Girls Who Code’s open letter to 60 minutes is the perfect response nonprofits should follow
Rarely does a nonprofit succeed in gaining control over public discourse after mass media had framed the topic and excluded it from the public eye. Highlighting specific angles of a story and the relevant actors is a necessary journalistic practice to make the news more coherent and understandable for the public. By framing stories and defining solutions, the media demonstrate their ability to place certain actors’ power and control over the public discourse. This is an area many nonprofits and advocacy organizations are struggling to gain control over as they seek to steer the dominant frame to their advantage.
Girls Who Code’s response letter to 60 Minutes is a perfect example nonprofits should follow, when trying to capture the public discourse and present their case effectively.
On Sunday, March 3, 2019 CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a story about Code.org, a nonprofit working to close the gender gap in the tech industry. The nonprofit is offering coding lessons to girls, encouraging them to continue to learn computer science as they grow.
60 Minutes has a much admired legacy of covering important topics using a wide context and offering the audience a thematic analysis of the current topic. This framing typically presents individual stories that intertwine with the broader aspects of the issue, linking individual problems to systemic and organizational actors, such as the administration or corporations and their roles in creating or solving the problem. This kind of framing is helpful for the audience, when trying to understand the problem’s implications and origins, as well as determining who’s responsible for solving it and what are the best ways to do it, for example.
Surprisingly, 60 Minutes gender-gap in the tech industry story was rather different from the show’s prestigious legacy. Although the story addressed an important topic — and the effort to include more women and encourage diversity in the tech industry is worthy of all possible praise — it presented only one angle, the story of one nonprofit, led by a man who tries to help girls and women advance. The segment, for example, did not address other aspects relevant to bridging the gender gap, such as Code.org’s effectivity, the tech-companies’ known male-dominant culture, and women’s challenge of fitting in, and so on. Unfortunately, it framed the story of social change through the archaic prism of a man trying to educate girls.
On March 5, 2019, two days after the show aired, Ms. Reshma Saujani, Girls Who Code founder and CEO published an open response letter, here at Medium. In her letter, Ms. Saujani argued 60 Minutes has excluded her organization from the coverage, despite their assistance and research. She also emphasized the importance of media representation of women-led organizations, especially in tech. Her articulate letter is a carefully written and brilliant response, demonstrating not only her nonprofit’s case, but also arguing in favour of the entire sector of women-led nonprofits, working to promote girls and women in tech.
Ms. Saujani’s public response to 60 Minutes is an important and meaningful document, advocating for gender balance in tech. At the same time, it inspires other nonprofits to argue their case publicly if they are being neglected by mass media.
A meticulous reading of the letter sheds light on its important aspects and public contribution.
Answering the question: ‘what happened’?
First, the letter articulates the case’s background. Ms. Saujani defines the case as the show’s decision to exclude her organization, as well as other women-led organizations promoting girls’ interest in computer science, from the coverage and focus instead on a single nonprofit, led by a man. Furthermore, the show did this despite Girls Who Code’s assistance and research.
However, Ms. Saujani does not advocate for Girls Who Code solely. She fights for other nonprofits and women’s coalitions’ honour. By clearly defining the topic and voicing the community’s outrage, her argument constructs Girls Who Code’s role as a leading organization in this frame. Hence, Girls Who Code strengthens its role as a leader in both the public discourse and the field.
Almost a year ago, 60 Minutes producers contacted Girls Who Code. The news show was working on a segment about girls and computer science and wanted to better understand what initiatives to close the gender gap in tech were proving effective.
Sunday, that segment was broadcast to the show’s weekly 11 million viewersin the U.S. and around the world — and it didn’t include a single reference to Girls Who Code or other girl-focused organizations like Black Girls Code, the National Center for Women and Information Technology, Kode With Klossy, and countless others. It was like a punch to the gut.
Answering the question: ‘so what’?
In her letter, Ms. Saujani explains the background and severity of media coverage excluding women-led organizations, as well as the consequences of 60 Minutes’ exclusion of Girls Who Code when covering the gender gap in tech.
The articulation of why the problem matters is one of the core aspects of any story of social change because it captivates the audience.
We often ask ourselves ‘so what’ when we hear about a story and can’t determine its importance. This simple question points to the case’s significance and gravity for the audience. Since every member of the audience interprets reality differently and considers different areas of interest as important, this section unites the audience by explaining why this topic matters to them personally.
For a story of social change to be compelling, it must include a clear definition of the problem and the relevant actors, and it must clarify its relevance to the audience. It is especially important to explain why this story matters the most.
In Girls Who Code’s case, as Ms. Saujani explains, excluding women-led organizations from media coverage is important for the readers because it is another case of erasing women’s role in tech, proving relevant to many readers.
By omitting the expertise and experience of woman-led organizations’ pioneering efforts to bring more girls into computing, 60 Minutes is contributing to a long and ugly history of media erasing women in tech.
Girls, women, and thought leaders who tuned in Sunday instead heard about Code.org, a non-profit whose mission is not to close the gender gap in tech. (Never mind that Code.org led a partnership with the Trump administration, which has demonstrated time and time again it has no concern for the rights, well-being, and future of our girls.) And viewers saw a man, Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi, presented as a savior of women and girls (ironically with the help of some of Girls Who Code’s own research cited without attribution).
Addressing the specific context — what is the bigger picture?
Ms. Saujani does not hesitate to target 60 Minutes’ integrity as she reminds the readers that the show and its parent company’s CBS faced claims of sexual misconduct. Specifically, claims were brought against the show’s late founder, resulting in settlements of $5 million, and CBS’ long-time chief executive was forced out of his job after facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct. This context is important for the reader to understand the bigger picture, especially for the topic of gender equality.
