Newspapers play a crucial role in forming public opinion, what we read about is often discussed at home or at work and radio and television may follow the agenda set by the press. Male dominance of the news has led to the promotion of male values which will take a long time to change.
More women working in media organisations could have a profound impact on:
- what is reported
- how it is reported
- where it is displayed in the newspaper
The international aim is to get 30% women journalists into the workplace, but the crucial question is at what level and how many will be in decision making roles?
Market forces might well help boost the number of women working in the media. A study undertaken by a leading UK media academic, Linda Christmas, showed that newspapers:
- seeing falling circulation, particularly independent newspapers, are realising that they need to attract more women readers in order to get more revenue from advertisers.
- in order to attract women readers they need more females in decision making roles such as deputy editor, news editor or feature editor
EXERCISE
Gather a selection of newspapers and analyse news stories to discover whether they exclude or include women.
- how many sources are women
- from whose point of view is the news reported
- examine the tone and content of stories to see if there are differences in the ways reporters write about women and men
- are there double standards in the way the news is reported?
- e.g. a man receiving sympathy because he is being criticised for hitting his wife, while the wife may be reported as 'deserving' the punishment because she disobeyed him.
- check whether the language used reinforces old stereotypes
Gender sensitive media have a key role to play in development.