Democracy Dies in Darkness

Women are systematically excluded from global coronavirus coverage, experts say

October 8, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
Medical workers at the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome on April 12. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

On a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program earlier this month, a debate between two physicians over coronavirus-related restrictions turned into a brief clash over the role of gender in mainstream discourse.

“You’re just shouting; you’re not actually speaking,” infectious-disease expert Neil Rau told his female colleague, interrupting.