Feud Continues Over Need for More Women Op-Ed Writers in 'L.A. Times'

By: E&P Staff There's an escalating war of words between syndicated columnist Susan Estrich and Michael Kinsley over the need to publish more opinion columns by women in the Los Angeles Times.

According to a Howard Kurtz story in today's Washington Post, Estrich has sent e-mails to Kinsley calling him a "jerk" and accusing him of "arrogance." Kinsley, who runs the Times' opinion pages, has accused Estrich of "blackmail." Estrich, whose column is distributed by Creators Syndicate of Los Angeles, began urging Kinsley to run more women last year; the matter went public several weeks ago in the Washington Examiner (E&P, Feb. 17).

Kurtz's article noted that women write 19.5% of the op-ed pieces in the Times, compared to 10.4% in The Washington Post, 16.9% in The New York Times, and about 41% in The Dallas Morning News. Editors say the vast majority of submissions come from men, while Estrich says the claim that there aren't enough good female op-ed commentators is a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

Estrich is also a University of Southern California professor of law and political science as well as a Fox News commentator. Kinsley, who said op-ed pages need more women writers, previously told the Examiner that Estrich should resign from Fox News if she "wants to boycott media institutions that don't adequately reflect her progressive feminist values."