Communications, Media & Gender

Mainstream media and the communications sector are still largely male-dominated in management, ownership and representation. Women hold only 3 percent of leadership positions in the sector. And despite the parity of female and male graduates from journalism schools in the U.S., women reporters on average make $9,000 less per year than their male cohorts. New media and the internet are offering new opportunities for women’s involvement, with an estimated 7.3 million more women online than men and 23 million women who use blogs, including the emerging “momosphere,” or moms who blog. A vibrant feminist media is building alliances to combat sexism and amplify voices and critical viewpoints. Initiatives from our network, such as SheSource and the Women’s Media Center, are aiming to address the absence of women as experts and opinion leaders in the public sphere.

Expert Profile

Location:

United States

37° 47' 31.974" N, 122° 23' 31.2216" W

See map: Google Maps

Clare Winterton is Executive Director of the International Museum of Women. She is a former Vice President of the Women’s Funding Network and has advised nonprofits including Craigslist Foundation, Urban Solutions, SF Works and TransFair USA. Clare served as the Head of Communications for Prince Charles’ charity for at-risk youth, The Prince’s Trust, where she headed a team of 13, working on media relations, corporate social responsibility and marketing. Clare combines a deep commitment to social justice and sustainability with personal passions for arts, culture, and media, believing that media and the arts possess a unique ability to engage new audiences and catalyze social change. Clare holds an Master’s Degree in International Business Administration from Cambridge University and is former board chair of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and her two-year old daughter, Pearl.

Location

San Francisco, CA 94119

United States

37° 47' 31.974" N, 122° 23' 31.2216" W

See map: Google Maps

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Connecticut Proves to be the Best State for Women, According to iVillage's Comprehensive Analysis of "50 Best to Worst States for Women"

Teaser:

iVillage, the content-driven online community for women, has commissioned an extensive analysis to rank all 50 states in order of which were best for women, and which have failed their female citizens.

Editorial:

From the press release:

iVillage, the largest content-driven online community for women, commissioned an extensive analysis to rank all 50 states in order of which were best for women, and which have failed their female citizens. Connecticut, which has healthcare coverage for over 90% of its female population and touts an educated population with more than one-third of women holding a four-year college degree, took top honors as the nation's best state for women. The five best states for women are revealed today on iVillage's iVote channel, the site's Election 2012 hub. Each day for the next 10 days, five more states will be unveiled in descending order, culminating in the worst states on March 23. States were judged on how women fared in terms of healthcare and wellness, economic well-being, parenting support, education, female representation in government, and reproductive rights.

The five best states in iVillage's ranking are:
1. Connecticut
2. Hawaii
3. Maryland
4. Massachusetts
5. California

[...]

To gather the facts for iVillage's "50 Best to Worst States for Women" list, 12 authoritative sources of data were consulted, including the National Council of State Legislatures, National Women's Law Center, National Partnership for Women & Families, the 2010 US Census FactFinder, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence. The categories of healthcare & wellness and economic well-being were weighted as top criteria, followed by parenting and female representation in government office. Education and reproductive rights also factored in. For the full methodology used to determine each state's rank, click here.

[...]

Source:

Virtual Press Office

URL:

http://www.virtualpressoffice.com/publicsiteContentFileAccess?fileContentId=754502&fromOtherPageToDisableHistory=Y&menuName=News&sId=&sInfo=

Date:

March 15, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

"Feminazi": The History Of Limbaugh's Trademark Slur Against Women

Teaser:

When Rush Limbaugh first began using the term "feminazi" in the 1990s, he said that it described "a specific type of feminist" and that there were "probably no more than 25 of them." However, since then, he has used the term as a broader slur to attack feminists, pro-choice activists, and progressive women.

Editorial:

From Media Matters for America:

Limbaugh Debuted "Feminazi" In Early '90s, Saying It Refers To "A Specific Type Of Feminist"

[...]

Source:

Media Matters for America

URL:

http://mediamatters.org/research/201203120004

Date:

March 13, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

GOP Women's SuperPac Looks for 2012 Gains

Teaser:

GOP women are poised for gains in Congress in 2012, either by leaps or baby steps. ShePAC is optimistic, despite Jean Schmidt's March 6 upset in Ohio. Judy Biggert's race to keep her seat in Illinois is a lynchpin race.

