*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.
On Stltoday.com, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:45 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 3, was titled “Jury finds Shepard guilty after he confesses killing University City police sergeant.” Its subject was a man, who the article describes as “mixed race but considers himself black,” being found guilty by a jury after admitting to killing a white police officer, partly as retribution for the shooting of his girlfriend, also black, by a different white police officer who was later cleared in the incident.
On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:45 p.m. (MST) Thursday, March 3, was titled “29,000 answers, one question: How do cities grow?.” Its subject was a look at a population loss of 29,000 people over the course of a decade in St. Louis and what that says about the city and its future.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, resident, talk show host
2. Male, alderman
3. Female, press secretary for mayor
4. Male, director of research
5. Male, executive director of restoration group
6. Male, new arrival
7. Female, new arrival (married to above, moved due to her job)
8. Female, new arrival
9. Male, alderman
10. Male, alderman
11. Male, alderman
12. Female, resident, formerly did city planning work
*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.
On The New York Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8 p.m. EST on March 2 was titled “Justices Rule For Protestors At Military Funerals. ” Its subject was the Supreme Court’s decision 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist church’s right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Authors: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male – chief justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the majority opinion)
2. Male – justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the dissent)
3. Male – justice of the Supreme Court (as quoted from the concurring opinion)
Notes/analysis: None of the quotes used in the story came from interviews, but rather the written rulings in the case. Currently three of the nine justices are women.
On ProPublica, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 8 p.m. EST on March 2 was titled “A Test Where The Banks Had The Questions And The Answers.” Its subject was the upcoming tests for banks by the Federal Reserve and possible problems with the current way banks are evaluated.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male – national bank executive
2. Male -national bank executive
3. Male – wealthy citizen
4. Male – financial analyst
5. Male – member of Congressional oversight panel
6. Male – law professor
Notes/analysis: It’s not surprising that a story focusing on financial systems and banking executives is dominated, exclusively, by male sources.
*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.
On the Seattle Times, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 1, was titled “State’s monthly job results good, as unemployment drops.” Its subject was the drop in unemployment and strongest monthly job picture in three years.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, chief economist
2. Male, spokesman
Notes/analysis: The article was mostly recently released numbers from the Employment Security Department.
On the Seattle P-I, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 2:30 p.m. (MST) Tuesday, March 1, was titled “Report: Early warnings kept from Seattle School Board.” Its subject was a look at who had knowledge of a report that warned of a billing scandal in a small business contracting program for the school district based on information revealed through internal documents that were recently released.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Male, former director of facilities (from note)
2. Female, former prosecutor (from report she prepared)
3. Male, accountant
4. Male, former employee, subject of issue (in e-mail)
Notes/analysis: Most sources were referenced from documents they had written that were recently released such as a report, e-mails and notes. At the center of the issue are a male employee and a male supervisor of that employee. Also now in question is the female schools superintendent.
Filling the majority of the gender-related news hole this week, and throughout the month of February, was the ongoing Republican action on the issues of abortion and women’s health that have been called a “War on Women.”
On the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives voted at the end of last week as part of a spending bill to eliminate funding to Title X programs, which help low-income families with family planning and contraception, and block Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding. Roughly a third of Planned Parenthood’s budget comes from federal, state and local governments, according to a New York Times article.
Though the focus of the debate is around its abortion services, the organization doesn’t currently receive federal funds for abortions. The organization’s website highlights that only about three percent of all its health services are abortion related. Planned Parenthood provides family planning, cancer screenings, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and other services for both men and women but particularly for low-income women.
The House vote was emotional, being preceded by Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier sharing her personal experience with abortion on the floor.
In response to the decision, a campaign to stand with Planned Parenthood was launched, along with a petition and other letter writing campaignsto legislators. A “Rally for Women’s Health” is planned for today, Feb. 26, in New York. A number of public figures have spoken out on the issue this week from Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” to New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Several state legislatures were in the news for reproductive health and abortion issues in the past week. Here are some of the highlights:
A proposed Georgia law could give the death penalty for miscarriages (as described by Mother Jones)
Virginia’s General Assembly voted Thursday that abortion clinics should be regulated as hospitals in a move that may put the majority of the clinics out of business.
Iowa bills that would allow for “justifiable homicide” in defense of an unborn child, similar to legislation introduced and shelved in South Dakota earlier this month and proposed in Nebraska, have stirred concerns that they could be used to condone the killing of abortion doctors.
Also making headlines was a controversial anti-abortion billboard erected in New York City this week (and subsequently taken down) that angered some residents. The board showed a young black girl with the words “the most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.”
Following last year’s history-making awards season in which a woman (Kathryn Bigelow) won the coveted best director award for the first time, no women are up for the prize in 2011. Additionally, no women are up for awards in cinematography. For writing, only nominees for “Winter’s Bone” for adapted screenplay and “The Kids Are All Right” for original screenplay have female authors listed.
A study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University in 2010 found that women made up only “7 percent of directors, 10 percent of writers, 15 percent of executive producers, 24 percent of producers, 18 percent of editors and 2 percent of cinematographers,” according to a post by Martha Lauzen for the Women’s Media Center.
This is the Gender Report’s Week in Review, 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.
*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.
On the Miami Herald, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 5 p.m. (EST) on Friday, Feb. 25 was titled “Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez Loses Court Challenge on Recall Election.” Its subject was the upcoming vote to recall both the mayor and county commissioner’s place in office.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Authors: Male and Female (shared byline)
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Female – circuit judge
2. Male – attorney
3. Male – citizen leading the recall efforts
4. Male- current mayor (as quoted from a press conference)
Notes/analysis: The accompanying photo pictures supporters of the recall. One of the three subjects was female.
On Patch of Seminole Heights, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 5 p.m. (EST) on Friday, Feb. 25 was titled “Lowry Park Gets Jurassic Park Makeover.” Its subject was a new temporary DinoQuest exhibit at the local zoo.
Here is its gender breakdown:
–Author: Male
–Human sources (listed in order mentioned):
1. Female- mother of exhibit participant
2. Female- child participant
3. Female – child participant
Notes/analysis: Two of the three human sources are children, and both female. Dinosaurs are typically associated with male children, so the sources of this story are particularly interesting.
The Gender Report 