Women, laity struggle for voice in ELCA news
Commentary
©Pretty Good Lutherans
UPDATE: Late this afternoon, the ELCA News Service issued a press release that quoted a lay female employee from the denomination’s main offices in Chicago.
It’s been 10 days since a female was mentioned in a press release issued by the ELCA News Service.
Studies of mainstream news coverage show that women remain largely invisible in stories despite a higher profile in society than ever before.
But what about news coverage in the religious media?
An evaluation of one month’s press releases issued by the ELCA News Service shows that women are less likely to be mentioned or quoted in stories than men.
References and quotes by clergymen — almost always depicted as the voices of authority on church matters — dominated the News Service’s coverage. For instance, an Oct. 13 story on mission funding referenced four pastors and one bishop — none of them women.
(CONTINUED)
During the Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 period analyzed, no female bishops were quoted. Nearly 40 clergymen were quoted, while less than a handful of clergywomen were sought for comment.
Men were mentioned in stories more than 100 times, compared to a couple of dozen references to women. In two of those instances, the women were mentioned only because they were married to male bishops.
During the one month period examined, writer Melissa Ramirez Cooper was most likely to quote or mention women in her stories.
The ELCA Church Constitution says the news service exists “to gather and disseminate news about this church and its members.”
Press releases almost always focus on church executives or agencies rather than members. The analysis showed that the few laypeople quoted were almost always employees at the ELCA’s main offices in Chicago.
That’s a lot of money being spent on people writing ineffective, jargon-filled press releases saying “the presiding bishop signed this document” or “Lutheran World Relief is giving money to help people.”
For things to change, church executives have to realize the real story of the ELCA is not about them. That’s not likely to happen when egos and leaders’ sense of importance are tied to being in the news.
Secondly, there needs to be a revolution in the way the ELCA approaches news. That’s not likely either under the present administration.
The press releases sent out now often depend on a single source, which is below the standard for reliable journalism.
The style of writing used by the news service is reflective of 1960s “stenography journalism.” Press releases often provide leaders’ remarks in detail, but offer little or no storytelling, color or quotes from attendees at events.
As of August, two of the four writers for the news service, including the director, held journalism degrees but little to no working experience at mainstream newspapers or magazines.
At least one writer is specialized in radio rather than newswriting. The director’s specialty is public relations.
Journalism and public relations are not the same thing and present inherent conflicts of interest. That’s why the news division is separate from marketing and public relations operations in mainstream journalism (and at some other denominational news services).
Why do denominations need independent news services? “To save leaders from themselves,” said an editor from another religious news service.
In other words, an independent news service, such as Pretty Good Lutherans, can point out to church members and leaders from the outside perspectives that are quashed by the gatekeepers on the inside.
International Women’s Media Foundation
Women’s Media Center __________________________________________________________________ ©Pretty Good Lutherans / By Susan Hogan
Creative Commons photo licensed with and by Todd Klassy.
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Tags: discrimination, ELCA News Service, gender equity, laity
October 16th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Let me try to demonstrate this in a way that will not be misconstrued as sexist –
Let’s say I fill a large bucket with green and red marbles (the color choices are completely arbitrary, and have no particular significance). There are ten times as many green marbles as red ones. Now I mix them all up, then blindfold myself and start picking marbles out of the bucket one at a time. Because of the fact that there are so many more green marbles than red ones it is a simple mathematical fact that on average I will draw out about ten times as many green marbles in a given sample compared to red ones.
The point is, there are more men in these positions than women. I state that only as an existing fact, and not to judge in any way that it is right or wrong. Since there are more men in these positions at this time, it only makes sense that the news sampling has more interviews with men.
I am all in favor of women holding more clergy positions. I like women. I’m married (27 years) to one of God’s finest. My pastor is a woman, and she has been a wonderful spiritual guide and counselor. However, I would be very concerned if there were an equal number of interviews of women clergy as men, because the news sampling would then be unfairly biased, based on the conditions that exist at this time.
I do agree though that more laity could have been represented. That also would help your women/men ratio above. However, I also am interested in hearing from those who have enough of the facts for an informed opinion, and not one formed by emotion. That leans toward clergy again, or well-educated laity.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
“An evaluation of one month’s press releases issued by ELCA News Service shows that women and laity are less likely to be mentioned or quoted in stories than men.”
