Why no women were in Washington Post story on steakhouses

Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell pointed out in her Saturday column that readers noticed a business section story omitted any mention of women in the story, photo and graphic.

She wrote, “Jessica G. Riley of Arlington was upset that Monday’s Business section story and graphic on steakhouses frequented by the business and political elite didn’t have a picture of a woman among the 15 guys. ‘I know that people don’t automatically think of women as business leaders, and they might not think of them going to steakhouses either. However, shouldn’t the dearth of women have been mentioned in the article? Couldn’t The Post find one woman to highlight?’

“Washington Business editor Nancy Szokan replied, ‘The reader raises a good point about the absence of women in the graphic. Several times during the week we discussed the very male nature of the story. But steakhouses simply seem to be an overwhelmingly male scene.’

“Reporter Michael Rosenwald said he looked for easily identifiable women for the graphic. He interviewed steakhouse managers and owners for names. He learned from campaign records that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s campaign staff went there frequently, and he was going to add her until he was told by her congressional staff that ‘she doesn’t eat much steak’ and wouldn’t be appropriate for the graphic.

“Rosenwald was told that Hillary Clinton had recently dined at Charlie Palmer Steak, but Clinton’s staff didn’t return his phone calls for confirmation. Shame to see the guys get all the ink.”

Read more here.