Year: 2011

Gender Check: 2/2/11 – 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 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 2 was titled “Clashes in Cairo between Mubarak’s Allies and Foes .” Its subject was the developing violence of protests in Egypt.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Males (three bylines)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. female – unidentified Egyptian

2. male – president of Egypt (cited from television address)

3. male – president of United States (cited from pubic speech)

4. unknown –  unidentified Egyptian official

5. male – press secretary of United States

6. male – prime minister of Britain (cited from official statement)

7. male – opposition leader in Egypt (cited from official statement)

8. male – health minister of Egypt (cited from AP interview)

9. male – Egyptian who attended the protests

10. male – unidentified Egyptian who attended the protests

11. male – Egyptian

12. male – Egyptian demonstrator

13. male – Egyptian demonstrator

14. male – unidentified military spokesman

Notes/analysis: Previous posts and links have explored the joint roles both men and women are taking on in the Cairo demonstrations. Accompanying the lead story was a photo slide show of the demonstrations. Of the 18 images, one subject is female.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 2 was titled “The Real CSI: How America’s Patchwork System of Death Investigations puts the Living at Risk.” Its subject was America’s mortuary and autopsy practices are raising concerns in the criminal justice system. The story was produced in conjunction with Frontline and NPR.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: 3 male, 1 female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. male – forensic science consultant

2. male – coroner

3. female – medical examiner, author of report used for basis of story

4. male – doctor performing an autopsy

5. male – doctor

6. male -doctor and colleague of earlier source

7. female – civil rights attorney

8. female – sibling of autopsy recipient

9. unknown – unidentified assistant district attorney

10. male – family member of victim of incomplete autopsy

11. male – coroner and former police chief

12. male – forensic pathologist

13. male – sibling of autopsy recipient

14. male – Undersecretary for Forensic Science and Technology

15. male – Arkansas chief medical examiner

16. female – Kentucky chief medical examiner

17. male – former chief medical examiner in a Texas county

18. male – investigator in Oklahoma

19. male – forensic pathologist

20. male – former homicide detective

21. female – family member of autopsy recipient

22. male – investigator in Los Angeles

Notes/analysis: Deceased recipients of the autopsies mentioned in the story were not included in the source breakdown of the story, as they are not directly quoted. One of the seven accompanying photos, taken from the Frontline documentary, has a female subject.

Gender check: 2/1/11 – 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 2:45 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 1, was titled “Authorities fooled again by dangerous inmate?” Its subject was concerns over the safety of officers in the Department of Corrections following the death of a female correctional officer. A male prisoner is suspected of strangling her.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male and female (dual byline). In addition, a male and female contributed.

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, deputy prisons director

2. Female, governor

3. Female, secretary of a corrections officer union

4. Male, department of corrections secretary

5. Male, relative of victim

6. Female, daughter of long-time boyfriend of victim

7. Female, police spokeswoman

8. Male, former inmate

9. Male, spokesman

10. Male, prison director

11. Female, retired corrections officer and administrator

12. Male, retired prison sergeant

Notes/analysis: For an article with a large number of sources, this was fairly well balanced in terms of its gender breakdown with five women out of 12 sources. As has started to come out, this wasn’t the first time a female officer was attacked in this facility. Two women working at the same complex the victim in this case did were allegedly attacked in the last six months. According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report, men outnumber women three to one among correctional officers and custody staff that work in direct contact with inmates. Men also make up the vast majority of prisoners. Approximately 91.9 percent of Washington state’s prisoners in 2009 were men, according to an offender fact card from the state Department of Corrections.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:45 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 1, was titled “State settles ‘horrific’ Seattle child-abuse case for $6.55 million.” Its subject was a settlement by the state Department of Health and Human Services regarding case in which six boys were abused for years and repeated complaints were made without follow up.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, attorney

2. Female, Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman

Week in Review: Jan. 24-28

Jasmine R. Linabary1 Comment

*Week in Review is 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.

State of the Union

President Barack Obama gave his second State of the Union address Tuesday, discussing a plan to “win the future.” Media outlets focused in on key issues in the speech such as investing in education and infrastructure to stay competitive with other nations as well as working to reduce the deficit.