Hmm. The rules of logic may work differently in the Northern Hemisphere, but “here below” it is indeed possible to be both laity and a bloke!
Having quibbled pedantically, I do agree that the stats are a wake-up call.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Gavin: I do like your writing! The number of laity quoted was so small that breaking them down further by gender seemed irrelevant. It’s obvious that the people of the church aren’t being represented in the stories. That’s a justice issue.
Public relations people specialize in making their bosses look good and writing stories that play up to their bosses. In September, there were two back to back stories about the Rev. Andrew Genzler from the ELCA Advocacy Office in Washington, D.C. What were the stories about? That he was doing interview with the press. I’m not kidding.
The ELCA has had enough of that kind of parochialism. Denominations are losing members because their messages aren’t relevant to the larger culture. Endless press releases about the hierarchy isn’t the way to reach the culture. In this time of economic stress, it’s also a huge waste of money. That, too, is a justice issue.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:33 am
I think you may have jumped a hurdle I did not intend to place in front of you. And I am disappointed that you view me as sexist. I was certainly trying to avoid giving that impression. No one mentioned fear, and I did not say your opinions were formed by emotion. Your opinions are as balanced as any I have seen. That is why I subscribe to your posts on FB and periodically check this site.
If you re-read the last line of my earlier post, what I am referring to is the people who are chosen as subjects for interview. I would much rather hear from someone who knows the facts (as you seem to on many ELCA topics) than a random person on the street who may not know the full story. For instance, I work as a machinist. If someone wanted to know how to add a keyway to a shaft or how to choose the correct steel alloy for a particular purpose, I could very likely help. However, if you want an informed opinion about the real estate market or banking, I am not the person to ask. Better ask my wife or the people she works with. Therefore, the mix of interviewees (male, female, canine, feline, bovine, or whatever) may be affected by the subject of the interview (what subject are you asking about?).
As to your comment about the ratio of non-whites in the ELCA, I think we can safely assume that there are also both males and females in that group, and race was not the point the article brings up. And I did not mention race at all.
October 17th, 2009 at 5:40 am
Nels:
Thanks for the clarification. Heavens, I didn’t understand that you were talking about the subjects quoted! Very sorry.
Yes, I agree that stories should always include informed opinions. But talking head comments often don’t tell the full story at play.
Also, I felt the comment was sexist, not you as an individual. Your clarification sheds light. I appreciate the ongoing discussion.
Peace,
Susan
October 17th, 2009 at 7:41 am
That’s ok, Susan, we’re good. Clarity of the written word is not one of my gifts. Nothing in what I wrote was intended to be derogatory to you, or women, or any other group. I’m sorry if the way it was stated caused it to be perceived in that way.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Right back at you. No worries at my end. It was a respectful discussion. Talking through things is much, much better than avoidance, eh? Have a great day!
October 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Dig the informal research Susan, and can appreciate the time it takes to wade through a couple hundred articles counting heads, that’s no small thing. Good discussion to boot! At first blush those look to be wide gaps in coverage by gender. Question, about what % of current ELCA clergy are male vs. female? I really have no clue and it would help give some context to the chart. As a boring white guy I have no problem with other groups being more represented in media, makes our denomination, and our society much more interesting.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Here’s the data posted on the ELCA’s Web site:
The denomination has 4.6 million members, according to its Web site.
As of June 30, 2009, the denomination had nearly 19,000 pastors and lay leaders on its roster. Of those, nearly 17,700 are ordained clergy.
The Web site says that in 2009, nearly 20 percent of the clergy on the ELCA roster are women, while 31 percent of the active roster are women. (That’s a confusing sentence; not sure why they wrote it that way.)
The Web site also says that the numbers of women and men in seminary are about the same.
October 17th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Thanks, didn’t realize those numbers were so assessable.
Based on that, ~31% of active ELCA clergy are women. From your research ~20% of ELCA press releases contain a female in the story, so women do appear to be under-represented in the press releases. If the ELCA wants to trumpet having female clergy – and they should imo, it’s a defining characteristic – they could definitely do better than this.
Thanks again for the sleuthing on this story, my day job is in market research and numbers resonate more clearly than words at times
October 18th, 2009 at 11:02 am
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