Women, Men and News Divided and Disconnected in the News Media Landscape

Table of Contents Preface Part I Women, Men, and News Consumption Chapter 1: Trouble in the News Media Landscape-Paula Poindexter Chapter 2: Factors Contributing to the Sex Divide in Newspapers and Television News-Paula Poindexter Chapter 3: When Women Ignore the News-Paula Poindexter Chapter 4: IM, Downloading, Facebook, and Teen Magazines: Gateways or Barriers to News?-Paula Poindexter Part II Women in the News; Women in the Newsroom Chapter 5: Finding Women in the Newsroom and in the News - Paula Poindexter Chapter 6: The Softer Side of News -Paula Poindexter and Dustin Harp Part III Women, Technology, and News Chapter 7: Women and Technology: How Socialization Created a Gender Gap-Sharon Meraz Chapter 8: Online News: Factors Influencing the Divide Between Women and Men- Amy Schmitz Weiss Chapter 9: The Blogosphere’s Gender Gap: Differences in Visibility, Popularity, and Authority -Sharon Meraz Part IV Perspectives On Young Adults Chapter 10: Reaching Young Adults Begins with Change -Amy Zerba Women Worldwide Chapter 11: Women and the News: Europe, Egypt and the Middle East, and Africa- Jackie Harrison and Karen Sanders, Christiana Holtz-Bacha, Raquel Rodriguez Díaz, Serra Görpe, Salma Ghanem, and Chioma Ugochukwu Chapter 12: Women and the News: India and Asia – Smeeta Mishra, Xin (Sophie) Chen, Yi-ning Katherine Chen, and Kyung-Hee Kim Chapter 13: Women and the News: Latin America and the Caribbean - Vanessa de M. Higgins, Teresa Correra, Maria Flores, and Sharon Meraz Feminists on the News Chapter 14: News, Feminist Theories, and the Gender Divide-Dustin Harp Chapter 15: Critiquing Journalism: A 21^st Century Feminist Perspective - Linda Steiner On Women, Race, Ethnicity, and News Chapter 16: Color and Content: Why the News Doesn’t Mirror Society -Lorraine Branham Chapter 17: Coverage of Latinos in the News Media: We’re Not There Yet -Maggie Rivas Rodriguez A Blueprint for the News Media Landscape of the Future Chapter 18: Strengthening the News Connection with Women and Cultivating the Next Generation-Paula Poindexter, Sharon Meraz, and Amy Schmitz Weiss

Biography

Paula Poindexter, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has worked on the editorial and business sides of the news media. Formerly a manager and executive at the Los Angeles Times, Poindexter also worked as a reporter and producer at the NBC-affiliate TV station in Houston. Her primary research focus is the audience for news.

Sharon Meraz, who has worked in information technology for seven years, joined the faculty of the University of Illinois, Chicago's Department of Communication, in January 2008, where she teaches new media classes. Her research interests include blogging, mobile technologies, social media applications, and citizen political engagement.

Amy Schmitz Weiss, a doctoral candidate in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin who co-founded her college's online newspaper, previously worked at Chicago Tribune Online, Indianapolis Star News Online, and several Chicago Internet firms. Multimedia journalism is her research interest.

Finally! After unsuccessful tries by others, Women, Men and News: Divided and Disconnected articulates many of the issues about women and their "connectiveness" to news that have largely been ignored. The authors wisely provide not just an explanation, but also a road map for the 21^st century and beyond.

Women, Men and News: Divided and Disconnected offers solid research and reporting about news consumption that crosses the lines of age, gender, ethnicity feminism, geography and technology. Their work stretches our understanding of what’s important to insure what the authors reinforce: informed citizens are necessary for a democratic society.

If every media executive and university journalism educator would carefully review the "blueprint for increasing news consumers among today’s women and the next generation," we would be closer to understanding attitudes toward and expectations of news worldwide. With that understanding also comes a stronger, healthier, more respectful community.

Women, Men and News: Divide and Disconnected also provides a much-needed read for today’s college students who get their news from the Jon Stewart Show, blogs, Facebook and YouTube.

Dr. Barbara Bealor Hines, Professor, Howard University

"This work provides an understanding of how the news and information industry is failing society, nationally and globally.  The authors have put together a must-read for all students of democracy. It is packed with up-to-date information appropriate for use in graduate classes such as Media and the Sexes, or as a supplement to upper-level undergraduate courses such as Media Management.  It is useful because it looks at traditional subjects such as news consumption in a completely different light and provides ammunition for discussion and classroom lectures."

Angela M. Powers, Ph.D.
Director and Professor
A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications
Kansas State University

 Through an interesting mix of chapters written by women with an interesting mix of credentials, Women, Men, and News takes a careful and critical look at the difference gender makes in the production and consumption of news. Focusing on various platforms for news, old and new alike, the material in this volume highlights an important challenge journalism faces in its commitment to open and inclusive public communication.  Global in its reach and thoughtful in its analysis, Women, Men, and News makes a timely and significant contribution to the literature on the role of the press as an institution of democracy. 

Theodore L. Glasser, Stanford University