Gender equality has become a popular issue in various fields. As the United Nations points out in its website, “Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential.” It is important for women to gain equal right and opportunity. However, there are still problems and challenges in promoting gender equality in different areas. Today, we are going to look at gender issues in the news media. Gender inequality in news media may result in biased news stories and thus cause damage to the news objectivity. Biased news stories may also have the power to reinforce the stereotypes of women in society.
In the first place, I want to talk about the gender gap in news production. According to the 2019 report in Women’s Media Center, male reporters create 69% of news wire bylines (AP and Reuters). In addition, 63 % of TV prime-time news broadcasts feature male anchors and correspondents, while 37 % feature women. Male journalists are responsible for 60 % of online news, while 40 % are written by women. Male journalists are responsible for 59 % of print news, while 41 % are written by women.
When it comes to women of color, the situation may be worse. One of the NPR stories presents that women of color represent just 7.95 % of U.S. print newsroom staff, 6.2 % of local radio staff and 12.6 % of the local TV news staff.
In terms of salary, studies also show that male reporters earn more than female reporters. Considering The New York Times, the salaries of women in the news organization are around 7% less than men’s salaries, according to its demographic study in 2016.
As a journalism student, the statistics above challenge my assumption to some extent. I have studied journalism for around three years, and what I have found is that there are more female journalism students more than male journalism students. Studies also show that women comprise more than two-thirds of graduates with degrees in journalism or mass communications each year.
So, what factors lead to a lower percentage of women in the news industry?
After thorough research, I summarize two main barriers.
One barrier is the institutional discrimination of women in the workplace. Institutional discrimination means discriminatory policies and practices favorable to a dominant group and unfavorable to another group that is systematically embedded in the existing structure of society in the form of norms, according to the Open Education Sociology Dictionary.
Institutional discrimination makes people hold the stereotype that women may not be competent as men, which leads to fewer opportunities for women to achieve career goals.
For instance, Diamaris Martino, a reporter at CBS Chicago, said in the article by 14 East that people lack trust in woman reporters.
“I watch a lot of Latino news and men are always reporting in foreign countries because executives think it is safer if a man goes,” she said.
What’s more, women may require more time for taking care of their families than men even if in modern society. For women with children, it is common that they have to strike a balance between families and jobs. Journalistic work requires lots of commitment, which creates challenges and difficulties for female journalists who have families. To view this issue from a different angle, this phenomenon also reflects another implicit bias in this society towards women---women should spare more time than men on families. Females are still stuck in a fixed role in the family despite long-term struggles.
There are benefits of promoting gender equality in the news media. More female reporters can result in more female voices in this society. Female reporters are likely to be more sensitive than male reporters about certain topics. For example, two female investigative reporters, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohev played a significant role in igniting the #MeToo movement. What is more, women reporters can also contribute to addressing sexism and misogyny in various fields, especially in political news and sports news.
Thus, we should all take gender issues in the news media seriously and start to make a change. The public need to reflect on and break down the bias and stereotype towards the female in this society. For senior managers in the newsroom, they should increase their awareness of including more voices from female and give female reporters equal chances. For female journalists themselves, they should improve their ability and grasp every opportunity to display their talent and strength.
Reference:
Yorumlar