Truck flips onto walking woman

Responsible party-goer killed by car

Police name 20-year-old hit by car in Gore

These are actual links to headlines I saw on the Stuff site today. Note that the one headline about a woman being harmed specifies her gender. The two headlines about men being harmed – killed actually – don’t bother to mention they are men. This is a widespread media tendency.

Why does it happen I wonder? I claim that it results from, and amounts to, subtle undervaluing of men’s lives and welfare compared to that for women. Any alternative explanations?