Dear New York Times,
Where are the women? The journalism profession has been overwhelmingly dominated by men as long as it has existed. You’re the second biggest newspaper in the country and therefore have one of the biggest voices. So how is it that 69 percent of the articles that you publish are written by men? How is it that women make up two thirds of journalism graduates but men make up two thirds of newsrooms? Not only that, but the stories that women do end up getting published are more likely to be health and lifestyle, whereas their male counterparts are more likely to get articles published on crime, justice, and world politics.
Why don’t women’s opinions matter to you? Out of your thirteen regular op-ed columnists, only two are women. Women make up 52 percent of New York City and 48.6 percent of its workforce, so why doesn’t your paper reflect this? Women in journalism go to the same schools as men, get the same grades, but have to yell twice as loud just to be heard. When less women get to report, less women’s stories are heard. And don’t even get me started on female newscasters and the sexual harassment and problems that they face in being taken seriously, but that’s not what this is about. This is about you, a business that is struggling for readership and looking for ways to reinvent itself. Why don’t you start at the beginning? If you strive to make all people feel represented and heard, more people will want to listen.
Good luck,
DK Rule
Sources
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/downloads/pdf/gender-briefs-report.pdf
https://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/still-talking-about-it-where-are-the-women/
https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists
