Call for more gender-balanced reporting
A call for more gender-balanced reporting was made last Wednesday at the media launch of the Global News Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2015 Regional Report, hosted by Women’s Media Watch and the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC).
Professor Hopeton Dunn, director of CARIMAC, told the media gathering that the regional average for female/male presence in the news was 28 per cent and 72 per cent respectively.
He added that there were also issues related to what is termed dominant news values.
“The issue in the report is not just who makes the news but what makes the news. It is an issue related to what we call dominant news values. The study discloses that topics such as health, education and agriculture ranked quite low, signalling the need for greater media sensitivity to this part of our national life and our national economy, and giving more attention perhaps to rural areas rather than placing the emphasis as it now appears on urban players, main players, and political players,” Professor Dunn said.
The report analysed over 600 news stories from over 120 newspapers, radio and television stations, Internet and Twitter sites across the Caribbean region.
As it relates to who delivers the news, the report said presenters on television were more likely to be women while on radio more presenters were men.
It also pointed out that while female and male reporters both covered news on the economy, politics and government, social and legal issues, stories on health and science were more often covered by women, and crime and violence was more often covered by male reporters, while women were more likely to appear in stories filed by female reporters.
But when women did appear in the news, the report indicates that they were just as likely to be directly quoted as men.
Moreover, the report stated that nine per cent of men and 15 per cent of women were depicted as victims of accidents and violent/non-violent crimes, while on average women were three times more often than men identified by their family role, for example, spouse or mother.
With regards to future action, Professor Dunn said news operators should perhaps begin to introduce some gender considerations in relation to the planning of news coverage.
“We know that there is the prevailing notion that news is news, and we cover that news which is actually happening, but the notion of news is news can camouflage news values that are pre-imposed in relation to what is found to be covered. Take gender more into account during your news planning cycle and invite to engage…take into account more engagement of rural persons, women, more involvement of young people, particularly girls and women in the planning of the news cycle,” he said.
The report recommended more gender-awareness training for professionals in the news media, media managers, broadcast regulators, civil society and other stakeholders.
GMMP is a 20-year-old global survey which monitors the representation of men and women in the news, every five years.
