Vol. 34, No. 3, Summer 2006

News Gender Gap Distinct and
Persistent, Pew Study Says

Men and women not only go to different places for news, but the topics they follow are often different as well, says the biennial news consumption survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted among 3,204 adults from April 27 to May 22, 2006, and released July 30.

Men dominate the audience not only for sports news but also for news about science and technology, business and finance, and international affairs. More men than women are also found among those who closely follow news events and people in Washington, DC, as well as among those who say they pay close attention to news about local government.

But women greatly outnumber men among those who closely follow news about religion, health, and entertainment. They are also disproportionately represented among those paying close attention to community news and to news about culture and the arts. Men and women are about equally likely to be found among the audiences for crime, weather, and consumer news.

The upshot of these differences is that men are significantly more likely to be regular consumers of "hard news" -- 32% vs. 22% for women. This orientation is reflected in their choices among different kinds of news media and in preferences among specific sources.

For further details on the report, visit http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=1064

More Female Arab Reporters Visible
In Coverage of Middle East Conflict

Agence France Press’s Ali Khalil filed a report (“Female Arab reporters brave dangers on front lines of Lebanon war,” July 29, 2006), noting that female Arab reporters have been taking huge risks to cover the battle between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

“A male news anchor appeared on screen from the safety of Arabic station Al-Jazeera’s studio in Doha as two female correspondents in full war gear reported live from both sides of the Lebanon-Israel front line. This is the new face of war reporting Arab audiences have been seeing since Israel launched its all-out onslaught on Lebanon on July 12. Young female reporters beat their male colleagues to the forefront of the war zone, braving the danger of becoming a target for the gunships hovering over their heads.”

Cultural traditions that require women to defer to men in many areas of conservative Middle Eastern societies are giving way somewhat as female journalists assume a greater presence in war reporting. Khalil singled out Katia Nasser, Shirine Abu Aqleh, Jivarah al-Budairi and Bushra Abdel-Samad of Al-Jazeera; Rima Maktabi and Najwa Qassem of Al-Arabiyya; Mona Saliba of LBC; and NTV’s Nancy Sabea.

For more, visit www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=74332

Images of Black Women in Ads, Music
Videos Receive Renewed Attention

A lengthy analysis in the New York Times of ads, and a challenge by black women artists have put images of black women in popular entertainment under the microscope once again.

When Jill Scott spoke at the Essence Music Festival’s empowerment seminars in July, she had something on her mind: the portrayal of black women in popular music and videos, according to a report from The Celebrity Café.com.

“It is dirty, inappropriate, inadequate, unhealthy, and polluted,” she said. “We can demand more.”

And New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters took a hard look at the casting of black females in ads (“An Image Popular in Films Raises Some Eyebrows in Ads, Aug. 1, 2006): “Her onscreen presence takes on many variations, but she is easily recognizable by a few defining traits. Other than her size, she is almost always black. She typically finds herself in an exchange that is either confrontational or embarrassing. And her best line is often little more than a sassy “Mmmm hmmm.

“This caricature, playing on stereotypes of heavy black women as boisterous and sometimes aggressive, has been showing up for some time in stand-up comedy routines and in movies like ‘Big Momma’s House’ and ‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman.’ Often, the pieces are produced by directors and writers who are black themselves,” Peters says. “With black creators giving more acceptability to the image, it is now starting to appear more often in television commercials as well.”

Babytalk Magazine’s Breast-Feeding
Cover Proves Controversial

A happy baby nursing is a good thing, right?

Not on a parenting magazine cover, according to one in every four readers who responded to a poll Babytalk magazine conducted to gauge reader reaction to its August 2006 cover.

Though a majority were in favor, a number of readers – 25 percent, according to the magzine’s editor -- forcefully expressed their distaste at the closeup of a nursing baby at its mother’s breast.

Judge for yourself. You can view the August Babytalk cover at: http://www.parenting.com/parenting/babytalk/channel

Latest ‘Celluloid Ceiling’ Study Shows
Women’s Progress in Film Stagnant

Women comprised 17% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films – the same percentage of women employed in these roles in 1998.

That’s according to the latest Celluloid Ceiling study, which is conducted annually by Martha Lauzen of the School of Communication at San Diego State University.

Women accounted for 7% of directors in 2005, an increase of two percentage points over 2004, but a significant decline from the recent historical high of 11% recorded in 2000.

Research in Depth: Stoic and Aloof for Eternity: An Analysis of Multiple-Male Images in Men’s Magazine Advertising

Research in Depth: Gender in Print Advertisements: A Snapshot of Representations From Around the World

Commentary: A Pregnancy Torpedoes A TV Anchor’s Career. Why?

Plus News Briefs, People and Book Reviews

Media Report to Women has hard copies of back issues dating to its founding in 1972. Indispensable for research!