Gender Checks

Gender Check: 1/26/11 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 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.

 

Gender check: 1/25/11 – 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 1 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Jan. 25, was titled “$10 million settlement for family of man shoved into wall by King Co. deputy.” Its subject was crime and courts, related to a settlement reached in a high-profile case.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, attorney

2. Male, prosecutor (opinions are paraphrased, not directly quoted)

3. Female, sheriff

4. Female, victim’s wife

Notes/analysis: See below.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 1 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Jan. 25, was titled “King County settles Cinerama excessive force lawsuit.” Its subject was the same as that of the Seattle Times article.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, victim’s wife

2. Female, sheriff

3. Male, attorney

Notes/analysis: Both news sites had coverage of the same issue as their lead story today — the conclusion, with a settlement, of a case that involved a male deputy shoving a man into a wall and causing him severe brain injuries. The authors both included for the most part the same sources, but reversed the gender order in which they were referenced. The Seattle P-I article put more emphasis on the victim’s wife’s statement by including lengthier direct quotes and placing them at the beginning of the story.

Gender check: 1/21/11 – 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 3:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 21  was titled “Cop-killer’s tearful mom: I didn’t know son would open fire on police.” Its subject was an ongoing news story in Miami covering the death of two police officers while serving the shooter a warrant for a previous murder.

Here is its gender breakdown:

-Author: males (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1.Female – mother of the shooter


Website: Patch (Seminole Heights)

On Patch, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of3:45 p.m. EST, was titled “Tampa council turns down liquor store on Hillsborough Avenue.” Its subject was a recent decision to deny a permit to a liquor store located near a church and city park.

Here is its gender breakdown:

-Author: male

-Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – resident near the proposed store

2. Male – lawyer representing company making request

3. Male – president of neighborhood association

4. Female – resident near the proposed store

Notes/analysis: The Tampa City Council consists of 3 female and 4 male council members.

Gender check: 1/20/11 – 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 the Stltoday.com, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2 p.m. (MST) Thursday, Jan. 20, was titled “Kids on sleds, people pushing cars common sights around the city.” Its subject was weather and the effects of the latest winter storm.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Two males, plus two male contributors

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, spokeswoman for department of transportation

2. Female, district maintenance engineer

3. Male, highway patrol

4. Male, airport spokesman

Notes/analysis: Attached to the article are 14 photos, all but three with human subjects. Only two of the subjects pictured were female and 14 were male. A few of the male subjects were repeated in several photos.  Two subjects’ genders could not be determined.


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, Jan. 20, was titled “In State of the State, Nixon sounds optimistic note in tough economic times.” Its subject was politics and the Missouri governor’s address to the state’s legislature.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, governor (D)

2. Male, political science professor

3. Male, lieutenant governor (R)

4. Male, Senate majority leader (R)

5. Male, House speaker (R)

6. Male, state senator (D)

Notes/analysis: All the sources in this article are male, but so are the majority of those in leadership in the Missouri Legislature. In the state’s House of Representatives, there are 23 women and 34 men. Eight of the 34 members of the state’s Senate are female.

Gender check: 1/19/11 – 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 3:45 p.m. eastern time on January 19 was titled “Obama Pushes Hu on Rights but Stresses Ties to China.” Its subject was the president of China’s current visit to the White House to discuss trade and other diplomatic topics.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Authors: both female and male (dual byline)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – president Obama from a press conference

2. Male – president Hu from a press conference

3. Female – secretary of state Hillary Clinton, quoted from her appearance on a morning talk show

Notes/analysis:

Article is a basis news story covering a political presentation from the White House. Outside sources are not directly quoted, so gender breakdown depends entirely on the gender representation in leadership political positions.

Website: ProPublica

On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 4 p.m. eastern on Jan. 19, was titled “Life Tenure for Federal Judges Raises Issues of Senility, Dementia.”  Its subject was the possible dangers of aging judges being allowed to continue in their positions. It was co-published with Slate.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male (freelance). A male intern also is credited with contributing to the report.

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male – federal judge

2. unknown- unnamed lawyer who works for the above mentioned judge

3. Male – defense attorney

4. Male – Alexander Hamilton’s comments during the creation of the Constitution

5. Male – scholar at Cambridge University

6. Male –  judge on 6th circuit Court of Appeals

7. Male – U.S. district judge

8. Male – U.S. district judge

9. Male – chief of 7th circuit Court of Appeals

10. Male – assistant federal defender

11. Male – judge on 10th circuit

12. Male – federal judge

13. Male – lawyer

14. Male – federal judge

15. Female – woman’s comment taken from jury selection comments in previous source’s courtroom.

16. Male – consultant for a hot line set up for court system

17. Female – retired federal judge on 4th Circuit

Notes/analysis:

The number of sources used in the story are impressive, but the balance of male vs. female judges interviewed is more than lopsided. According to the Alliance for Justice, as of June 2010, women hold about 30 percent of federal judicial seats. However, only one female judge contributed to this story, and her position in the story is worth noting. In a fairly lengthy piece about several judges’ experiences as they got older, the female source is the only judge who openly discusses her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and her decision to retire because of the illness. While other male sources discuss routine medical check-ups and mental evaluations, she is the only judge mentioned who leaves the bench. In fact, the author ends the story by saying this judge “may be more the exception than the rule.”