West

These are Gender Checks of two news sites from the West — The Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I.

Gender check: 2/22/11 – 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 2 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 22, was titled “U.S: Seattle couple, 2 other Americans killed by pirates.” Its subject was the deaths of four Americans (two male and two female) who were taken hostage and killed by pirates while sailing on their yacht off the coast of East Africa.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: AP and Seattle Times staff (with a male and a female contributor mentioned at the end)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, niece of the one of the female victims

2. Female, victim (via an e-mail sent before Valentine’s Day)

3. Male, animal shelter director who worked with one of the male victims

4. Male, monsignor (speaking of couple)

5. Male, professor, friend of one of the male victims

6. Male, general of U.S. Central Command

7. Male, pirate

8. Male, head of Dryad Maritime Intelligence

Notes/analysis: Sources speak on three of the four people killed as individuals. One of the females is only referenced as part of a couple with her husband whose background is described. She is named twice — with a different first name each time (Jean vs. Jane). Based on other news sources, her name appears to be Jean.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 22, was titled “Up to 6 inches of snow possible by Thursday.” Its subject was a winter storm watch issued for the Seattle area and a large part of Western Washington.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male (with a male contributor)

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, department of transportation spokesman

2. Male, meteorologist (via his weather blog)

Gender check: 2/15/11 – West

Jasmine R. Linabary1 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 12:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 15, was titled “Data center may be too big for state needs.” Its subject was the cost of a complex being built to consolidate roughly three dozen state data centers.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, spokeswoman, Department of Information Services

2. Male, representative to state legislature (Republican)

3. Male, representative (Democrat)

4. Female, development manager

5. Male, OFM deputy director

Notes/analysis: Both women mentioned are with the department that will operate the center.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 12:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 15, was titled “Teen kicked by Seattle cop wants $450,000 from city.” Its subject subject was a case of alleged police abuse during a drug bust as well as a roundup of recent cases of police abuse caught on video.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, attorney

2. Male, deputy chief

3. Male, officers guild president

4. Male, prosecutor

5. Male, city attorney

Notes/analysis: Most sources were paraphrased. Most of the individuals mentioned in the story are male, with the exception of two teenage girls (one of which was punched in the face by an officer) and U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, who with others will meet to respond to requests to investigate the department.

Gender check: 2/8/11 – 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 3:15 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 8, was titled “Kemper Freeman quits Bellevue business group his father founded.” Its subject was the departure of a key figure from a business association over differences in opinion, including over an endorsement of light rail.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Female

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, developer (main subject)

2. Female, president of the business association

3. Male, chair of the board

4. Male, mayor

5. Male, former association president

Notes/analysis: See below notes.


Website: Seattle P-I

On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 3:15 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, Feb. 8, was titled “Man accused in threats against Seattle Democrat Jim McDermott pleads not guilty.” Its subject was the plea of a California man who made threatening phone calls to a Congressman’s office.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, suspect charged

2. Male, special agent

3. Female, U.S. attorney

Notes/analysis: The headlines on both articles this week included mentions of at least two male subjects, one by name in each. These men were then the focal points of the articles. Prior studies, such as the 2010 Global Media Monitoring Project, have shown that less than 15 percent of news items focus on women or female subjects. 

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

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.