Hot of the Press: The Byline Survey Results (#1)

The Byline Results are in!  There are so many fascinating stats that I have to tell you about, and I will be doing so in a series of five weekly posts beginning today.

Just to catch you up, in the 12 week period from 9/15 to 12/7 I documented the op-ed articles of 10  publications, categorizing them by media type (New, Legacy, College), publication, the author’s status as staff or not staff, and subject.  In total I recorded 7,073 op-eds.

The table below shows the proportion of total articles written by women in New Media (The Huffington Post and Salon), Legacy Media (NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal), and College Media (Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale).  As you can see, women wrote a much higher percentage of articles in College Media (College Media was at 38% compared to 20% in Legacy Media, and 33% in New Media).  These numbers comport with the results of previous Byline Surveys.

When we begin to unravel these basic figures things become much more interesting:

In New Media, women wrote 33% of all articles, but they contributed just 26% of all general interest articles.  This is due to the fact that 34% of the articles that women wrote about were on Pink topics.

In the Legacy Media chart below, we see that the numbers of Pink topic articles are nearly equal (men 34, women 37), but these numbers belie the disparities in the distribution of output.  The 34 articles that men wrote constitute just 3% of their total output; compare that to the 14% that Pink topics composed in women’s total output.

Put another way, out of 1,410 general interest articles (politics, economy, health, education, etc.) women wrote only 261!  Ouch.

Stay tuned next week when we take a look at the subjects that men and women are writing about.  You won’t want to miss it.

Empowerment through the Boston OpEd Project Seminar on Feb. 25th

My name is Jane Case and I recently represented WAM! Women, Action, & the Media at the “Write to Change the World” OpEd Project Seminar in Boston this past weekend. I was so thrilled to be a participant and was excited about what was in store for me. I expected to gain a lot out of just one day, but I had no idea I would come away with so much empowerment and drive.

At first it was intimidating to be a recent college graduate sitting in a room surrounded by extremely accomplished women who have made incredible contributions to this world. However, I soon felt comfortable through the welcoming feel in the room that Seminar Leader Zeba Khan produced. Zeba led an amazing seminar that left me feeling incredibly empowered and ready to use my voice at maximum capacity. Zeba helped open my eyes to what I have to offer to this world, and even though I am young, my own perspectives, knowledge, and experiences are important and powerful. Not only did I learn how to write an effective op-ed piece, but I now have the tools to make credible arguments for issues I care about in other contexts as well.

By the end of the day, I left with the excitement to share my voice in new ways, and a positive new look on what I have to offer to others. Before the seminar I was concerned about how to navigate a path toward my dreams and career goals as a woman who is in the very early stages of gaining professional work and writing experience. After completing the seminar I now recognize that my ideas and opinions can be a resource to others, and that I do in fact have the tools to make compelling arguments and make my voice heard, no matter where I am in the stages of my professional career.

OEP Program Manager, Alyssa Best,;Mentor-Editor, Dante Ramos; and Seminar Leader, Zeba Khan

Mentor-Editor Michael Massing Weighs in on Mentoring from Time Square

OpEd Project Mentor-Editor Michael Massing–a MacArthur Genius grant winner, founder of Committee to Protect Journalists, and author and journalist (for The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Nation, among others) weighs in from Times Square on why he’s a mentor-editor.

(From all of us at OEP headquarters, and on behalf of your mentees:  Thank you for being awesome, Michael!)

Public Voices Fellows Rock Public Discourse!

February has already been a FABULOUS month for The OpEd Project’s Public Voices Fellowship, and we’re just over halfway through!

Since its second convening on the 5th of February the Princeton Public Voices Fellows have been tearing through the opinion pages like marathoners through finish-line tape! They’ve published five pieces in just two weeks! Good news, too, from Yale, where the 30th Public Voices Fellowship success was celebrated this week! Some highlights below:

On the 1st of the month, Yale Fellow Ellen Lust‘s list of recommendations for Egypt’s economic recovery entitled “Allies Should Beware of Blank Checks,” was featured on the New York Times‘ Room For Debate page.

Just a day later, Priya Natarajan, also of Yale, published an article in The Washington Post in which she explores the reasons behind the declining number of students entering “STEM” fields – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Her piece, “Want Your Kid to be a Scientist? Start in Elementary School,” cites an incapacity in today’s college students to apply their book-knowledge to “real-life problems.” Natarajan says that in order to gain such skills, kids need to have “engaging, interactive learning environments that link school curricula to the outside world” starting in elementary school.