The blogosphere was a”twitter” with commentary, including some women who noted the absence of certain social issues. During their #sheparty discussion on Twitter on Wednesday, the Women’s Media Center asked what the take was on Obama’s speech. Commenters noticed missing issues such as equal pay, violence against women and abortion.

Also observed was the coverage of the speech. A post at Feministing provided a roundup of commentary on the address, noting at the end that it was “virtually impossible to find any female pundits commenting on the SOTU on the nation’s most notable progressive media outlets.”

At the same time, the Women’s Media Center released its report card for Obama on the state of the union for women and children, giving him an overall pass “with room for improvement.” Obama’s lowest grade on the report card, aside from some incompletes, was a C for appointing women. It cites the Center for American Women and Politics and notes that Obama appointed women to fill seven of 22 existing cabinet or sub-cabinet positions, or approximately 32 percent. The high for women was under President Bill Clinton at 42 percent. It also partly holds Obama responsible as a leader of the Democratic party for the lack of women running in recent elections. Quoting Katherine Kleeman with the CAWP, the report card notes, “the Democrats aren’t putting as much effort as the Republicans into grooming great women candidates at the local level.”

In other news

Also this week, women were part of the dialogue on the situations on Tunisia and Egypt. N’Dri Assie-Lumumba, a professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University, has noted that women are playing significant roles in these social movements. She says, “Even if African and Middle Eastern women don’t always have easy access to public platforms to express their ideas and voice their opinions,… they have consistently constituted a formidable and determining force in the struggle against any system of oppression.”

Here are a couple articles to check out if you’ve missed them.

-NPR: “In Tunisia, Women Play Equal Role In Revolution”

-AFP: “Tunisian women fear Islamist return”

-Guardian: “An eyewitness account (by a woman) of the Egypt protests”

-Daily Beast: “Egypt Revolution: the Purity Protests” (Women increasingly taking part in the politics of the street)

Gender Check: 1/28/11 – South

Joy Bacon2 Comments
*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 2 p.m. EST on Jan. 28, was titled “State issues temporary ban on fake cocaine.” Its subject was a recent state ban on bath salts and other products that produce a similar result to cocaine and LSD when snorted.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female – Florida attorney general

2. Male – county sherif

3. Male – president of Florida senate

4. Male – Florida law enforcement commissioner

Notes/analysis:


Website: Patch (Seminole Heights)

On Patch, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2 p.m. EST on Jan. 28 was titled “’We could be in the same place’; locals pitch in for countywide homeless count.” Its subject was a recent survey of the homeless population in Hillsborough County.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female – volunteer with local non-profit agency

2. Male – project manager with local non-profit agency

3. Male – volunteer

4. Male – CEO of the Homeless Coalition

Notes/analysis: Although not directly related to the breakdown of the story, one of the sources had an interesting statement about the issue of homelessness. He said  there is no discrimination when it comes to those who have nowhere to go. “Homelessness affects everyone – men, women, white, Hispanic, whatever.”

Gender check: 1/27/11 – 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 2:30 p.m. (MST) Thursday, Jan. 27, was titled “No federal disaster aid for Missouri tornado victims.” Its subject was about a decision that victims of storms around New Year’s would not be receiving federal disaster aid.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, FEMA spokesman

2. Male, mayor

3. Male, governor (paraphrased)

4. Male, PIO for related agency (paraphrased)

Notes/analysis: All of the sources in the article were male. No comments were yet included from the actual victims of the storm.


Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:15 p.m. (MST) Thursday, Jan. 27, was titled “Educators welcome Obama’s emphasis on schools.” Its subject was local education officials’ responses and opinions on President Barack Obama’s comments about education in Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, U.S. president

2. Female, president of Missouri NEA

3. Male, dean of education at university

4. Male, executive director of charter school group

5. Female, state education commissioner

Notes/analysis: The article includes a balanced gender mix of state sources in education. The article also includes two mug shots — one of a female and one of a male source.