The opinion page is the most popular part of American newspapers. It’s the top reason I subscribe. I want to know what my fellow community members are thinking. But I don’t want to know just what men are thinking; I want to know what women are thinking too.
I tracked the gender of contributors throughout December and found that men contributed roughly 80% of the pieces in the opinion section. There were even three days in which no women were present at all. And, yes, it’s ironic that I’m a man and contributing to the imbalance with this piece.
The only place where there is balance is the guest opinion section, which had 13 female and male contributors. Letters, however, came from just six women (16%) and 31 men (84%). Likewise, vents came from only eight women (23%) and 27 men (77%). Contributions from our local columnists were, of course, entirely from men: Gianficaro, Giordano, and Mullane.
Contributions from other papers were equally imbalanced. Commentaries came from 14 women (25%) and 41 (75%). Cartoons came from just four women (15%) and 23 men (85%).
Given the anonymous and seemingly collective authorship of “Our View” and “Another View,” it’s hard to tell how many women and men contributed. But, based on the makeup of the Courier’s editorial board, one might assume that “Our View” is similarly tilted male.
There are probably several reasons for this imbalance, not all of which are under the control of the Courier. It may, for example, be the case that men submit many more letters and vents than do women. And, if so, it would be interesting to know why that is. It may also be the case that there are similar disparities in the major papers the Courier draws upon for cartoons and commentaries. That said, the Courier did choose to add another man, Giordano, when they included a second fortnightly conservative columnist.
The similar imbalance in national papers will limit what the Courier can do to create greater balance for us. The Courier might, however, do the following.
1. Drop the vent section. Its brevity allows for little of value. I usually skip it altogether.
2. Use the space from the vents and some space from the commentary section to make way for more guest opinions, the only type of submission that is balanced. It is also the most thoughtful section.
3. Add a fortnightly liberal or progressive woman to create greater gender and ideological balance among the columnists.
4. Given the popularity of opinion pages, perhaps enlarge the section to simply allow more letters and guest opinions.
We readers might also contribute to greater balance. I wonder if the prevalence of social media has led to fewer submissions by both men and women, providing the editors with fewer choices. If so, perhaps we should get offline and go in print more. There are several benefits to this. The lack of anonymity in the paper will require us to take greater responsibility for what we say. The editorial selection process will force us to write more thoughtfully.
In short, the paper provides a place for more useful and responsible expression than does social media. It also gets us out of our bubbles and gives us a dose of reality. So, Courier, provide more local contributions and more contributions from women. And, readers, submit more thoughtful letters and guest opinion pieces.
Jonson Miller is a resident of Langhorne.
"Opinion" - Google News
January 31, 2020 at 05:14PM
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Guest Opinion: Too few women published on Courier's opinion pages - Bucks County Courier Times
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