How GenderAvenger and Morning Joe Viewers Won with the Iowa Caucus 2016
Congratulations to all who signed the GenderAvenger Morning Joe petition.
We are officially sending the petition today, but it looks like just the threat of receiving it has already provoked change. Within two days of our public petitioning, the composition of Morning Joe commentators around presidential politics has changed dramatically.
- On Thursday, January 28, there were 36% women, which is 10 points higher than what we are accustomed to seeing.
- On Friday, January 29, there were more women than men! Overall: 8 men, 9 women.
- And, on Iowa caucus day on February 1, 9 out of the 22 folks in the discussion (40%) were women.
Election days are about excitement, disappointment, momentum, and expectations.
Clearly, we at GenderAvenger are excited and feel some momentum. We also have expectations. A three-day start toward a new ratio is great. Now the challenge is to keep it up so Morning Joe doesn’t backslide. We’ll be watching and doing more than just counting the numbers. The fact is that male voices still dominate the conversation, so we will be looking for more air time for the women as well.
With our upcoming partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University (CAWP), we will be watching more shows — and tallying with academic rigor — as the election season progresses.
Who Talks?, a Gender Avenger and CAWP project, will expand beyond Morning Joe.
Who Talks?, a Gender Avenger and CAWP project, will expand the counting beyond Morning Joe to the highest rated morning and evening shows on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX. CAWP will not only count the number of men and women, but it will also look more deeply at representation and analyze the findings. We will share the data with you so the GenderAvenger community can turn on its powers of persuasion through social media and more.
For now, kudos to Morning Joe for paying attention to the almost 5,000 petition signers. Bringing on more women improves the viewing experience for everyone.