Recently in Media Category

It's difficult to know exactly where Shane Goodman, editor of CityView, stands based on a quick read of his latest editorial. On one hand, he seems to think there are too many women staffing news desks around the land, and that their very presence is leading to him being force-fed soft news stories on throw pillows. On the other, he wants readers to enjoy the publication's latest soft news piece on how women can get and keep a man -- which is, ironically, written by what must be one of the last few male reporters on the CityView roster.

His primary dig seems to be directed to The Des Moines Register, but there is little need for me to start defending that publication's honor. Rekha Basu, a seasoned journalist on the DMR staff that I greatly admire, already took care of business in that respect.

What's important to note is that CityView promotes itself as central Iowa's "alternative" weekly. Basically, CityView wants you to think that it is an alternative to what is customary and conventional. Viewing Goodman's column in that light, several things come into focus.

1) The column is an apology to (like-minded male) readers. He is simply saying, "Damn it, I don't want to run this useless fluff, but these silly women have taken up reading and writing and forced my hand."

2) Goodman has a very low opinion of his own female employees and readers. He wrote, "Only a third of our staff at the office is men..." and "...occasional static from some females about not having enough news for women." Logically, if his news crew was predominantly women and, at least in his mind's eye, women are only interested in reporting on "hot colors for throw pillows," then it would follow that CityView would offer a more than adequate supply of soft news that would appeal to soft-news-seeking female readers, right?

3) Goodman stereotypes his male readership, possibly in an attempt to remake them in his own image. He wrote, "There's something for all of us guys to learn in the book, too, if we can put down our TV remotes, wrenches and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition long enough to soak it in."

I've worked with enough older male journalists and editors to understand the whole hankering for days gone by -- newsrooms filled with male smoke, male obscenities and male flatulence. It was so much easier when the sexes didn't publicly mingle, male reporters covered male policymakers and community leaders, and "skirts" were only good for the occasional scandal. Back then, at least I'm told, reporters felt free to call each other "boobs" or "panty-waists" or even "pussies" for not getting out there and banging some heads together -- well, at least when they weren't sharing a cigar and beer at the country club with those who were overdue for public flogging. 

I also get that it is much more convenient to point to 'chickification' instead of unraveling the news industry's woes of technological advancements, decreased readership, low ad revenues and ever-increasing expenditure costs.

What I get most of all -- and this is mostly due to the wonderful and educational time I've spent with older journalists both male and female -- is that leaders don't scapegoat. Leaders consider all options and, upon having made a thoughtful decision, don't screw it up with public blood- or testosterone-letting.

Probably not appropriate for work due to questionable language, but nonetheless one of the best spoofs/responses I've seen in ages:

And for those who haven't had the misfortune of seeing the original ad, which supposedly promotes the Dodge Charger, here it is:

There really are some out there who believe that equality for women will result in some lower social standing for men. Samantha Bee of The Daily Show has more...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Male Inequality
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

When women are faced with a difficult pregnancy they really only need two things:

1) Unfettered access to doctors' opinions about their situation
2) Freedom to make an informed choice based on those opinions

The ad that has caused the latest stir features a mother and her son. The son happens to be the quarterback at the University of Florida and a Heisman trophy winner -- but that is supposedly only important in the context of this ad being connected to the "big game." (The ad is being created by a conservative religious group, Focus on the Family, and they are continuing to build excitement and speculation by not pre-releasing it.)

Members of the Tebow family, including Pam, the mom, have been overseas missionaries, and founded the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association in the Philippines. During one of their mission trips to the country Pam developed dysentery, which escalated until she was comatose. The medications she was given at that time are known to possibly cause harm or death to a developing fetus -- and she was unknowingly pregnant at that time with her son, Tim Tebow.

The Tebow family was given medical advice by doctors and they then made their decision to continue the pregnancy.

Some may say the Tebow's "were fortunate" or "got lucky." Others will say it was the "grace of God" or the "power of prayer." Quite frankly, people's thoughts about the outcome of the pregnancy aren't nearly as important as the fact that a woman was presented with unfettered access to information about her personal situation, and that same woman, understanding all the risks, made a decision that she felt was best for her and her family.

That's a beautiful story. That's a story we can all be proud to hear and proud to share. The fact that Focus on the Family and its donors feel compelled to spend between $2 and $3 million so that viewers can know what a good thing it is to trust women? We should all be up applauding.

Women who begin to use the Internet -- especially women of older generations -- are often shocked to find how much sexism truly exists on what everyone says is a great equalizer or the last true egalitarian culture. Once the connection is made, it is easy to point out "the biggies" as far as sexism on the Internet goes. But perhaps the most day-to-day frustrating part of being a woman in this word of blogs and bytes are the little itches of sexism that seem to fester.

Samantha Miller, writing for The Daily Iowan, points specifically to one such nuisance:

A very handy tool on everyone's favorite search engine, Google, will fill in subsequent words in your inquiry you may be intending to search for. For instance, if you begin to type "Brad," it will anticipate you are searching for "Brad Pitt." Google does this because Brad Pitt is the most searched Brad. Voilà. Time saved.

As handy as it is, it can also highlight the most popular beliefs and interests of those who use the search engine. Let me elaborate: Google "women should" and just see what it recommends based on previous searches.

No, it doesn't suggest "run for president" or "have equal pay." Instead, the top three searches will tell you women should "wear white like all other domestic appliances," "not wear pants," and "not speak in church" (oh, and if for the latter you were hoping to alternatively search for "be silent in church," fret not, that's Google's following recommendation.) As you read further down the list, you get other helpful search ideas such as "stay at home," "not be in combat," and "not preach."

Thank God for Google. It reads my mind ... or someone's mind, at least...

Miller uses this "helpful" Google phenomenon to point to the ways humor, even those little off-hand one-liners we all use occasionally, can be rebuilding and reinforcing stereotypes that many want to believe are behind us.

I can't disagree with her opinion on the pitfalls of such comedic attempts, so I'm letting that stand without question.

I do, however, have a theory about the Google searches. I think many who want to hold and continue to enforce sexist beliefs are being confronted more and more often about the true necessity and reasoning behind such beliefs. That is, I don't think that some in today's society are willing to hear a minister say that women should not speak out in church and take that statement at face value. People want to know why this is and what purpose it serves. Once the reasoning is out in the open, it is up to those involved to decide if this is still an edict of value.

Google, and really all Internet search engines, offer individuals access to a wide assortment of opinions. What better place to go if a person wanted to challenge something based on long-standing tradition or to defend the same.

Some of you may remember a vibrant young military wife and mother who traveled from Fort Hood to campaign for then-Sen. Joe Biden during 2008 caucuses. I was honored to have an opportunity to interview Carissa Picard, and have been even further blessed by our long-distance friendship.

When I first heard the news today about the horrific incident at the military base, my first two thoughts were for my family who live close by and for Carissa and her family. All, thank goodness, are safe tonight.

Earlier this evening, Carissa was on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

"It's been tense. It's also changed our perspective regarding living on post. Because we always associated living on post with safety," Carissa said. "There has been a marked rise in violence, in suicides, in shootings this past summer, it was rampant. It just seems as though things are continuing to escalate."

Our prayers and positive thoughts are with Carissa, her family and all the families needlessly touched by violence today.

Watch CBS News Videos Online