Parity-the state or condition of being the same
in power, value, rank, equality.

Getting Women Into the News By Deborah Howell Sunday, December 14, 2008; Page B06 Washington Post Women and men read The Post in roughly equal proportions, but female readers don't read it as frequently, and the paper is failing to draw women with younger children. Readers who follow women's sports or their daughters' athletic teams complain that women's sports don't get the ink they deserve. The Post, like most of the news media, is dominated by coverage of men from the A section to Business and Sports. Over the years, researchers at Northwestern University and the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism have found that in the news media, men are the focus of many more stories, are quoted far more often and appear in more photos than women do. A recent study of two weeks' worth of content at The Post reached a similar conclusion. That is partly because the world's newsmakers -- whether sports figures, religious leaders, military officers, public officials or criminals -- tend to be men. So women do not see themselves portrayed as fully in The Post. Read more about the lack of women in the new media posted 14 December 2008

Sexism sneaks in over open mic By Campbell Brown CNN (CNN) -- How many times have politicians been warned about the dangers of an open microphone? And yet, on Tuesday, the lectern mic at the National Governors Conference picked up this little nugget from Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. He's having a conversation near the lectern about President-elect Barack Obama's choice for to lead the Homeland Security Department, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Here is what Rendell said about Napolitano: Rendell: Janet's perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it Read more about Gov. Randall's sexist comments posted 4 December 2008

Looks leads the list of requirements for female TV reporters By MARY SANCHEZ The Kansas City Star Nothing was subtle about the makeover endured by my friend, then a newbie to broadcast journalism. We were paired up several years ago; her as the newly minted MU journalism graduate, me as the more senior reporter. Our matchup was through a national program to place experienced reporters at the disposal of new ones, from their last year of college through the first several years of their professional lives. I’ve thought a lot about her lately. About how her career will fare as she ages. Most here know of the lawsuit filed recently by three of the most prominent female TV reporters in Kansas City. Maria Antonia, Peggy Breit and Kelly Eckerman have sued KMBC, alleging age and gender discrimination. It seems broadcast journalism views women as aging products, rather than highly experienced and therefore valuable talent. Read more about looks as the top requirement for female reporters posted 3 December 2008

Public Editor: Race, gender issues top campaign coverage By Kathleen Norton November 2, 2008 Poukeepsie Journal Racial and gender diversity within the news media has to be improved before truly balanced reporting can occur, concludes a report that analyzes the media's coverage of the historic race for president. "Bias, Punditry and the Press'' was produced by the White House Project, the Women's Media Center and the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, nonpartisan organizations that conducted a summer forum for groups that study the media and its role in democracy. Mainstream journalists, pollsters, journalism professors and think tank leaders also took part. Journalists, the report concludes, lack the diversity and "cultural competence'' to remove bias from their reporting because their newsrooms are diversifying but all too slowly. Read more about the report: Bias, Punditry and the Press posted 26 November 2008

Gender, Politics and Media Redux Marcia G. Yerman Posted November 21, 2008 | 02:39 AM (EST) huffingtonpost.com One topic that spawned plenty of conversation during the race for the presidency, was the role of gender. Last week, New York Women In Communications presented The Spin Room: Gender, Politics & Media in the 2008 Election. The panel of four, Geraldine Ferraro, Arianna Huffington, Lesley Jane Seymour, and Marie Wilson -- with moderator Carol Jenkins at the helm -- dug into a range of issues navigating territory that has been well-trod, albeit without resolution. Jenkins, President of the Women's Media Center, kicked off the dialogue with the question, "Was the reaction to Palin of 'Sarah, be quiet' the same dynamic that had happened with Hillary?" Ferraro, the first female Vice-Presidential nominee (1984) jumped in to field the question. "What's going on with Sarah didn't go on for me," she said. "She's in a different place. She's come out with a lot of negatives." Despite her ideological differences with Palin, Ferraro stressed, "She has to speak up. She's a sitting governor." Read more about media and gender in politics posted 23 November 2008

