This is a comprehensive list of women in journalism. It details the success women have had in the field of journalism and highlights how far they have come.
Here is a link to the database
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Distinguished Women of Past and Present
Web site: http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/subject/journ.html
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Women come to the front
" The women featured in this exhibit were chosen because of the strength and variety of their collections in the Library of Congress. Like their colleagues, the women followed various paths to their wartime assignments."
This is an interesting exhibit on the contribution women had in the coverage of World War II. Females, and especially female journalists were often overlooked during this time and this works to illistrate their work and sacrifice.
link here
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Library of Congress: Women Come to the Front
Web site: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0001.html
This is an interesting exhibit on the contribution women had in the coverage of World War II. Females, and especially female journalists were often overlooked during this time and this works to illistrate their work and sacrifice.
link here
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Library of Congress: Women Come to the Front
Web site: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/wcf/wcf0001.html
Helen Thomas asks George Bush about Iraq
Journalist Helen Thomas is considered one of the best presidential journalists out there. In this clip she goes after George Bush on the war in Iraq. Despite being a good journalist, she has succeeded in political newspaper correspondence, a field often dominated by men.
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Helen Thomas asks George W. Bush a Question
Web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8ZuQndRLTU
9/11
In this article that appeared in the December 13, 2001 issue of Newsday, Jennifer Pozner discusses media coverage of women involved in the September 11 attack.
"On the Dec. 4 broadcast, firefighter Lieut. Brenda Bergman described racing into the flaming destruction everyone else was fleeing, risking her life to save others. So similar to hundreds of heartwrenching tales we've all heard from New York firefighters, Bergman's experience sounded unfamiliar when told in a woman's voice. Perhaps that's because it took nearly three months for NBC to discover that women rescue workers have toiled 24-7 at Ground Zero every day since the attacks. "The fact that the faces of women haven't been in the news or ... in the media is not reflective of reality," Bergman told NBC."
"On the Dec. 4 broadcast, firefighter Lieut. Brenda Bergman described racing into the flaming destruction everyone else was fleeing, risking her life to save others. So similar to hundreds of heartwrenching tales we've all heard from New York firefighters, Bergman's experience sounded unfamiliar when told in a woman's voice. Perhaps that's because it took nearly three months for NBC to discover that women rescue workers have toiled 24-7 at Ground Zero every day since the attacks. "The fact that the faces of women haven't been in the news or ... in the media is not reflective of reality," Bergman told NBC."
Pozner claims that NBC and similar news agencies failed to recognize the presence of women at ground zero. The fact that they were ignored shows how the media got the story wrong after the terrorist attacks.
How females are covered in the news
At the hight of the political campaign in April of 2004, over a million women gathered for the March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C.
"Together, this multi-generational crowd of international human rights lawyers, ob-gyn students, queer activists, anti-war protestors, environmentalists, sexual assault survivors, independent mediamakers and Radical Cheerleading bootyshakers comprised the largest single political demonstration in DC history.
"Together, this multi-generational crowd of international human rights lawyers, ob-gyn students, queer activists, anti-war protestors, environmentalists, sexual assault survivors, independent mediamakers and Radical Cheerleading bootyshakers comprised the largest single political demonstration in DC history.
Yet faced with a women’s rights demo bigger than any 1960s civil rights or anti-war march, American media responded with a whimper, undercounting the marchers’ numbers (citing ‘thousands’ or ‘hundreds of thousands’ instead of more than a million) and underestimating the protesters’ political significance, keeping the story in the news cycle typically for just one day... if that.
Time magazine, which infamously declared feminism ‘dead’ in a 1998 cover story, ignored the march entirely. Outlets like Newsday, Fox News and CNN played bait-and-switch, covering the march as an excuse to highlight a few hundred anti-abortion counter-protesters, as if their minute presence was equal in size and newsworthiness."
This article explains how the feminist movement is covered in the media, and how it is often trivialized and marginalized.
The rest of the article can be found here
Pozner, J. (2001). Reclaiming the Media for a Progressive Feminist Future. World Association for Christian Communication.
WIMN
"WIMN works to increase women's presence in the public debate, emphasizing those who are least often heard, including women of color, low-income women, lesbians, youth and older women.
WIMN analyzes representations of women in media; trains women's and social justice groups to hold media outlets accountable to the public interest; advocates for policy reform and structural change; and works with journalists to broaden the quantity and diversity of women's voices appearing in the media.
WIMN promotes equity for women as subjects, sources and producers because accurate, diverse news and entertainment media are essential to a vibrant democracy and an informed public."
A website that works to support and promote women in the media, and encourage the dispersion of knowledge across gender lines.
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Women in Media and News
Web site: http://www.wimnonline.org/
Women in the Locker Room
Renee Turner's article on female journalists covering sports appeared in the July 1991 issue of Ebony Magazine. She examines the prejudices and stereotypes female sportswriters face while doing their job
"Athletes have even used their nudity to show their disapproval of women in their domain. A legendary baseball player was known to strut around the locker room stark naked when women reporters were nearby. He'd say "not bad for a 40-year-old," recalls Kelly Carter, 28, of the Dallas Morning News. In another instance, a Portland Trailblazers guard stood nude in bold defiance as Carter approached him for an interview. "He wanted to see if I would look him in the eye," says the 6-foot-2 Carter. She did, and handed him a towel."
