken from the testimonies of those involved, not direct interviews.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 10:30 a.m. EST on Wednesday, July 13 was titled “Justice Department Retracts Court Filings That Undercut FBI’S Anthrax Case.” Its subject was an investigation with the case involving a former Army microbiologist’s involvement in the Anthrax scare of 2001. The story was co-published with Frontline and McClatchy.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors:  Male (shared byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male – spokesman
  2. Male – Army technician
  3. Female – Army scientist

Notes/analysis: This story used mostly information from the legal filing for its sources and information.

Gender check: 7/19/11 – 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

“Gates money, best minds put to work ‘reinventing’ toilet” – Seattle Times, 7/19/2011

On the Seattle Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 11:10 a.m. (PDT) Tuesday, July 19, was titled “Gates money, best minds put to work ‘reinventing’ toilet.” Its subject was a new program by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at creating new sanitation innovations for the developing world.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, director of initiative
  2. Female, foundation co-chair
  3. Female, executive director of non-profit

Notes/analysis: The lead of the story only mentions Bill Gates, but the only photo with the story is a mug shot of Melinda Gates. Bill is not quoted, while she is.

Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 11:10 a.m. (PDT) Tuesday, July 19, was titled “State worker who stole, sold files sentenced.” Its subject was a less than two-year sentence for a man who pleaded guilty to selling confidential information.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, former worker (subject)
  2. Female, assistant U.S. attorney
  3. Female, defense attorney

World Cup brings normalcy to women’s sports

Joy BaconLeave a comment
Getty Images (Imae courtesy of http://www.fifa.com)

Despite the United States’ loss in the 2011 Fifa World Cup final to Japan, the tournament as a whole was a boost for the support of female athletes breaking twitter records and stereotypes both here and internationally.

The 1999 first-place finish for the American women is still remembered for Brandi Chastain’s shirtless celebration by many, including some media outlets who used the photo in their coverage of this year’s tournament. But this year’s second-place performance saw the team treated not as trailblazers, but as equals in their own right in a sport who’s women’s teams are often trivialized. The Huffington Post even used the tournament to highlight the role of Title IX in normalizing the access success of female athletes.

As Slate columnist Brian Phillips wrote, “the team managed to capture the nation’s attention without ever having to be a symbol for anything…They weren’t offering a corrective counterexample to the greedy/childish/immoral superstars playing men’s sports. They were just more or less kicking ass, as dramatically and unpredictably as possible.” Post-game coverage from Sports Illustrated.com and others also focused on the women’s performance as athletes, not as role models for their gender. The tournament’s media sponsor was Rogaine. For men.

However, some media coverage still angled to the role of women’s soccer on the international stage. Some fear that the game will start to become more like the men’s tournament, with over-dramatized injuries and theatrics that some say deters from the sport. Others worry that the increased popularity will take away from the diverse styles of play and creative strategies, rather than sheer physicality,  present in this year’s tournament. (Although the U.S. team was noted for being the fittest team in the team’s history.)

The team won’t be able to completely shake off its role-model persona; most local coverage of the tournament focused on young girls idolizing the tournament. But the tournament at least gave these athletes a well-deserved spot in the sports playbooks.

This is the Gender Report’s Week in Review, a weekly post that highlights some of the major stories related to gender issues this week. Some of these stories may have already appeared in our News Feed or in the week’s Gender Checks. We’ll at times include a longer analysis of stories as well as bring attention to stories that may have slipped through the cracks of the week’s news cycle.