The Post-Election Narrative: A Tale of Two Women PEJ News Coverage Index: November 10 - 16, 2008 journalism.org Barack Obama may have toured his new home with President Bush, but much of last week’s media coverage also focused on two women who ran losing campaigns for the Executive Branch. With Hillary Clinton, the speculation was whether she would become the top diplomat in the new Obama Administration. With Sarah Palin, the question was whether she would emerge as the top Republican. By the end of the week, Palin and Clinton were the second and third-leading newsmakers of the week from Nov. 10-16, trailing only the President elect. Read more about media's agenda in the PEJ's news poll posted 20 November 2008

Times Executive Resigns to Lead NPR By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA Published: November 11, 2008 Vivian Schiller, who heads the online operations of The New York Times, will leave the paper to become the president and chief executive of National Public Radio, the network announced on Tuesday. Ms. Schiller, 47, will take over NPR on Jan. 5, heading a nonprofit corporation with a budget of more than $150 million and an endowment of more than $240 million. It provides news and entertainment programming to more than 800 public radio stations around the country and claims an audience of 26 million people. Read more about Vivian Schiller's NPR position posted 14 November 2008

Fresh Face on Cable, Sharp Rise in Ratings By BRIAN STELTER Published: October 20, 2008 NY Times Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel's 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days. More important for her bosses at MSNBC is that "The Rachel Maddow Show," her left-leaning news and commentary program, has averaged a higher rating among 25- to 54-year-olds than "Larry King Live" on CNN for 13 of the 25 nights she has been host. While the average total audience of her program remains slightly smaller than that of Mr. King's, Ms. Maddow, 35, has made MSNBC competitive in that time slot for the first time in a decade. The channel at that hour has an average viewership of 1.7 million since she started on Sept. 8, compared with 800,000 before. Read more about Rachel Maddow's New Program posted 25 October 2008

BATTLE FOR EQUALITY: U.S. journalist Jodi Enda, who was in Chennai recently Sruthi Krishnan The Hindudu, October 22, 2008 CHENNAI: “Leading political journalists in the largest newspapers in America are white men. They set the tone of news coverage,” said Jodi Enda. A seasoned newspaper journalist, Ms. Enda currently serves as programme planner for the Knight Centre for Specialised Journalism in Washington DC. Her past roles have ranged from a reporter covering government and politics in The Philadelphia Inquirer, a daily in the U.S., to president of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS), a platform which brings together women journalists in America. In an interview with The Hindu, she spoke of the U.S. media’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and what that meant for the feminist movement. “Hillary Clinton was treated in a way that no man would ever be treated as a Presidential candidate,” said Ms. Enda. For instance, she said, consider the terms ‘too ambitious’ and ‘calculating’ chosen to describe her. Anyone who runs for President would be ambitious, said Ms. Enda. Calculating means that she tried to figure out the best way to get ahead. Barack Obama too calculated. He in fact, “out-calculated and outmanoeuvred Ms. Clinton.” But, in a man being ambitious and calculating were not considered as negative traits. Read more about Endi's media analysis posted 27 October 2008

A Push to Curb the Casual Use of Ugly Phrases By STUART ELLIOTT Published: October 7, 2008 FOR the first time since the Advertising Council was founded in 1942, the organization - which directs and coordinates public service campaigns on behalf of Madison Avenue and the media industry - is introducing ads meant to tackle a social issue of concern to gays and lesbians. The campaign, which is scheduled to be announced by the council in Washington on Wednesday, will seek to discourage bullying and harassment of teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The campaign, created pro bono by the New York office of Arnold Worldwide, urges an end to using derogatory language, particularly labeling anything deemed negative or unpleasant as so gay. That is underlined by the theme of the campaign: When you say, "That's so gay," do you realize what you say? Knock it off. Read more about the Advertising Council's new policy posted 9 October 2008

Sexism In The Media Anne Kornblut Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 Washington Post "In the first presidential campaign cycle with two prominent female candidates, news media have repeatedly come under fire for alleged unfair coverage of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. But Palin said this week that the coverage of her has not been sexist and a recent Lifetime poll showed that a majority of women think journalists have treated both the Alaska governor and the former first lady fairly. So is there truth to the claims that a gender bias permeates the media? " Read more about Kornblut's views on the media and sexism. posted 3 October 2008