On February 7th, Jill Dolan of the Princeton program used Cynthia Nixon’s recent comments regarding her “choice” to become a lesbian (and the pugilistic response of many gay and lesbian activists) as a springboard for a discussing the limitations that the “born this way” rhetoric of LGBT activism has imposed on sexuality. Her article, “Do We Need a More Nuanced View of Sexuality,” appeared on AlterNet.

Margaret Martonosi, also of Princeton, published a great piece on PBS/ Need to Know this week entitled “IT Research and the U.S. Economy: A Long View.” In it, Maronosi defends President Obama’s 2013 budget increase in funding for information technology (IT) research, saying that IT innovation is absolutely essential to our economic well-being in the future. 

Congrats to all involved on the incredible successes! Can’t wait to see what the second half of the month brings to our nation’s conversations…

Week in Review – February 13, 2012

Woohoo! The successes keep rolling in! Anaam, OEP Social Media fellow, reporting in with three stellar pieces for the week of February 13, 2012 :

• Decadent chocolates, red roses, and warm sentiments like: Be Mine and Together Forever. It is hard to not give into the fuzzy feeling of Valentine’s day. OEP Alum Qanta Ahmed was featured in USA Today for her latest success “Islam, interfaith marriage go hand in hand.” In light of the holiday, Qanta discusses how love can conquer ethnic and religious difference. The piece is beautifully written and makes a personal connection.
• Another great piece this week, was penned by Deborah Siegel, OEP Regional Manager and Seminar Leader. Deborah’s op-ed titled “Occupy (Working) Motherhood” is an inside look into the roles of working mothers and a list of demands to help women with the job description. Also, Deborah wrote this piece to remind us and honor Susan B. Anthony’s birthday and legacy.
• The OpEd Project got a huge shout-out and mention in CNN on Monday February 12,2012. Courtney Martin and Katie Orenstein were featured on the front page of CNN.com for their piece “How to have more Sheryl Sandbergs.” The op-ed discusses the need more women leaders and how females need to participate in daily dialogue to help up their roles and presence.

Whether it be about our personal identities, job description, or gender, it is clear that everyone has an important message to share. Be sure to share your thoughts on these successes and more  on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Interview with Princeton Public Voices Fellow Noliwe Rooks, Champion of Education

Noliwe Rooks, a Public Voices Fellow, is the associate director of the Center for American Studies at Princeton. Since the commencement of the Public Voices Fellowship at Princeton she has published two articles: “Reframing the Debate on Charter Schools,” and “Preventing a ‘Citizen-Less’ Nation Through Higher Education.” She answers questions posed by Ravenna Koenig, Junior Fellow, below.

Ravenna Koenig: At The OpEd Project we often reiterate the importance of making an esoteric topic accessible to lay readers; learning how to talk about an issue that many readers may be unfamiliar with. You write about education: a topic that almost everyone has personal experience with. What are the challenges of writing as an expert on a topic that everybody seems to have a take on?

Noliwe Rooks: Education is one of a couple of topics that everyone believes they are an expert on already because of their personal experience. Other topics include popular culture (everyone has a favorite film or TV show that they are happy to talk about) and race (everyone has a story or a statement that, when prompted, they are happy to make).

Since my teaching and scholarly work touches on all three, I am used to having to figure out how to claim some space to speak. In writing op-eds about education and claiming expert status, I fall back on what I do in the classroom which is to try and make clear that I have a point of view or perspective that is different from what they have heard elsewhere and then present the scholarship and thinking in a way that invites engagement.

RK: And the advantages of writing on topics everyone has an opinion on?

NR: You don’t have to convince people that what you want to talk about is important or of value. If you are trying to introduce a topic that is unfamiliar to the average person, you have to do so much work to explain to them, or convince them that what you are saying is new or different that you may lose the audience before you get to your point. If people already care about the topic, you just have to say something interesting about it that convinces them to listen, not convince them that the basic topic has value.

RK: Being a thought leader can involve so much more than just publishing op-eds. It can, for example, involve being an expert source for the media, which, if I’m not mistaken, you have been (The Takeaway’s episode: What is ‘Good Hair?’). What was that experience like? How did the opportunity come your way?

NR: My first book was called “Hair Raising” and is about hair, race and beauty in popular culture. Because it has been out a while, every so often, I will get a call from a producer or writer who wants to ask me about some sort of eruption involving beauty and race. For The Takeaway episode, the issue was the negative response many had toward Sasha and Malia Obama wearing their hair in braids during an overseas trip. The response was horrible, with folks calling them an embarrassment to America.

