Author: Joy Bacon

Week in Review: Jan. 31 – Feb. 4

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*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.

Healthcare legislation

This week the GOP moved forward with its plan to dismantle Obama’s healthcare plan by focusing on portions of the legislation dealing with federal funds for abortions. On Monday H.R.3, named  the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” introduced language that would redefine the terms under which a woman could receive federal funds for an abortion after rape or incest. The proposed change aimed to limit funding to pregnancies resulting from “forcible” rape. After criticism from several groups, a spokesman for Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), one of the bill’s authors, said the word “forcible” would be dropped. He told the Washington Post Thursday that lawmakers decided to change the term because it was being “misconstrued.” The bill will now revert back to the language already in place through the Hyde Amendment.

The Hyde Amendment*, originally passed in 1976, governs the current uses and restrictions of federal funds used for abortions. Federal funds cannot be used except in cases of rape, incest, or when a mother’s life is in danger. It also bans abortion funding for women on Medicaid, women in the military or Peace Corps, and those who receive medical care from Indian Health Services. The bill proposed by Smith and other sponsors will make the restrictions set in place by the Hyde Amendment a permanent appropriations law. Currently it has to be recodfied in appropriations each year.

Planned Parenthood also took the spotlight later in this week’s news cycle after undercover videos showed employees giving medical advice to men posing as pimps of child prostitutes. One worker was fired as a result of the tapes. Some members of Congress are using the videos as momentum to remove all federal funding from the organization under H.R.614.  Live Action, the group responsible for the videos, claims staff turned a blind eye to sexual trafficking and exploitation of minors.

Thursday, 27 groups sent a letter to Congress in support of Planned Parenthood, including the NAACP and Sierra Club. “Right-wing groups are once again attempting to destroy an organization dedicated to providing crucial primary care services to Americans that need them most. Armed with heavily edited videos, countless lies, and a shameless echo chamber that repeats unfounded accusations ad nauseam, they’ve now turned their sights to Planned Parenthood, which offers a range of important health and reproductive services,” the letter reads (as taken from POLITICO excerpt).

According to its website, over 3 million men and women received health-related services from Planned Parenthood’s 820 health centers last year, including 1 million Pap tests and 4 million tests and treatment for STDs. Three percent of all Planned Parenthood health services are abortion services. Currently the organization does not receive federal money for any of its abortion services.

In Other News

A study released this week showed that after 10 years, Wikipedia’s contributor base consisted of less than 15 percent female authors.  The disparity also shows up in the emphasis of posts by male vs. female authors. Sue Gardner, the executive director of the foundation, has set a goal to raise the share of female contributors to 25 percent by 2015 (as reported in the New York Times).

*The link to the full text of the Hyde Amendment was taken from the National Right to Life website. The site provided the most easily accessible link to the original legislation, but is not in any way an endorsement of this group or its stance on this issue. Whenever possible the Gender Report tries to link to original sources and primary documents or otherwise fully cites any reprinted quotes or information.

Gender Check: 2/5/11 – South

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*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 3 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Feb. 5 was titled “Florida: Did bank rob us?” Its subject was a pending lawsuit against a New York-based bank for allegedly defrauding the state’s pension fund.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female – state attorney general (as quoted from a released statement)

2. unknown- spokesperson

3. male – lawyer (declined comment but still mentioned by name and title)

4. unknown- spokesperson

5. male – former executive director

6. male – governor of California

7. male – businessman

8. male – lawyer

Notes/analysis: This story was taken from the St. Petersburg Times, for which the reporter is a full-time writer. A large portion of the article’s information or statements came from officially released statements or other public statements. Few of the parties involved went on record for separate interviews.


Website: Patch (Seminole Heights)

On Patch of Seminole Heights, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 3:15 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Feb. 5 was titled “Point Guards Excel at Chamberlain and Tampa Catholic.” Its subject was a weekly feature on a male and female athlete from the area.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female – coach of female athlete featured

2. Male – coach of male athlete featured

Notes/analysis: In a rare change of pace for a sports feature, the female athlete is highlighted first in this post. Of the three photos accompanying the story, one is of the female basketball player, but the male photo is the home image.

Gender Check: 2/2/11 – Northeast

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*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: 1/28/11 – South

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*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: 1/26/11 Northeast

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*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 12:15 p.m. EST on Jan. 26 was titled “Protesters in Egypt Defy Ban as Government Cracks Down.” Its subject was the continuing protests in Cairo after the Egyptian government outlawed any public gatherings.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male and Female (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Assumed Male – Official Interior Ministry statement. Minister is male.

2. Female – U.S. ambassador to Egypt

3. Female – U.S. secretary of state

4. Male – human rights advocate

5. Male – researcher director at the Carnegie Middle East Center

6. Male – Egyptian protestor

7. Female – Egyptian protestor

8. Female – mother of Egyptian protestor

9. Female – doctor who participated in the protests

Notes/analysis: A well-balanced representation of the story in terms of gender. Both male and female Egyptians participated in the protests and that is reflected in the story. The lead photo with the story appears to only picture male protestors confronting police but gender identification is not clear.


Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 12:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 26 was titled “Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May be Overstated.” tIts subject was the EPA’s new analysis of the effects of natural gas as a primary energy source in the United States.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female – energy expert and professor at Carnegie Mellon University (cited her study, not directly quoted)

2. Male – CEO of a large energy company

3. Male – environmental biology professor at Cornell University (cited his research and comments)

4. Male – policy analyst

5. Male – president of a large energy company

Notes/analysis: A large portion of the information for the article comes from studies or comments and research from organizations or unnamed researchers.