Vol. 51, No. 4, Fall 2023
Thumbnail summaries of this issue’s major articles:
Media Rights for Women’s Sports on the Upswing
The National Women’s Soccer League is illustrating the connection between big-time media exposure and team and player growth with recent agreements with major sports media organizations. In an interview with Forbes, Angel City investor Julie Foudy, a two-time World Cup winner and TV analyst, says that improved exposure not only elevates women soccer players but all the women competing in sports. The surging interest in women’s soccer in the United States is driving better salaries for players and more favorable income and TV scheduling for teams, including a bigger presence in prime time – fairly new placement for the NWSL.
Danger Unceasing for Women Journalists in Repressive Societies
News reporting has become increasingly dangerous worldwide, as repressive governments seek to muzzle journalists and violence claims their health and lives in conflict zones. For just one example: Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in jail, respectively, by Iranian authorities for collaborating with the hostile U.S. government, “acting against the national security,” and propaganda, reported the Committee to Protect Journalists. Abd in its 2023 half-yearly report (January-July period), the Coalition for Women in Journalism documented dangers that pushed Europe to the forefront in danger for women in journalism. Half of the killings and assassination attempts documented by CFWIJ occurred in Europe, with Russia responsible for 30%.
Nearly Half of TV Scripted Series Show Gender-balanced Hiring
IMDbPro and ReFrame, an initiative of Sundance Institute and Women in Film (WIF), announced August 16 that 94 of the 200 most popular scripted series of the 2022-23 season have been awarded their ReFrame Stamp for gender-balanced hiring. The ReFrame TV Stamp, launched in 2018, is awarded to scripted series that hire women or people of other underrepresented genders (including those who are trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming) in at least 50% of key roles including: showrunner, writers, directors, producers, lead, co-leads, and department heads. Additional points are awarded to productions that hire women of color in these key positions, and to those with overall gender parity in their crews.
Gender Parity in Corporations is Profitable, BlackRock Study Says
A new white paper by BlackRock, world’s largest asset manager, found that companies whose staffing reflects a more equal sex-split, a greater number of women in management, and a higher standard of maternity policies, outperform rivals which lag in these areas. Among the findings: Companies with diverse workforces, particularly those approaching gender parity, outperform their less diverse counterparts by an average of 29% per year in terms of return on assets. Female-led companies have outperformed male-led ones by an average of one percentage point on the Return on Assets (RoA) measure from 2014 to 2022. Women-owned or managed hedge funds have outperformed the average hedge fund by 10.5% over the last 16 years.
Commentary: On the Need for Asian American History in our K-12 Schools by Mimi Chan
Research in Depth: Moving Beyond the Protest Paradigm?: News Coverage of Women’s Marches in Mexico by Grisel Salazar Rebolledo and Celeste González de Bustamante
Plus News Briefs and Book Reviews!