MAJOR PROBLEMS

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The First Annual Invitational Journalism-Work/Fami
ly Conference May 4-5, 2002 Major funding
from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
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BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
WOMENS STUDIES RESEARCH CENTER
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COMMUNITY, FAMILIES WORK PROGRAM Executive
Committee Rosalind Chait Barnett Missy
Carter Shulamit Reinharz Research
Director Ellin Reisner Program Manager
Donna Ellis
Funded by a gift from the State Street Foundation
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MISSION STATEMENT
Founded in 2001, the Community, Families Work
Program (CFWP) at the Brandeis University Womens
Studies Research Center conducts innovative and
cutting-edge policy-oriented research. Our
guiding premise is that well-functioning
communities enhance the ability of families to
meet their needs and promote the well-being of
employees and workplaces.
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
College of Communication School of Journalism
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MEDIA MISADVENTURES

• Rosalind Chait Barnett
• Brandeis University

Caryl Rivers Boston University
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MAJOR PROBLEMS

• Media Coverage
• of
• Work/Family Issues

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• Fake trend
• When is a trend not really a trend?

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• False links
• Making connections when there arent any.

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• Misreading Statistics

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• Misreading Statistics
• Small unrepresentative samples

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• Misreading Statistics
• Small unrepresentative samples
• Inferring causation from correlation

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• Misreading Statistics
• Small unrepresentative samples
• Inferring causation from correlation
• Generalizing from anecdotes

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• Misreading Statistics
• Small unrepresentative samples
• Inferring causation from correlation
• Generalizing from anecdotes
• Picking out one statistic that fits the story

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• Backpedaling
• Making sweeping claims early in the story which
  are then backed away from.

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• Good news is no news

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Questionable facts Migrating to the
background paragraphs of stories as uncontested
fact.
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Headlines and graphics Not matching the
story.
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Karen Hughes
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MORE SUPERMOMS ARE HANGING UP THEIR
CAPES Orlando Sentinel, April 22, 1994
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IS SUPERWOMAN SHEDDING HER CAPE? Atlanta
Constitution
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THE FAILED SUPERWOMAN Ebony, May 1994
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SUPERWOMAN HAS HAD ENOUGH Independent, May
5, 1994
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FED UP WITH THE RAT RACE Newsday, January 5,
1994
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Men never leave jobs. Men die or get forced
out. They are addicted to power and the status
and the games.
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Men Who Have Left Their Jobs

• Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
• Talk Show Host Phil Donahue
• Governor Paul Cellucci
• House Speaker Newt Gingrich
• Senators Fred Thompson, Phil Gramm
• Representative Joe Scarborough

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THE UNTREND
Where is trend story Men Leaving
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Sullivan Women may be risk averse and have an
inability to seize business opportunities because
of low testosterone.
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FACTS

• Metanalyses show no differences between male and
  female managers.
• Study of 2,000 managers finds women more
  hard-driving than men.
• Leadership style women leaders got higher
  scores than men on make bold and quick
  decisions.

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Children adopted by Americans from the worst
European orphanages may be telling us not only
about the extreme trauma of parental deprivation
but also about the more routine separation of
parent and child.
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Mother-child separations are part of the warp
and woof of life these days, and so are our
worries about them. The research on Eastern
European adoptees matters not only to them and
their parents but also to many of the rest of us
as well.
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The traumatized orphans adopted from Eastern
Europe have not only brought despair to some
American couples but have also become Exhibit A
for those who argue that a mothers place is with
her child.
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SECURE/INSECURE ANALYSESType of Care at 5 and 14
monthsProportion Secure
Adapted from the The NICHD Study of Early Child
Care
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BACKPEDAL
While there are some negative effects of child
care, they are quite small -- statistical
fluttersthere were not significant differences
in attachment related to child care
participation. (italics added)
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However small such effects might be, it may not
do to ignore them.Translation Theres no
trend and no story, but were doing it anyhow.
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Parents who race in the door at 730 p.m. and
head straight for the fax machine are making it
perfectly clear where their loyalties lie and the
kids are showing the scars.
Newsweek, May 12, 1997
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How tuned in are working mothers to their kids?

• How do they communicate?
• How much interest do they have in their kids
  activities?
• How much do they know about their kids
  whereabouts, plans and activities?

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No difference between full-time working mothers,
part-time working mothers, or at-home mothers.
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FACTS

• Despite many more dual-earner couples, children
  today spend more time with their parents than
  children spent two decades ago.
• The increase in female labor force participation
  has not led to a decrease in time children spend
  with their parents.

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Workers are choosing to spend long hours at work
instead of at home, so children suffer.
When work becomes home and home becomes work
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Overall, this reversal was a predominant
pattern in about a fifth of Amerco families, and
an important theme in over half of them. Arlie
Russell Hochschild, The Time Bind
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A Trend?For 20 of the 130 peopleshe
interviewed 26 people this pattern was
predominant. Eighty percent of the sample did
not show this pattern.
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We may be seeing here a trend in modern life
destined to affect us all.
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Real Facts

• Workers are not spending more time at work to
  avoid family time.
• Most employees would prefer to spend less time
  working and more time with their families and in
  personal pursuits.

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The First Annual Invitational Journalism-Work/Fami
ly Conference May 4-5, 2002 Major funding
from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts