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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Study: Men Dominate News Coverage of Women’s Reproductive Issues

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Monday, January 25, 2016   

DENVER – Male voices and perspectives are blocking out females – even in coverage of women's reproductive health – according to new research by the Women's Media Center.

It says journalists who are women produce 37 percent of articles on contraception or abortion, compared with 52 percent by men.

Soraya Chemaly, Women's Media Center board member, says the report is especially important as legislatures head into session.

She notes in 2015, states passed 57 laws restricting reproductive rights and hundreds more were introduced.

"The people who are most affected by these laws should be the ones whose voices we hear the most, and we are not hearing those voices," she states.

The study suggests a reporter's gender also affects who is quoted in news stories, with women tapping female sources more often than their male counterparts.

The research shows overall, men account for 41 percent of all quotes in articles about reproductive issues, compared to 33 percent from women. The remaining percentages were attributed to organizations, or were in articles that didn't have bylines.

The context for stories is also different between genders, according to the report. Male journalists tended to frame reproductive issues in political terms, while women were more likely to present them primarily as health care matters.

Chemaly says the cumulative impact on the national conversation is significant.

"The media outlets that were studied are the places that most people are getting their news from,” she points out. “In aggregate, they make up the highest circulation media outlets in the country. "

The research focused on a year's worth of stories from 12 of the nation's biggest news outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press.

Chemaly points out the report shows although the majority of students in journalism schools are now women, newsrooms continue to be dominated by men.








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