Journalists should research their stories thoroughly to avoid bias in reporting on family and gender issues, journalist Caryl Rivers told about 20 students and faculty members Monday in Fisk 211.

Rivers, a Boston University professor and a contributor to Ms. and Rolling Stone, spoke as part of the Literature of Fact Series, sponsored by the Medill School of Journalism, the Communications Residential College, the Northwestern Center for Writing Arts and the NU Alumnae Association.

In her lecture “The Personal Made Public: Reporting on Social Change,” Rivers confronted common stereotypes about the sexes often seen in the media.

“Because a lot of things are ingrained in the culture, they feel right,” Rivers said. “They’ve been in the culture so long it’s hard to fight against them.”

Rivers accompanied her speech with a slide show of what she called misrepresented themes in journalism, such as day care. Rivers said the downsizing of reporting specialists has contributed to the problem.

“I’m very sympathetic to the harried reporter who’s pushed to turn out more and more copy,” she said.

Reporters can avoid biases simply by making phone calls to obtain the correct information, Rivers said.

“There’s so much competition,” she said. “But I do think there’s a demand for quality.”

To illustrate her point, Rivers pointed to the misconception that children of divorced parents are left with “lifelong scars.” She said an author used this stereotype as factual background information, even though the study in the article was collected from people receiving counseling.

Rivers said this method of gathering statistics can be compared to getting information about the 2000 presidential election from a Republican group.

Rivers also addressed the idea of the declining traditional family, arguing that the Victorian age and 1950’s models were not perfect, either.

“When was this golden era of family?” Rivers said. “The traditional American family is a blended family.”

Journalists need to check that their sources really are experts, she said, and should not make subjective judgments.

“(Radio talk show host) Dr. Laura Schlessinger, by the way, has a degree in physiology,” she said. “She doesn’t know diddly squat about psychology.”

Rivers also addressed the eternal question of what men and women want. She said women are increasingly seeking husbands with the ability to care for children, rather than “Donald Trump, the rich older guy.” Men no longer are looking for a young partner with a baby face, she added.

“Men are seeking as marriage partners now women with more education,” Rivers said. “They look for women who have already given birth because that’s the real sign of fertility.”

Medill graduate student Andrew Schleicher said Rivers recognizes young reporters’ struggles, such as writing on deadline. He said he learned the importance of getting to the bottom of issues while reporting.

“I’ve seen things that I feel are very misleading,” Schleicher said. “I’m wondering what people’s sources are.”

Rivers’ colleagues said the lecture highlighted the importance of staying unbiased in journalism. Medill lecturer Michele Weldon knew Rivers from a women’s journalism symposium and praised her reporting and writing skills.

“She had a lot of good insights about being careful and how we need to consider our own biases,” Weldon said. “Reporting can be thin in the best of publications.”