St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Gender check: 2/3/11 – 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 4:30 p.m. (MST) Thursday, Feb. 3, was titled “Metro seeks termination of bus driver in fatal St. Louis crash.” Its subject was an incident earlier in the day in which a 60-year-old woman died after being run over by a bus. The male bus driver did not realize it happened.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Female, metro spokeswoman

2. Male, witness (unnamed)

3. Male, police officer

Notes/analysis: This story is evolving and being constantly updated, but it’s interesting to note at this point that though the female source is the first referenced (in the lede), she’s not named until much later in the story, after the other two sources (both male) are mentioned.


Website: St. Louis Beacon

On the St. Louis Beacon, one of the lead articles featured on the home page as of 4:30 p.m. (MST) Thursday, Feb. 3, was titled “Companies, lawmakers battle ‘antidumping’ tariffs on magnesium.” Its subject was an anticipated U.S. International Trade Commission vote on continuing tariffs on imports of magnesium and its impacts.

Here is its gender breakdown:

–Author: Male

–Human sources  (listed in order mentioned):

1. Male, company vice-president of operations

2. Male, general manager of different die-casting company

3. Female and male, two U.S. Senators in a letter

4. Male, U.S. Senator

5.  Male, a company president

6. Female, marketing director

Notes/analysis: This article relied heavily on upper management sources within die-casting companies.

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.