Updated Industry Statistics Posted on Media Report to Women's Web Site

Looking for the latest research on how women are portrayed by media? How they are used, or not used, as sources of news and expertise? What advertising and entertainment media convey about women's bodies and spirits? How women are advancing in media professions? Video presentations that illustrate media's power to influence?

Click here for data drawn from multiple sources by Media Report to Women Editor Sheila Gibbons, posted today, with links to research sources:

http://www.mediareporttowomen.com/statistics.htm

Fashion, Race and Essence Magazine

Essence magazine’s hiring of a white fashion director has touched off a discussion of whether it makes sense for a magazine started at a time when black women were largely ignored by American women’s magazines (and when many of these magazines had, for years, been edited by men) should have given the job to a white woman. The new hire, Elliana Placas, has freelanced in fashion for Essence for half a year. Essence's editor, Angela Burt-Murray, decided to bring Placas on fulltime and is defending the decision. Placas has experience at O Magazine and House Beautiful, among others. “I got to see firsthand her creativity, her vision, the positive reader response to her work, and her enthusiasm and respect for the audience and our brand,” Burt-Murray said.

Comments from readers have touched on disbelief that a qualified black fashion editor couldn’t be found; that black fashion sense and style are both special and specialized and that someone outside the culture wouldn’t be as attuned to it; and that a position that could have advanced a black female magazine staffer’s career was handed to a white woman instead.

Hurt feelings and confusion abound in the early comments, though I’ve also read sentiments that say qualifications and experience should count most in this economically competitive magazine environment, in which many titles are struggling – and if Placas has the right resume, so be it. But does she have the right race, ask others? And how much should that matter?

I’m inclined to think that Essence, which began publishing in 1970, has matured to the point where it, too, can diversify its ranks and benefit from the mix. Burt-Murray seems to think so. Placas will need to be persuasive to win over the skeptics. But the proof will be in the pages.

Read Burt-Murray’s comments on the Placas hiring, and Essence's mission, at http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/essence-one-white-editor-wont-diminish-our-love-of-black-women.php

Sunday Morning TV Talk Shows: It's a Guy Thing

American University's Women and Politics Institute has released a study that confirms with percentages what most of us know in our guts: Newsmakers on Sunday morning are mostly of the testosterone variety. Only 13.5 percent of guests being chatted up by David Gregory, Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley and the like are members of what used to be called the fairer sex. The long-standing excuses of TV bookers persist: the most influential players in politics and corporations continue to be men; women don't make themselves as readily available, don't seem as eager to be in the limelight; Sunday morning is a bad time for women who are protective of their personal time. However, I believe there's more to it than that. I think bookers are pressured to land the big "gets," the guests who in the eyes of the producers and their bosses lend gloss and stature to their programs. That approach naturally favors incumbency, longevity and seniority, factors that, at least to this point, haven't favored women. Details at
http://politico.com/news/stories/0601/38483

Controversy Brings Down Veteran Correspondent Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas, veteran Hearst opinion columnist and before that, White House bureau chief for UPI, resigned today amid the furor caused by her May 27 comments about Jews, Palestinians and Israel. In an interview, Thomas said Israel "should get the hell out of Palestine" and suggested that Israel's Jewish citizens return to the European nations where they had lived prior to, and during, their persecution in World War II. These intemperate comments have cost Thomas a graceful exit from a remarkable, 67-year career during which she blazed trails for women journalists and aspiring political correspondents. Frustration among long-time observers of the endless Israeli and Palestinian negotiations -- and Thomas has had a front-row seat at the White House since the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s and has met many of the players-- is undoubtedly rising. But comments such as these, coming from a journalist of Thomas's stature, are no help whatsoever, least of all to Thomas herself. It's a sad day.

Women Journalists Talk It Over

The Poynter Institute has organized a forum on women in journalism and is live-blogging it. Follow the discussion at www.poynter.org/column.asp=id101&aid=183707. Discussion is lively and is showing us that some old issues for women in the newsroom -- parity, opportunity, the risks of pushing for change, acceptance -- don't go away entirely and new strategies are needed for moving forward.

Moxie Trumps Gender for Sawyer

In the April 26 edition of Time magazine, journalist and ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer answered questions from readers. This gem illustrates how newswomen have refused to let gender be used to block them from plum reporting opportunities:

In response to a question, "What is the weirdest thing you ever had to do for a story?", Sawyer said:

"I made my way into the Russian White House in the middle of a coup attempt when [Boris] Yeltsin was President. No one was being allowed into the building. I went up, and the guard said women would not be allowed into the building. And I said, 'I'm not an American woman, I'm a journalist.' There was a momentary perplexed look on his face, and he said, 'O.K.' It worked. Sometimes a non sequitur is as good as strategy."

The entire interview is at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1982295,00.html

Where Are the Female Voices on NPR?

We often fall into the trap of thinking that more liberal media, more progressive media, including many public broadcasting outlets, have a better record presenting women as authoritative sources than they actually have. National Public Radio Ombudsman Alicia Shepard blogged today about her research on NPR's performance in this regard and found it very much wanting. Read her post at www.npr.org/ombudsman/2010/04/where_are_the_women.html?sc=nl&cc=omb--20100402.