ANN ARBOR—A New York journalist and an online magazine have been honored as the winners of a national award that recognizes outstanding coverage of women-related issues. The Michigan Media Award for Excellence in Coverage of Women and Gender is presented annually by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG).

Award winners for 2001 are Susan Ferraro, New York Daily News, and the online magazine, Women’s E-news. Ferraro was selected in the print category for her continuing coverage of women’s health care issues, and her ability to make complex information accessible to all readers. Women’s E-news, a project of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, was honored for its coverage of neglected and underrepresented issues of interest to women, and for its emphasis on the gender aspects of public policy issues. It can be found at http://www.womensenews.org.

The award was established last year to recognize outstanding examples of media coverage of issues concerning women. The judges looked for stories that appreciated and emphasized the gender aspects of a particular issue or event; that challenged gender-based stereotypes, including those about feminism and feminist politics; that brought a fresh, feminist perspective to familiar stories; or that offered excellent coverage of academic research on gender.

This year’s awards program was administered by Prof. Susan Douglas, who directs IRWG’s program on Gender and the Media. The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges including freelance writer Betty Rogers, Judy Peres, Chicago Tribune, and Sut Jhally, professor of communication at University of Massachusetts and founder-director of the Media Education Foundation in Northampton, Mass.

Both winners have been invited to speak in Ann Arbor and will receive their awards at that time. Final plans have not yet been announced. For information, call (734) 764-9537 or visit http://www.umich.edu/~irwg/media-awards.html.

Michigan Media Award for Excellencehttp://www.womensenews.orgSusan Douglashttp://www.umich.edu/~irwg/media-awards.html