Editorial:

From Women's eNews:

The first primary of the season, on March 6 in Ohio, was a disappointment for GOP-women-spotting. Incumbent Rep. Jean Schmidt the lost.

Suzanne Terrell, co-chair of ShePAC, a new super PAC supporting Republican women, isn't fazed. "I think there is a good chance that we'll elect four new women [to the Senate]. I think that we will be electing new women to the House."

Those Senate hopefuls, Terrell says, are Linda Lingle of Hawaii, Heather Wilson from New Mexico, Sarah Steelman from Missouri and Deb Fischer from Nebraska.

If ShePAC meets its $25 million fundraising target, it could play a major role in influencing many of these elections.

Super PACs can raise unlimited sums to run political ads so long as they do not "coordinate" with candidates.

But ShePAC faces the formidable and unpredictable effects of other Super PACs.

The Campaign for Primary Accountability, for instance, which runs ads against incumbents, has been credited with knocking Schmidt out of her seat.
[...]

Source:

Women's eNews

URL:

http://womensenews.org/story/campaign-trail/120312/gop-womens-superpac-looks-2012-gains

Date:

March 13, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Sex, lies and media: New wave of activists challenge notions of beauty

Teaser:

The reality: Women make up 51% of the United States yet only 17% of seats in the House of Representatives. They're 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 7% of directors in the top 250 grossing films.

Editorial:

From CNN:

What's the connection? We live in a sexualized society where the gap between fantasy and reality is vast and harmful.

"Women are aspiring to do great things in leadership, yet the glass ceiling is still there because of the way media depict women," director and activist Jennifer Siebel-Newsom said. "It influences our culture and dictates our gender norms and values."

Siebel-Newsom's documentary, Miss Representation, is the latest cinematic foray in the movement to challenge portrayals of beauty in "the media," a term used to describe all forms of mass communication, from the internet, TV, film, magazines, radio and advertising.

[...]

Source:

CNN

URL:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/09/living/beauty-media-miss-representation/?hpt=ibu_bn3

Date:

March 13, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

House GOP look to reshape birth control debate

Teaser:

House Republican leaders are looking for a way to reshape the debate over the administration's new rule on birth-control insurance coverage before moving ahead with a bid to nullify the requirement.

Editorial:

From Reuters:

Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who has introduced legislation on the issue, acknowledged hesitation by some fellow Republicans to take on the incendiary issue. But he said a delay could give Republicans time to recast the issue as a question of religious freedom rather than women's rights.

"We'll keep trying to appropriately frame the debate about this core American principle," Fortenberry said.

Representative Pete Sessions, who heads the House Republican campaign committee, said party leaders are not backing off. "We're not hesitant to do anything," Sessions said. "The successful rain dance has a lot to do with timing."

House Republicans have taken a cautious approach after the Senate, mostly on party lines, rejected a measure that would have allowed employers with moral objections to opt out of birth control coverage and other services.

[...]

Source:

Reuters

URL:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/10/us-gop-birthcontrol-idUSBRE82813620120310

Date:

March 12, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Republican Party in need of prominent spokeswomen

Teaser:

A week ago, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, went on Meet the Press, the top-rated Sunday talk show, to press the case that Republican opposition to insurance coverage of contraception is part of a broader GOP "war on women."

The Republican counterpoint was given by a man.

Editorial:

From USA Today:

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, argued on the program that the issue was one of religious freedom, not one of denying access to health care.

Republicans had been criticized 10 days earlier for holding a hearing on contraceptive coverage that lacked any women testifying. Yet there were no elected Republican women appearing on the political shows that Sunday to support the party'sposition. In politics, that's called "bad optics."

To be sure, the networks, not the parties, select guests for Sunday shows, and women of any political persuasion are underrepresented: They generally make up about one-fifth of guests. On Sunday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., appeared as part of the NBC program's roundtable discussion.

Last week's disparity illustrates a challenge the GOP faces in the "war on women" controversy and, come fall, in combating President Obama's strength among female voters: The party is in something of a rebuilding season for its roster of prominent spokeswomen.

