We Write Letters: Stop Sexist Op-Ed Practices

To whom it may concern,

Recently, Rutgers University researched 366 opinion columns by the newspapers The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New Jersey Star-Ledger. The findings of this research showed the horrific gender gap in opinion writers.

According to Richard Perez-Pena at the New York Times:

“The study says that men wrote 78 percent of the academics’ opinion pieces in The Star-Ledger, 82 percent in The Times, and 97 percent in The Journal. ‘Of all our analyses,’ the authors wrote, ‘this is perhaps the most astonishing.’ ”

On May 25, Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote: “The Post’s op-ed page is too male and too white.” Howell backed this statement with clear facts – “The 2008 numbers as of Wednesday: 654 op-ed pieces — 575 by men, 79 by women and about 80 by minorities.”

Simply put, your newspaper discriminates against women. Wildly. You and your colleagues at major newspapers across the nation have taken a stand – you will not allow women’s voices to be heard. There is no other explanation than that you, your newspaper, and the corporation that likely owns your newspaper practice over-the-top sexism when it comes to columnists and/or your Op-Ed pages.

This is why I write to you to request that you hire Melissa McEwan as a writer for your Op-Ed pages or as a columnist. McEwan is the creator of the blog community “Shakesville” (www.shakesville.com) and has proven herself to be not just a brilliant writer, but also a true progressive in every sense of the word. Her feminist writings are revered throughout the Internet. McEwan is well-educated, insightful, witty, and more importantly, she writes about real liberal and progressive issues.

We live in a nation where the Los Angeles Times will print editorials by Jonah Goldberg. Where the New York Times has actually hired Bill Kristol. The American public is literally bombarded by the “opinions” of far-right men as Charles Krauthammer, Thomas Sowell, Jeff Jacoby, Fred Hiatt, et al. When women are represented on the nation’s Op-Ed pages, they tend to be conservatives such as Ann Coulter, Maureen Dowd and Kathleen Parker. Or, as the above study shows, women tend not to be represented at all.

Should you not choose to hire McEwan, you still must change your practices. More women – especially progressive women – are vital for this nation to have any type of true dialogue based on reality rather than rhetoric. Because it is 2008, and your newspaper has dedicated itself to only hiring men to write their opinions. In fact, a look at The Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) – a liberal Web site – shows a listing for “Columnists.” I ask you to look at this list and notice there are 27 names – three of them are female. This is your doing. You have created a nation where women’s voices do not matter and are not heard.

At the very least, I would like for you to respond to this and explain why you believe rampant sexism is allowed to thrive on the Op-Ed pages of your newspaper, or show proof that your paper does not engage in these practices. Regardless, if you have any journalistic integrity, you would accept the evidence above as proof that the Op-Ed pages of major U.S. newspapers are extremely sexist, and vow to change it. Women’s voices must be heard.

Sincerely,

William K. Wolfrum

Work cited:

“Study Finds Imbalance on 3 Newspapers’ Op-Ed Pages”

“An Op-Ed Need for Diverse Voices”

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If you are interested in sending your own message to a major newspaper, I advise going to Communications Consortium’s Media Center, where you’ll find contact information for the editorial departments of the top-101 newspapers in the U.S. I just finished sending the above to every one of them.

–WKW