"As the debate raged over whether female reporters should have the same locker-room access as men, the elite crop of Black women sports reporters took it in stride. After all, in more than a decade of covering everything from the World Series to the World Cup, they've become accustomed to facing and overcoming obstacles with a mixture of ingenuity, skill and raw nerve.
Take, for example, the time that the San Jose Mercury News' Annette John-Hall, 35, wedged her foot in the door of the Golden State Warriors' out-of-town locker room to prevent an overzealous guard from locking her out. "He thought he was doing his job," says the 10-year veteran sportswriter."
Female sports writers have faced discrimination from both male sports writers and the subjects they cover. They have often been forced out of locker rooms and denied the access there male counterparts enjoy."Athletes have even used their nudity to show their disapproval of women in their domain. A legendary baseball player was known to strut around the locker room stark naked when women reporters were nearby. He'd say "not bad for a 40-year-old," recalls Kelly Carter, 28, of the Dallas Morning News. In another instance, a Portland Trailblazers guard stood nude in bold defiance as Carter approached him for an interview. "He wanted to see if I would look him in the eye," says the 6-foot-2 Carter. She did, and handed him a towel."
Turner, R. (1991). Women in the Locker Room. Ebony Magazine.
Fox News Babes
Interesting thought. Are these women in the news because they are journalists or because they are eye candy? It seems that most cable news networks hire these woman to entice male viewers to their channel, not because they add to the news service.
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Fox News Babes-YouTube
Web site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1qAnx-_LmY
Catie Couric and the News
Catie Couric has recently been under fire as the CBS News anchor
"Last night on The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly blamed CBS’s ratings on the fact that Couric is a woman. “I think it’s a woman thing,” O’Reilly said. “It’s an authority position. Most middle Americans who watch news feel comfortable with men in that position. That’s what’s going on.”
O'Reilly claims that most Americans are nervous about receiving their news from a women, and this explains the fact that Couric has the lowest ranking among her counterparts at NBC and ABC.
"Even CBS News president Sean McManus has tried to dismiss — without evidence — his network’s ratings by blaming women, instead of Couric or his station’s programming: “There is a percentage of people out there that probably prefers not to get their news from a woman.”
August 12, 2007, from ThinkProgress
Web site: http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/05/15/oreilly-katie-courics-low-ratings-are-a-woman-thing/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2F2007%2F05%2F15%2Foreilly-couric-women%2F&frame=true
"Last night on The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly blamed CBS’s ratings on the fact that Couric is a woman. “I think it’s a woman thing,” O’Reilly said. “It’s an authority position. Most middle Americans who watch news feel comfortable with men in that position. That’s what’s going on.”
O'Reilly claims that most Americans are nervous about receiving their news from a women, and this explains the fact that Couric has the lowest ranking among her counterparts at NBC and ABC.
"Even CBS News president Sean McManus has tried to dismiss — without evidence — his network’s ratings by blaming women, instead of Couric or his station’s programming: “There is a percentage of people out there that probably prefers not to get their news from a woman.”
A recent Gallup poll found that Couric’s personal popularity lags behind NBC anchor Brian Williams and ABC anchor Charles Gibson. But that poll surveyed responses to Couric specifically, not to women anchors in general. Neither Connie Chung nor Barbara Walters were solo network news anchors.
Americans may not like Katie Couric, but that doesn’t mean they dislike all women in “authority” positions."
So it is unclear whether Americans would rather have a man deliver the news or if they just don't like Catie Couric.
August 12, 2007, from ThinkProgress
Web site: http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/05/15/oreilly-katie-courics-low-ratings-are-a-woman-thing/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2F2007%2F05%2F15%2Foreilly-couric-women%2F&frame=true
Women's portrayal in the news media
The Media Awareness Network states that,
"Women professionals and athletes continue to be under-represented in news coverage, and are often stereotypically portrayed when they are included."
This article covers the representation of women in the media.
"Although there has been a steady increase in the number of women professionals over the past 20 years, most mainstream press coverage continues to rely on men as experts in the fields of business, politics and economics. Women in the news are more likely to be featured in stories about accidents, natural disasters, or domestic violence than in stories about their professional abilities or expertise."
This article claims that, even with the rise of female professionals, they are still under represented and stereotyped by the news media.
"Inadequate women’s coverage seems to be a worldwide phenomenon. In 2000 the Association of Women Journalists (Association des femmes journalistes – AFJ) studied news coverage of women and women’s issues in 70 countries. It reported that only 18 per cent of stories quote women, and that the number of women-related stories came to barely 10 per cent of total news coverage."
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Media Awareness Network
Web site: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_coverage.cfm
"Women professionals and athletes continue to be under-represented in news coverage, and are often stereotypically portrayed when they are included."
This article covers the representation of women in the media.
"Although there has been a steady increase in the number of women professionals over the past 20 years, most mainstream press coverage continues to rely on men as experts in the fields of business, politics and economics. Women in the news are more likely to be featured in stories about accidents, natural disasters, or domestic violence than in stories about their professional abilities or expertise."
This article claims that, even with the rise of female professionals, they are still under represented and stereotyped by the news media.
"Inadequate women’s coverage seems to be a worldwide phenomenon. In 2000 the Association of Women Journalists (Association des femmes journalistes – AFJ) studied news coverage of women and women’s issues in 70 countries. It reported that only 18 per cent of stories quote women, and that the number of women-related stories came to barely 10 per cent of total news coverage."
Retrieved
August 12, 2007, from Media Awareness Network
Web site: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_coverage.cfm
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