Amy Goodman First Journalist to Win “Alternative Nobel” October 01, 2008 Democracy NOW "New York City, NY – Award-winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! Amy Goodman is the first journalist to receive the Right Livelihood Award, widely recognized as the world’s premier award for personal courage and social transformation. The annual prize, also known as the Alternative Nobel, will be awarded in the Swedish Parliament on December 8, 2008. The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to honor and support those “offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”. Goodman has been selected for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media.” Read more about Goodman's award posted 3 October 2008

In Crisis, Campbell Brown, Katie Couric, Barbara Ehrenreich Speak Truth to Power Women's Voices for Change September 29, 2008 A spoonful of sugar helps the hard truth come out? Recent weeks have seen surprising resurgences for women broadcasters most of us had dismissed for being confined to lifestyle stories. CNN's Campbell Brown, 40, has recently grilled campaign spokespersons from both parties by sweetly refusing incomplete answers. Meanwhile, the much-slammed 51-year-old Katherine Anne Couric has, in the words of Radar Online, "gotten her groove back." Since Couric became CBS Evening News' anchor and managing editor this year, the broadcast has grown with cutting-edge reporting, long-form stories, and special reports on complex issues. As Melissa said today at Women and Hollywood: "Lesson one is: don't underestimate Katie Couric." Read more about the "Voices for Change" posted 1 October 2008

To the Contrary Podcast September 26, 2008 TTC panelists discuss: economic woes pushing women voters to Obama, the male gender gap, and African American women and retirement. The panelists are: (in order of opening question response) U.S. News and World Report's Dr. Bernandine Healy; Global Summit of Women President Irene Natividad; Political Intersection Blog Editor-in-Chief Sophia Nelson; and National Council of Negro Women's Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever. Listen to the podcast posted 1 October 2008

Dee Dee Myers Joins CBS News By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable 9/29/2008 1:54:00 PM "Former White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton joins Dan Bartlett, Joe Trippi as CBS News political analysts. Dee Dee Myers joined CBS News as a political analyst, rounding out a trio that now comprises Myers, Dan Bartlett and Joe Trippi and tipping the scale toward Democrats." Read more about Dee Dee Myers posted 1 October 2008

Women in Politics Thursday 18 September 2008 by: t r u t h o u t | Programming Note This week's "NOW" on PBS: "How have women in politics changed America and the world? "NOW" on PBS investigates with an hour-long special hosted by Maria Hinojosa: "Women, Power and Politics: A Rising Tide?" Watch the show online. Given the hoopla surrounding Sarah Palin's and Hillary Clinton's historical political ascendance, why does the US rank so low among countries for percentage of women holding national office? On Friday, September 19, at 8:30 PM (check local listings), in a one-hour special, "NOW's" Maria Hinojosa talks to women leaders around the world and here in the United States for an intimate look at the high-stakes risks, triumphs and setbacks for women leaders of today and tomorrow. In this one-hour special, NOW's Maria Hinojosa talks to women leaders around the world and here in the United States for an intimate look at the high-stakes risks, triumphs, and setbacks for women leaders of today and tomorrow. [You can see behind the scenes campaign footage of Governor Shaheen in the "war room" and an exclusive interview with Governor Shaheen talking about the challenges she's faced in politics and why she's fighting to bring a new direction to Washington DC.] ... "Women, Power and Politics" is also about the personal journey of mother and award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa as she strives to answer the question: "What does it mean to be a woman in power?" Read more about the TV show: "Women, Power, and Politics" updated 22 September 2008

Ransacking of Longtime Wpomen's New Agency in Mexico City Raises Concerns about Motives FIRE - Feminist International Radio Endeavour July 30, 2008 "The devastation and disorder of a burglary and violent vandalism at the women's news agency CIMAC (Women's Communication & Information) offices in Mexico City last weekend suggest that it was more than a common break-in, according to Lucía Lagunes Huerta, general director of the organization. Manual Fuentes, a lawyer for CIMAC noted that the evidence might be "leaving a message that CIMAC is vulnerable." On behalf of the news agency, Fuentes filed a burglary charge with the Attorney General's office of the federal district of Mexico." Read more about the Ransacking posted 1 August 2008