Study Finds Differences in Newspaper Coverage of Female and Male Candidates

Female gubernatorial candidates in 1998 received less newspaper coverage on their stands on the issues and more coverage on their personal characteristics than did male candidates, according to a study released in October by the Women's Leadership Fund (WLF). "News coverage is another barrier women face in running for executive offices, particularly governor," WLF President Marie C. Wilson said. "Leveling the playing field in campaign news can help give women the same opportunities as men in advancing to the nation's top leadership positions."

State of Newspaper Survey: Differences In Coverage, Contributions of Women

American Journalism Review published its "State of the Newspaper" Survey in September 1999, an analysis of how a sample of 10 daily newspapers have changed from 1963-1964 to 1998-1999. Using a 99-question form, the research team examined the newspapers for one week each in May 1963, September 1963 and January 1964, and then studied newspapers for the comparable periods in 1998 and 1999. Among the observations of interest to women:

• The "women's pages" are gone, along with social and personal items, which often were the only places one read about women. Replacing them are themed sections on fitness, gardening, relationships, etc..

• Newspapers are less sexist and racist, Stepp says.

• Diversity has increased. Bylines that were apparently female quadrupled, from 7% to 29%. In photographs, the papers averaged 38 male faces and 12 females (the count reflects Page One images for all three weeks) over the 1960s period, 44 female and 16 female in the 1990s. They averaged 40 white faces and five nonwhite faces in the 1960s period, 42 white and 16 nonwhite in 1998-99.

E&P Analysis of Columnists Shows More Diversity in 10 Years

Editor & Publisher magazine (Aug. 21, 1999) has analyzed syndicated newspaper columnists writing in 1989 and 1999 and said that while there are more women and minorities writing for the op-ed pages than in 1989, their numbers don't come close to their representation in the U.S. population.

• The percentage of female op-ed columnists distributed by seven major syndicates rose from 14.8% (13 of 88) in 1989 to 23.7% (27.5 of 116) in 1999. The half-point refers to a female co-writing a column with a male.

• Non-Caucasian commentators, including black, Hispanic and Asian writers, rose from 9.1% (8 of 88) in 1989 to 19% (22 of 116) in 1999.

While opinion pages are clearly less of a white-male enclave than before, they're still not as diverse as America, E&P says, where the female population is about 51% and the combined black, Hispanic and Asian population tops 27%.

Columnist Asks Why Candidate Dole Received So Little Media Coverage

In a Sept. 14, 1999 column, syndicated columnist Geneva Overholser asked why Elizabeth Dole's presidential campaign wasn't receiving more press attention. (Dole was still actively pursuing the nomination when Overholser's column appeared.) "Why is a candidate who is unique in the annals of presidential politics, draws large crowds, came in third in the Iowa straw poll -- after Bush, who has practically been crowned, and Forbes, who virtually bought second place -- getting so little coverage?" Overholser asked.

FAIR Women's Desk Organizes Lobbying Effort With PBS

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) has organized a coalition of more than 30 organizations to put pressure on the Public Broadcasting System for more gender-equitable programming after PBS aired a series FAIR says was biased. At issue is a three-part documentary on "gender wars" that PBS distributed in April as part of its "National Desk" public affairs series. The program sought to address whether women's rights could be advanced without "a retreat" on the part of men, and said that efforts to achieve gender equity had created "a time bomb ticking away at the foundation of our society." Episode titles included "The War on Boys" and "Title IX and Women in Sports: What's Wrong With This Picture?" FAIR says that "the series was filled with inaccuracies and misinformation and presented a relentlessly anti-woman, anti-feminist perspective, yet it was packaged by PBS as impartial journalism."

Broadcasting Giants Set Up Fund To Increase Female, Minority Ownership

In response to concerns that consolidation of media ownership in the hands of global giants is freezing out media ownership for women and members of minority groups, leading executives in the industry have set up an investment fund to assist women and minorities with the acquisition of television and broadcast properties.The industry initiative, announced Nov. 3, had $175 million in cash commitments at that time, which the donors say is equivalent $350 million in purchasing power. The goal at this time is to reach $1 billion in purchasing power.

U.S. Information Agency Pays for Sex Bias, 22 Years After Lawsuit Brought

The U.S. Treasury paid eight women an average of $485,000 in June, the first payments made in the largest employment discrimination lawsuit ever brought against the U.S. government. The payments were made after 22 years of litigation and 15 years after a judge ruled that the U.S. Information Agency had been guilty of sex discrimination in hiring. A payment was also made to the family of a ninth woman who died before the government withdrew its appeal, allowing the judgments to be paid.

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