It was patently ridiculous to see the network uplift a man as the leader of a movement to get more women into tech — particularly at a moment when media, in general, should be acutely aware of sexist biases, and CBS and 60 Minutes, in particular, should be cognizant of their extensive shortcomings in this area.
Addressing the speaker — who am I?
One of the most common reactions to a new topic is to question the speaker’s interests and credibility. Accustomed to current sinister public discourse about interests and profits, the audience is automatically questioning whether the letter writer’s motives are pure and just.
To answer this concern, Ms. Saujani presents Girls Who Code’s moral and professional legitimacy to advocate their cause.
On the moral aspect, she shares her doubts about whether to address the show publicly. Her honesty is captivating. It reveals that this is not a façade, that real people are engaged in and committed to their mission, and their feelings were hurt. By owning her position, she signifies the core values of Girls Who Code: honesty, teamwork and professionalism. Above all, she reminds the readers that Girls who Code are genuine actors who are emotionally invested in this process; they are not interested in mere power plays.
On the professional level, she uses this opportunity to highlight the organization’s impact, and thus gives its voice extra strength as a credible, professional and honest actor the audience should listen to.
As women do, we debated publishing our account. We went back and forth about who we might offend. We consulted with allies in our space and with our friends in media. We considered how we’d be perceived by those in power.
And then we thought about the very reason we exist: because for too long institutions like 60 Minutes have sidelined the work of women and women-led organizations in tech. We thought about the girls we’ve served: 185,000 of them across 50 states, half of whom are black, Latina, or low-income. We thought about our alumni, 13,000 strong, majoring in computer science at a rate 15 times the national average.
Addressing the context — why does this matter?
In one of the most impressive and effective parts of the letter, Ms. Saujani utilizes the stage to educate the readers on the issue of the exclusion of women in tech in the media coverage. She writes about specific women who were excluded from the coverage, about the injustice of the exclusion, and about the media’s self-criticism and the lesson learnt.
Besides the importance in linking these cases to the current one, she delivers great value to her cause by putting this case in context. By explaining the broader account of this case, she transcends its importance and relevance as an individual case to another link in the chain of women exclusion cases. Thus, she elevates its meaning from the insignificant territory of one TV show to the critical public discourse and structural actors on gender equality.
Ms. Saujani’s words are almost a textbook explanation of mass media’s importance and responsibility, though she is an independent actor covering social issues. In short, biased media coverage makes it difficult to engage in an effective public discourse. Media coverage of the key organizations working in the field matters.
These omissions aren’t just an oversight. They are negligent, they are sexist, and they have consequences for efforts to close the gender gap in tech. And they are part of a long history of erasing the contributions of women in technology.
Take for instance the women behind ENIAC, the first computer. Their male managers didn’t think to mention them at the ENIAC’s first demonstration in 1946. And the press never asked about the women, the first-ever computer programmers, who could be seen working on the machine in photos.
NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson calculated — by hand — the orbital trajectory of the first manned U.S. spaceflight. She and her black female colleagues were barely mentioned in coverage of that historic flight, and their story was mostly unknown by the public until the book and Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.
In 2015, a story in the Atlantic about gene-editing technology CRISPR quoted six men despite the fact that two of CRISPR’s pioneers — Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna — were women. To his credit, the reporter on that piece, Ed Yong, later published a piece focused specifically on his own biased coverage. Adrienne LaFrance, who inspired Yong’s reflection and who regularly covers gender in tech, found that women made up just 25 percent of people mentioned in her own stories.
Decisions like these mean educators, policymakers, and thought leaders are less likely to hear about organizations like Girls Who Code, which possess a deep understanding of what it takes for girls to succeed in this space. More importantly, they make it even more difficult for our girls to imagine a future in the field.
If 60 Minutes had included us, its viewers would have learned that — contrary to what was said in the program — introducing girls to computer science earlier on (i.e. kindergarten) isn’t enough to close the gender gap in tech. Girls need support systems all along the pipeline, and tech companies need to do their part to root out harassment and discrimination.
If they had included us, people around the U.S. would have learned that access alone isn’t enough to bring girls into coding. In fact, we know from research that two-thirds of states with initiatives to expand access to computer science aren’t seeing any increased participation by girls. This is why Girls Who Code last year released a policy agenda for lawmakers with recommendations that go beyond increasing access, designed specifically to attract kindergarten to 12th-grade girls to computer science and retain them.
Elite media must do better. These organizations are kingmakers that inform policy and pop culture, conversation, and history. They have the power and therefore the responsibility to make sure that women make up more than just 0.5 percent of 3,500 years of recorded history.
Owning your voice — what’s in the future?
To end her letter, Ms. Saujani honestly admits that 60 Minutes’ omission was painful. It takes courage to admit one’s pain, and this is what makes her letter so compelling. Her argument puts this case in the right perspective — Girls Who Code’s effort to strive for change. Brava!
Does it sting to be left out? Sure. But let’s be very clear: Girls Who Code doesn’t do publicity for the sake of airtime. We seek visibility so that we may bring more girls into computer science with programs that have been proven to work at every stage along the pipeline — in elementary and high school, in college, and in the workforce.
It’s our hope that we have impressed upon producers the importance of including the voices and experiences of women and girls who are working to close the gender gap in tech. If they had done so, and on the inaugural 60 Minutes episode of Women’s History Month, our girls would be better off.
Girls Who Code’s open letter is an example of the power of effective strategic communication. The letter presented the organization’s argument in a clear and confident manner, but also excelled in advocating its mission in general. It is a great example for nonprofits and special activists to follow.
