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Greetings, 19th friends!
We are thrilled today to announce another new hire: Amanda Becker, The 19th's Washington correspondent. Becker comes to us from Reuters, where she has been a national political correspondent, a congressional correspondent and a labor correspondent. Before that, she was at CQ Roll Call. She’s an Ohio native.
As our Washington correspondent, Becker will cover Congress, the Capitol and all the players in that world. Expect to begin seeing her byline here soon, and follow her on Twitter!
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Sabrina Ionescu was the first overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft. (AP Photo/John Locher)
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
For weeks, sports have been on hiatus due to quarantine recommendations. But Thursday night, a sense of normalcy returned when the NFL held a much-ballyhooed virtual draft. Last week, a quieter event served as a blueprint.
The WNBA draft went virtual last Friday, increasing its viewership 123 percent from last year.
- Only the 2004 WNBA draft had a higher audience (notably, 2020 and 2004 were two of the only years that the event aired on ESPN).
- At 387,000 viewers, it’s expected to be the second-biggest sports event in April.
- On Instagram, the WNBA had its highest year-over-year growth, drawing 3.8 million video views on draft day.
The near record-setting draft is being hailed as a success — with caveats.
- Sports journalists largely credited the bump in viewership to a sports-starved world.
- The WNBA’s draft — the first in our distanced reality — was often framed as a trial run for the big show. From an NBC write-up: “NFL decision-makers reportedly tuned in to a portion of the WNBA Draft to get a feel for how the virtual draft worked.”
- The draft only appeared on ESPN after massive social media backlash. In a time with no live sports, it was originally relegated to ESPN2.
The forecast for women’s sports during the pandemic is bleak, but there is some good news:
— Abby Johnston
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 What we're reading
14% of women considered quitting their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. With the pandemic forcing working parents to stay at home and manage their children’s education, 14 percent of women in a survey conducted by Syndio, an HR analytics firm, say they are considering quitting their job. (Fortune, April 23)
Can star strategist Symone Sanders help Biden win a virtual campaign? The 30-year-old senior adviser to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential run is adapting to a virtual campaign, complete with Zoom calls and virtual happy hours. (Vogue, April 21)
Abortions in Texas resume after a coronavirus-related order from the governor effectively banned them. After a protracted battle between abortion activists and the state of Texas, restrictions on the procedure were lifted following an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott that loosened rules around surgeries. (CNN, April 23)
Everyone is mad at Elena Kagan. When the Supreme Court justice sided with conservative judges on a decision earlier this week, some were shocked. But a closer look at her voting record suggests there’s a longer strategy at work here. (Slate, April 22)
Women are ‘claiming their power’ in investment clubs of their own. “The challenge women often face is how to take a nest egg that is typically smaller than men’s and extend it to last their lifetime.” (The New York Times, April 23)
🎧 Listen: Fresh Air’s Terry Gross speaks with New Yorker writer Jane Mayer about her newest article on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and how he became Trump’s “enabler in chief.”
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