[...]

Source:

USA Today

URL:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-03-08/gop-republican-party-women-spokeswomen/53491306/1

Date:

March 12, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Women react to Rush's apology: Not accepted?

Teaser:

The outcry over Rush Limbaugh calling birth control activist Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute,” seems to have worked. Several days after his attempt to slut-shame the Georgetown University law student, Limbaugh issued a rare apology on his website, saying "in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize."

Editorial:

From MSNBC:

The outcry over Rush Limbaugh calling birth control activist Sandra Fluke a “slut”and a “prostitute,” seems to have worked. Several days after his attempt to slut-shame the Georgetown University law student, Limbaugh issued a rare apology on his website, saying "in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize."

The conservative radio host also claimed he wasn't against birth control, according to a transcript of his show.

But the apology may be too little, too late for scores of women who felt personally stung by the attack.

[...]

Source:

MSNBC

URL:

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/02/10564407-women-react-to-rushs-apology-not-accepted

Date:

March 5, 2012

Affiliate:

How NPR Became a Hotbed for Female Journalists

Teaser:

You’re familiar with the stereotype: humorless, ever so slightly imperious, Birkenstock-wearing brown-rice enthusiasts. These are the women of NPR, forever etched into America’s collective consciousness by Alec Baldwin, Ana Gasteyer, and Molly Shannon in a classic Saturday Night Live skit known as “Schweddy Balls.” Despite its reputation for earnestness, the organization seems to be in on the joke. Even Nina Totenberg, the longtime justice reporter whose legendarily soothing voice almost surely provided inspiration, laughs about it. “I like that Saturday Night Live makes fun of us,” she says. “It’s better to be noticed than not noticed at all.”

Editorial:

From The Daily Beast/Newsweek:

Today Totenberg is the dean of the Supreme Courtpress corps; NPR progamming reaches an audience of nearly 23 million—a 70 percent increase from 1998, the year the skit first aired—and has more foreign bureaus than any other American broadcast network. But it hasn’t always been that way, and Totenberg knows what it means to go unnoticed. She joined the fledgling broadcaster in the early 1970s, when it was carried by just 90 stations (that number has since increased a hundredfold). It was a period in which most news outlets were openly hostile to the very notion of hiring a female correspondent. “All of us have stories of being told, outright, ‘We don’t hire women’ or ‘We have our woman,’” she says.

In part, Totenberg says, NPR had no choice: salaries were so low that few men were willing to take jobs there. The inadvertent result was a roster of young female talent now considered among the most respected names in radio: Totenberg, Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer, and Susan Stamberg, a group affectionately known as the “Founding Mothers.” “It was a novel experience, being looked after [by colleagues] and not being hit on,” Totenberg says. The Old Girls’ Club, as she calls them, sat in a corner of the newsroom the men referred to as “the fallopian jungle,” and swiftly became the broadcaster’s earliest stars. In 1972, Stamberg became the first woman in the country to anchor a daily national news show.

[...]

Source:

The Daily Beast / Newsweek

URL:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/03/04/how-npr-became-a-hotbed-for-female-journalists.html

Date:

March 5, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Does Rick Santorum Have a Problem With the Ladies?

Teaser:

After his narrow loss in Michigan, Rick Santorum is trying to find a way to appeal to women voters, and he may not be able to do enough

Editorial:

From US News & World Report:

If Rick Santorum wants to win the GOP presidential nomination, he's got to do a better job with women, and his campaign knows it.

In his concession speech in Michigan Tuesday following his pair of primary losses, the former Pennsylvania senator took the time to praise several women in his life, most notably for the first time, his mother.

"I grew up with a very strong mom, someone who was a professional person who taught me a lot of things about [sic] how to balancing work and family, and doing it well, and doing it with a big heart and commitment," he said. He also praised her for getting a college education in the 1930s and eventually a graduate degree in nursing.

[...]

Source:

US News & World Report

URL:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/29/does-rick-santorum-have-a-problem-with-the-ladies

Date:

March 2, 2012

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

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NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women’s poverty to building a critical mass of women’s leadership across sectors.

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