Seattle P-I

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.