Sheila Gibbons, Author at Women's eNews

Military Women Deserve Better Coverage

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● May 26, 2004

Military women serve with distinction everywhere, including hellholes comparable to Abu Ghraib. But with the media fixated on sexual-conduct stories, it’s easy to get the distorted idea that their participation is mainly fraught with problems.

Women Missing from CNN’s View of World

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● April 28, 2004

CNN International puts the viewer at the scene of world events, but then fails to ask very many women to help interpret them. It creates the impression that women have nothing to add to the story, when in fact, we do. We only need to be asked.

Gender Studies Matters and Thrives

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● March 17, 2004

In a culture saturated with media messages that undermine women, Sheila Gibbons says college gender studies courses offer vital training in critical thinking and intellectual self-defense.

Women Need More From More Magazine

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● February 25, 2004

More Magazine seems ambivalent about its mission to reach the over-40 woman. While daring to portray some women without makeup and Size-8 figures, it peddles advice that seems more geared to concealing the reader’s age than celebrating it.

Inequities Persist for Women in Media

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● January 21, 2004

The glass ceiling in media companies appears shatter-proof. Not only do women’s pay and promotions continue to lag behind those of men, the gap widens as women log more years on the job and gain experience, a sort of reverse reward system.

Journalism Failed to Explain Abortion Ban

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● November 19, 2003

The so-called partial birth abortion ban–now being challenged in court–deserved coverage of its effect on women and doctors. Instead, news people ran with stories about political strategies and used terminology that obscured what the law says.

Newspapers Execs Clueless about What Women Want

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● September 17, 2003

To retain and recruit female readers, a study suggests that newspapers must make a broad cultural shift. That seems unlikely, however, when editors and publishers favor gender stereotypes over data about the news coverage women want.

Sex-Assault Survivors Deserve Names, Not Stigma

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● August 13, 2003

The journalistic convention of “unnaming” sex-assault victims is well-intentioned, but harmful. By deleting the victims’ names from their own stories, the media pushes rape survivors into the shadows and adds to their social stigma.

‘Real Women’ Elude Ad-Driven Magazines

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● July 2, 2003

Hearst’s switch from Victoria to Lifetime exposes the conflict when publishers promise to reach “real women” with magazines that must also serve as advertising vehicles aimed at the coveted 18-34 female market.

Bridal Media Promote Merchandise, not Marriage

By Sheila Gibbons ● Commentary ● June 4, 2003

It’s June. Wedding bells ring. Dewey-eyed brides float down the aisles in strapless gowns. Hovering over it all, meanwhile, is a pushy bridal media, focused on the union of mating to materialism, not wife to husband.

Sheila Gibbons

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