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Apr
21
During a discussion in this The Daily Bellwether post, I raised the issue of not enough women being in the media as being partly responsible for the constant emphasis on the frat boy goings-on in the Ohio AG offices’ latest tribulations and the lack of stories or focus on how hostile work environments relate to sexism, especially with this month being Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Here’s a lengthy list of data and statistics that give a portrait of women’s involvement in news media. Three of my favorites:
- In newspapers, 38 percent of journalists working in daily newspapers are women; 65 percent of all supervisors are men.
American Society of Newspaper Editors, 2006 census
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=6506 - Women who enter newsrooms are leaving prematurely. In 1992, nearly 42 percent of journalists with five to nine years of experience were female. Ten years later, that group was only 26 percent female. As of 2002, more than half (54 percent) of women in newsrooms have fewer than five years experience.
The American Journalist in the 21st Century.
- Only 3 percent of clout positions in mainstream media are held by women.
“The Glass Ceiling Persists,” Annenberg Public Policy Center, 2003.
There are 20-25 more where that came from.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:30 am April 21st, 2008 in Blogging, Civil Rights, Culture, Media, Ohio, Women, Writing
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4 Responses to “From NMWE: Compendium of research on representation of women in news media”
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Jill –
I was surprised and disheartened to read that 3 percent number. There are huge numbers of talented and skilled journalists who are female. It is sad to think they cannot reach a “clout” position because they are not male. I suppose that if all the female TV news anchors who are paired with males on local news broadcasts across the nation are subtracted from the 3 percent, the number could fall ever lower. But I don’t believe the most female news anchors — or males who anchor for that matter — are real journalists. They are mostly news readers and poseurs who seldom leave the studio to cover stories or interact with newsmakers outside the station. They are illusionists playing the role of a journalist. I doubt anyone can name the last time an “anchor” covered an activity at the Ohio legislature — just one example of how removed from the action they are.
And of course it’s not just female journalists. Women still have a long way to go to get the respect they deserve no matter which side of the news camera they’re on. Gordo has a post about Danica Patrick’s historic win at the Indy Japan 500, and the shitty double standard the male commentator gave her.
I agree in general about the anchors but I have to believe that there are some exceptions.
To be fair, there are MANY FANTASTIC male anchors and reporters. This is not to take away from them. Plus, we don’t know (I didn’t see anyway) the definition of “clout” position.
Still – numbers are what they are and they do not reflect the population or the population educated to do this work who are female.
We’ll keep trying.
Len – I cannot BELIEVE that kind of thing is still said! ARGH!!!
I passed it on to someone who gave me some great feedback on that and I’ve suggested that that person post about it – so we’ll see. If not, I may ask permission to post it anonymously!
Thanks for the info. I of course agree with you.