In reference to my post “Where are the women at“, I posted a question to the Velo Bella boards asking for resources for women cyclists. The Velo Bella Women’s Cycling organization has over 450 members nationwide- it’s FREE to join, simply purchase a jersey and little paperwork and you are on the team. One of our Bellas, is a freelance writer for Velo News, Kathie Reid!! Cool! Here is her response to my request for resources. (It’s a bit long, but, offers great information on what it’s like to be freelance writer for Velo News). Fact: Velo News readership is 90% male.
I’m a VeloBella — am moving back to Fresno to rejoin my Fresno Bellas
after spending a year in Boulder — and I’m also a freelance writer.
I’ve been writing for VeloNews since 2006. I definitely appreciate –
and share! — your frustration with the lack and equity of coverage
of women’s racing, but also want you to know that I’ve been working
for two years to get more articles on women in the magazine, as well
as making sure that when I cover races for the website (and I
covered Sequoia, Redlands, and Garrett Lemire so far this season,
and will cover Cascade in July), the women get equal coverage. I
also make an effort to point out women-specific issues, such as
discussing in my Sequoia preview that the race committee there was
committed to equal purse for women.
When I pitch feature article ideas for the magazine, they’re almost
always about women — there is a host housing article in the latest
issue (Issue #10 — not on stands yet, I think, but subscribers
should have received it, or will soon) that I made sure included
women’s teams — ValueAct and Aaron’s (ValueAct was actually at the
center of the article, as I stayed with them at Redlands, but the
article got reorganized to include big pics, so that’s not as
obvious now). And a few months ago, I did a feature on junior racer,
Katrina Howard, from Fresno. I have also written a feature on Brooke
Miller, an article on the level of education in the women’s pro
peloton, and have just turned in an article on Rebecca Rusch,
current 24-hour solo mtb world champion, which should be in the next
issue, I think, and I’m about to turn in a small article on Eva
Barbaras, the only female mechanic working for a UCI pro men’s team.
My editor, Ben Delaney, is pretty receptive to these ideas, and
continually lets me go after stories about women.
Additionally, in my humble opinion, the new VeloNews.com editor,
Steve Frothingham, is doing a much better job — though there’s
still room for improvement — on including more women’s stories on
the website. He let me do a story on a school visit by Aaron’s at
Sequoia, and has done recent female racer diaries — Rebecca Rusch
at Cape Epic, and an entry from Anne Samplonius. He is also very
receptive to stories about women when I pitch them. If you do a
search on the website of just my name — Kathie Reid — all of my
articles will come up. And if you want to see a list of my magazine
articles, they are listed on my personal blog –
http://kathiereid.blogspot. com
So … what I’m trying to get at here is, yes, I agree that we need
way more coverage of women’s racing in a lot of media. But there are
women (and men!) out there like me who are pushing for it, and
making some leeway, even if it’s only millimeters here and there.
One of the things that I think would help is if you all encouraged
your MALE partners, friends, and supporters to write to magazines
like VeloNews (and Road, ProCycling, etc.) and let them know that
they want more coverage of women. The unfortunate reality with mags
like VeloNews is that their subscribers are almost ALL men. I know,
I know … why would women buy it if we’re not in it? But they don’t
see it that way — they can’t sell advertisers on subscribers they
don’t have. So, they sell to men … They hear complaints from women
ALL the time, but they rarely if ever hear from the guys who are
subscribing that they want something different — or more.
I think another important thing is to let magazines know when you do
see stories on women that you appreciate them … catch ‘em doing
good things!
So there you go. Sorry if I sound a little defensive, but while
there are a lot of female racers that have been really complimentary
of my attempts at getting them out there more, I still catch a lot
of shit as soon as I say I’m working for VeloNews. And, believe me,
I understand where it’s coming from … but please just realize that
I’m an ally in the trenches — and there are more of “me” out there!
~ Kathie
1 response so far ↓
1 Fitarella // Jun 5, 2008 at 6:43 pm
very cool! always great to have an ally on the inside
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