The last time I was on a show it was because the security folks at the airport had begun to check the hair of black women who wore their hair naturally in afros. There is apparently some sort of new guideline suggesting that black women may be hiding weapons in their hair so airport security is authorized to check it if they feel it is warranted. There was quite a bit of cultural conversation about that and I got asked to comment.

RK: In your recent article “Reframing the Debate on Charter Schools,” you talk about how many alternative education models, like Charter schools, have been misrepresented in the media as more successful than they really are. Why do you think that the media is so inclined to applaud these models instead of portraying the complexity of their “success”?

NR: I think that the media like to focus on a small handful of options around education because education reform is a hard topic to get a handle on and no one wants to be wrong so it is much easier to just say the same thing that the last guy said. It’s a little bit of laziness, a little bit of a courage problem, a little bit of a fear to focus on real innovation. Sometimes the media seems to be more interested in focusing on reform (incremental change) as opposed to revolution (something entirely new).

Snowy Weather + Inspiring Leaders = Amazing OEP NY Seminar

As the snow came down this morning in NYC, 19 eager participants gathered bright and early at The OpEd Project HQ for a public seminar.  The room was  full of experts, thought leaders and some familiar OEP faces (special shout out to Qanta Ahmed!). The seminar was led by the stellar Katherine Lanpher, who had the whole room buzzing with ideas by noon!

Participants in the New York public session on February 11, 2012

As the day progressed, it was clear that the creative juices were flowing and solid opinions were beginning to form. Near the end, Katie Orenstein (OEP founder) stopped in to share her words of wisdom.

Group photo of new OpEd Project New York alums

After congratulating the new class of OpEd project Alums, a few pictures were snapped to capture the moment!

Christine Bader, Katherine Lanpher, Maura Casey, Katie Orenstein, Jessica Faye Carter

OpEd Project Mentors and former Alums dropped in after the seminar to welcome the new class.

Christine Bader and Victor Neufeld

Week in Review – February 6, 2012

Hey all, Anaam checking in with my three top success highlights for the week of February 6, 2012.

Everyone has a favorite prime time show. Whether your favorite character is Sheldon from the “Big Bang Theory,” or Manny from “Modern Family,” these shows present a clear level of distinction between male and female characters. Michelle Haimoff in her success “Not so Modern Family: Top sitcoms make for sexist, inaccurate television” discusses an alarming and fascinating theme about primetime television. Surprisingly, all the male characters on the five top rated television shows are professionally accomplished, whereas the women characters are either struggling or hardly making ends meet. Michelle suggests that the next time you tune into your favorite show you should stop and take a look at the roles of the female characters. Michelle explains how the females on top rated sitcoms are not relatable and do a poor job of representing the female population. Michelle’s eye opening analysis was recently featured on Yahoo. Great job, Michelle!

Is chivalry really dead? One of the most talked about op-eds on OEP social media was “Complaint Box | Chivalry” by Piper Hoffman. Piper in her recent success explains how chivalry has become a romanticized notion, which can be awkward and insufficient in many situations. Many OEP’ers expressed their opinion and suggested that feminists need to calm down and not read into small gestures. Is it wrong for a man to hold a door for a woman?

Another great success this week comes from Tey Meadow and  Elizabeth Armstrong in response to Susan G. Komen and their recent actions towards Planned Parenthood. Last week, Susan G. Komen withdrew their funding to Planned Parenthood because of political reasons. As a result, progressive women took action by soliciting donations from friends and family, and expressing their outrage in print and new media. Such actions forced Komen to reinstate their funding to Planned Parenthood, but left many baffled and hurt. Tey Meadow and Elizabeth Armstrong, in their success titled “Public Health, Private Donors,”  present an amazing argument about the bigger picture behind private funding for healthcare initiatives. They argue that private elite donors should not be the ones controlling lifesaving preventative healthcare.

What an exciting week of OEP successes! The year is off to an awesome start. Be sure to tune in next week and look out for my blog post about “What’s Happening at OEP.” Also, I am excited to announce that I am officially now an OEP Junior Fellow. I cannot wait to be inspired by our amazing team.

Experts Gather for a Public Seminar in DC

Ashley and Mallory (in the forefront) square off in “That’s Ridiculous”

Seminar Leader, Kelly Nuxoll (right) challenges Stephanie’s argument

OEP in San Francisco!

Zeba Khan led two powerhouse sessions in San Francisco this past weekend. A Band of Wives hosted a private session for 17 of their members on Saturday. The OpEd Project welcomed 18 new alumni into our San Francisco community after concluding a public session on Sunday.

We’d like to thank the ACLU in SF for hosting both programs in their offices and give a shout out to Laura, Monica, and Laila for their help!