Submission + - SPAM: Girls Who Code CEO Blasts 60 Minutes Over Its Code.org Coverage 2
theodp writes: Sunday evening's 60 Minutes segment on Closing the Gender Gap in the Tech Industry certainly appeared to be quite the PR coup for tech-bankrolled Code.org. "Women occupy just a quarter of computing jobs," reported correspondent Sharyn Alfons. "Companies, universities and foundations have spent years and millions trying to attract women to tech. But the number of women majoring in computer science has actually declined. We wondered why those efforts have failed, and found one group that may have a chance to finally crack the code. [...] Code.org gets girls interested when they're even younger, starting in kindergarten. And because its goal is to teach computer science to every kid, it has the potential to change the face of the tech workforce." Taking exception to the coverage, however, was Girls Who Code CEO Reshma Saujani, who quickly voiced her disapproval in Erasing Women in Tech: How 60 Minutes Ignored Women’s Voices, Stories, and Expertise. That, as well as a follow-up Tweet, sparked a Twitter backlash aimed at 60 Minutes and prompted Tweetstorm responses from the likes of Black Girls Code CEO Kim Bryant, Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi, and Girls Who Code. "By omitting the expertise and experience of woman-led organizations pioneering efforts to bring more girls into computing," Saujani explained, "60 Minutes is contributing to a long and ugly history of media erasing women in tech. Girls, women, and thought-leaders who tuned in tonight instead heard about Code.org, an organization whose mission is not to close the gender gap in tech. (Nevermind that Code.org led a partnership with the Trump Administration, which has demonstrated time and time again it has no concern for the rights, wellbeing, and future of our girls.) And viewers saw a man, 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). 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, in particular, should be cognizant of its extensive shortcomings in this area."
