Net Gains For Web-Based Women's Enews

By: Dave Astor Women's Enews started two years ago this month because it felt the media -- including U.S. daily newspapers -- weren't covering women's issues often enough or well enough.

If interest in the Web-based news service is any indication, this feeling was correct.

The number of people subscribing to Women's Enews content rose to more than 7,000 today from 2,000 early last year. And visitors to the service's site (http://www.womensenews.org) increased to 42,411 this March from 10,978 in January of last year.

"Our market research indicates that we're reaching nearly a million readers a month -- because so many readers forward our stories to so many other readers -- and that doesn't count the newspapers that reprint us," said Women's Enews Editor in Chief Rita Henley Jensen.

Women's Enews content has run in, or sparked ideas for, the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and a number of other papers.

The service sees media usage of its content increasing since becoming an independent entity this winter. It launched on June 15, 2000, as a program of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Jensen said Women's Enews content is journalistic, but some media outlets considered it advocacy before the service went independent.

'It's Got To Be More Than Drapes'

Women's Enews' 60 or so free-lance correspondents write stories on such topics as women political candidates, how governmental actions affect women, women in media, women's earnings relative to men's, and abortion rights. There are also Op-Ed columns, including a recent piece about a gender-neutral Bible. And the site includes the "Sylvia" comic by Nicole Hollander of Tribune Media Services.

Some media -- such as women's magazines -- heavily cover subjects such as fashion, weight loss, and home decorating while devoting minimal space to more serious issues. For Women's Enews, "it's got to be more than drapes," quipped Jensen.

Why doesn't the commercial media cover women's issues better? Jensen said one reason is the way journalists rely on the police, the government, and other traditional sources for news. Women's Enews taps other kinds of sources, including nongovernmental organizations.

Another reason is that there are fewer women than men at newspapers. Jensen cited American Society of Newspaper Editors statistics indicating that about two of three newsroom supervisors and 60% of reporters are male. She added that only about 15% of Op-Ed columns are written by women.

"Women aren't getting all the facts of their lives," said Jensen, a situation that's not only unfair but doesn't help a media outlet's bottom line. "Women make many of the decisions on what to buy, advertisers are wondering if their ads are effective, and newspapers are losing women readers," she said. "We can provide a service."

The nonprofit Women's Enews -- which has won four journalism awards -- allows a media outlet to publish its content twice for free and then charges a fee. Money also comes from sources such as foundation grants and individual contributions.

Henley's background includes attending Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, reporting for the old Paterson (N.J.) News, serving as senior writer for the National Law Journal, and helping to found, in the 1970s, a battered-women's shelter in Columbus, Ohio.

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Et cetera ...

The Buffalo (N.Y.) News won't replace Tom Toles when he moves to The Washington Post next month. News Editorial Page Editor Gerald Goldberg said the paper is trying to save money, and the only imminent hires are two reporters. "I'm disappointed, but in bad times you have to make tough choices," said Goldberg. The News will still run syndicated cartoons (including Toles' Post work from Universal Press Syndicate) and possibly use free-lance local cartoons. And it might hire a staff cartoonist when the economy improves. The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists wrote the News to express dismay with the decision. "Editorial cartoonists sell newspapers. The enormous success of Tom Toles should tell them that," said AAEC President Scott Stantis of The Birmingham (Ala.) News and Copley News Service. He said The Buffalo News could hire a young, less-expensive cartoonist who'd grow on the job. Toles, who succeeds Herblock at the Post, joined The Buffalo News in 1982. ...

The May 30 installment of the Jeopardy TV game show featured a category about winners of the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award. Among the cartoonists mentioned were three from Creators Syndicate: Johnny Hart ("B.C."/"The Wizard of Id"), Mell Lazarus ("Momma"/"Miss Peach"), and the late Herblock. Also mentioned was late "Dick Tracy" creator Chester Gould of what is now Tribune Media Services.

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