Gender Checks

Gender Check – 3/23/11 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 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 23 was titled “Tokyo Says Radiation In Water Puts Infants At Risk.” Its subject was the growing anxiety about contamination from Japan’s damaged nuclear power plants.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male and Female (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Japanese official

2. Male – Japanese prime minister

3. Male – Japanese official

4. unknown- anonymous Western source

5. Male – clerk in Tokyo store

6. Male – Japanese resident

Notes/analysis: As the disaster in Japan continues to unfold, it is interesting to keep tracking the gender balance of victims portrayed and who is given official voice in the crisis.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 23 was titled “Aftershock: The Blast That Shook Psycho Platoon.” Its subject was the effects of blast concussions sustained during combat and the psychological treatment options. The story was a co-investigation with a reporter from NPR.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Iraqi veteran

2. Female – police officer

3. Male – staff army sergeant

4. Male – staff army sergeant

5. Male – soldier

6. Male – soldier

7. Male – army neuropsychologist

8. Female – doctor

9. Female – professor

10. Female – army doctor

11. Male – army officer

12. Male – father of a soldier

13. Male – friend of a soldier

14. Female – sister of soldier

15. Male – retired colonel

16. Male – director of veteran’s trauma center

17. Male – PTSD expert

18. Female – wife of soldier

19. Female – daughter of soldier

20. Female – wife of soldier

Notes/analysis: In a story focusing on the traumatic effects of war, all the soldiers featured were male, and with the exception of one father, all the family members interviewed were female.

Gender check: 3/22/11 – 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 5:15 p.m. (MST) March 22, was titled “City suspends DUI cases while police investigate rubber-stamping of arrests.” Its subject was an investigation into the process of DUI cases at the city police department.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Two males, one female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, city attorney

2. Male, head of police union

3. Female, spokeswoman for city attorney’s office

4. Male, police department spokesman

5. Male, spokesman for county attorney’s office

6. Male, sergeant with county sheriff’s office

7. Female, spokeswoman for state patrol

Notes/analysis: The article also contained quotes from written statements.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 5:15 p.m. (MST) on March 22, was titled “Kentlake teacher accused of having sex with 17-year-old student, charged with sexual misconduct.” Its subject was a female high school teacher charged with having sex with a male student.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, suspect (according to the charging documents)

2. Female, detective

3. Male, senior deputy prosecutor

Notes/analysis: Other than the boy, the only other additional subject mentioned was his mother.

Gender check: 3/17/11 – 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 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 17, was titled “Death penalty supporters advance bills in Illinois House.” Its subject was efforts to reinstate the death penalty in the state of Illinois.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

2. Male, state representative


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) Thursday, March 17, was titled “Missouri House debate on Prop B reveals deep rural-urban split.” Its subject was a debate on regulations around dog breeding currently in the Missouri House.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, state representative

2. Male, state representative

3. Male, state senator

4. Male, president of the Humane Society of the United States

5. Male, state representative

6. Male, state representative

7. Male, state senator

8. Female, state senator

9. Female, state representative

10. Male, state representative

11. Male, state representative

12. Male, political science professor

13. Male, governor

14. Male, state House speaker

Notes/analysis: A lot of male voices dominated this story, but, as discussed in earlier Gender Checks, they also make up the majority of legislators in Missouri’s state government. However, the House has more of a balance than the Senate. Women make up more than 40 percent of the state House, while constituting only 23 percent of the state Senate.

Gender Check 3/16/11 – 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 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 16 was titled “U.S. Calls Radiation ‘Extremely High’ And Urges Deeper Caution In Japan.” Its subject was the developments with Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (three bylines)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

2. Male – spokesman for Tokyo Electric

3. Male – spokesman for NRC

4. Female – U.S. senator

5. Male – U.S. energy secretary

Notes/analysis: As much of the news will be dominated by the developing crisis and recovery in Japan, a study of the photographs is particularly interesting from a gender breakdown. Are women more prominent in photos of the surviving victims?

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 16 was titled “Army Plans New Guidelines To Resolve Denials Of Purple Hearts to Brain-Injured Soldiers.” Its subject was a possible change in guidelines to accept brain injuries as legitimate combat injuries, making those soldiers eligible for the distinguished honor. The story was a co-investigation with a reporter from NPR.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: Male (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – Army general

2. Male – senior medical officer

3. Male – Army director of soldier programs and services

4. Male – U.S. congressman

5. Female – Army wife and founder of related organization

6. Male – retired army sergeant

Notes/analysis:

Gender check: 3/15/11 – 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 3 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 15, was titled “Prosecutors to seek death penalty in corrections officer’s slaying.” Its subject was prosecutors announcing they would be requesting the death penalty in the case of a male inmate who strangled to death a female correctional officer.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, prosecuting attorney

2. Male, superintendent of the corrections facility

3. Male, suspect and inmate (according to probable cause statement)

Notes/analysis: There is one photo with the story. It features four males. This case has been one that’s cropped up before during an earlier Gender Check post in February. That lengthier article on the concerns for correctional officers had more balance in its sources with five females out of 12 sources. The article was also had a shared byline by both a male and a female writer.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 3 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 15, was titled “Charge: Seattle-area conman nets $2.3 mil in inheritance scheme.” Its subject was a man being charged with four counts of first-degree theft for conning $2.3 million from a business man as well as roughly $171,000 from a second man.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, detective