Midwest

These are Gender Checks of two sites from the Midwest — St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Beacon.

Gender check: 7/7/11 – 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 9:30 a.m. (PST) Thursday, July 7, was titled “St. Louis closes 18th Street bridge for emergency repairs.” Its subject was closures as a result of repairs to a bridge.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, traffic commissioner

Notes/analysis: The story was only five graphs long and simply detailed expected closures, delays and alternative routes.

Website: St. Louis Beacon

St. Louis Beacon, 7/7/11

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 9:30 a.m. (PST) July 7, was titled “As anti-terrorism funding shrinks, controversy grows over how to spend it.” Its subject was cuts to funding bringing about debates in how the security funds should be used.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Female, Department of Homeland secretary
  2. Male, U.S. representative
  3. Male, U.S. representative
  4. Male, public safety administrator
  5. Female, director of emergency services and homeland security
  6. Male, task force member
  7. Male, research fellow
  8. Male, U.S. senator
  9. Male, spokesman for male U.S. representative
  10. Female, spokeswoman for female U.S. senator
  11. Male, U.S. representative
  12. Male, spokesman for male U.S. senator

Notes/analysis: The article also contains a number of mug shots of sources — four of men and one of a woman.

Gender check: 6/30/11 – 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)

Stltoday.com, 6/30/2011

On Stltoday.com, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8:45 a.m. (PST) Thursday, June 30, was titled “Former Brentwood official admits stealing $30,000 for gambling.” Its subject was a former city administrator admits to embezzling.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Male, mayor
  2. Males (2), defense lawyers (together said)
  3. Male, former city administrator, suspect

Website: St. Louis Beacon

St. Louis Beacon, 6/30/11

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8:45 a.m. (PST) June 30, was titled “In Morehouse, people are recovering from flood, one step at a time.” Its subject was a look at how the people of one community are dealing with the after-effects of flooding.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

  1. Female, resident
  2. Male, mayor
  3. Male, resident
  4. Male, FEMA spokesperson
  5. Female, Hoopa group (helping)
  6. Male, reverend
  7. Female, resident

Notes/analysis: The article also contains a photo slideshow. Those images with human figures feature a single person. There were five with males (two of the mayor) and four with females.

Gender check: 6/23/11 – 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 12:30 p.m. (PST) Thursday, June 23, was titled “St. Louis woman charged; police say she lied about carjacking.” Its subject was a woman charged with making a false report after lying about a carjacking.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, accused (via court documents)


Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 12:30 p.m. (PST) Thursday, June 23, was titled “Analysis: Obama’s troop withdrawals from Afghanistan reflect domestic pressures.” Its subject was a look at the decision to draw down troops and focus attentions “at home.”

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author:  Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, U.S. senator (Democrat)

2. Male, U.S. senator (Democrat)

3. Male, U.S. senator (Republican) (via op-ed)

4. Male, then-U.S. senator

5. Unknown, “senior administration official” (Unnamed)

6. Male, “senior administration official” (Unnamed)

Notes/analysis: The article also refers to statements from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as well as other offices and statistics.

Gender check: 6/16/11 – 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 11:25 a.m. (PST) Thursday, June 16, was titled “Missouri River to be high but manageable all summer, barring torrents of rain.” Its subject was a discussion on the flood potential of the Missouri River.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, chief of Weather Service office

2. Male, commander of Army Corps of Engineers district

Notes/analysis: The photo accompanying the story features two males. It was taken by a male photographer.


Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 11:25 a.m. (PST) Thursday, June 16, was titled “Blunt visits Guantanamo, calls for two more terror suspects to be tried there.” Its subject was a U.S. senator speaks about his tour of Guantanamo.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, U.S. senator

2. Male, a spokesman (unnamed)

3. Unknown, attorney

Notes/analysis: The story was based mainly on a call with reporters with the U.S. senator sharing his thoughts after a tour of the facility, making him the main and dominate source.

Gender check: 6/9/11 – 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 12:30 p.m. (PST) Thursday, June 9, was titled “Medic critically injured in flurry of gunfire in University City.” Its subject was a fire department medic shot during gunfire outside a laundromat.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, fire captain

2. Male, city police captain

3. Male, fire captain

Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 12:30 p.m. (PST) Thursday, June 9, was titled “Electronic medical records prove to be critical in Joplin disaster.” Its subject was access to medical records in the aftermath of the Joplin tornado.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, patient

2. Male, chief of technology services company

Notes/analysis: The photo with the story showing hospital services features a number of people, mostly females, though none were quoted in the story.