The Representation of Women in the Media - Article Example

Evaluate the extent to which we might understand women as constructed by the media as passive objects by examining the representation of the female newsreader/newscaster and their place in the news industry. Talks on gender are not limited to the biological aspect of male-female differences (van Zoonen 1996, p. 43); in fact, gender issues are prevalent in politics, business, and especially in the media. The general view is that women are rarely taken seriously, and men are more authoritative and believable. Thus, leadership roles, intellectual opinions and momentous events are usually assigned and trusted to males. The newscaster’s role goes beyond presenting the news to an audience, but also acts to personify the news to increase the viewer’s identification with the news anchor. They are highly regarded in the broadcasting business, as they are the ‘celebrities’ who face the public (Kleinfelder 2001). These journalists have an important part in also determining what is presented to the people, and how they write and announce it is influential as what the audience learns is shaped by what the news gives them. It is thus crucial to have an impartial and clear heterogeneity in the workforce of television news. This is where gender inequality issues must be answered, such as career prospects, wages, and most importantly, image stereotypes. We will now consider the representation of women in the media, by evaluating how this gender bias is evident in this line of work. News commentator Gibbons (2005) gives a comparison with regards to women in media in a span of a decade; 1989 studies on media coverage involving women by ‘Women, Men and Media’, show than women were mentioned on newspaper front pages less than 25% times compared to males. In 2000, the same group studied news coverage of the military, and they found that women rarely did interviews of civilian experts and politicians. Kleinfelder (2001) also mentions that even though women were increasingly being hired in television newsrooms by the 1970s and 80s, visibility on the evening news is still low, and a 1999 survey found that males were visible 87% of the time, while the correspondent pool comprised 32% of women, with only 26% females reporting a story. There is obviously a discrepancy between male and female news anchors, and this is seen in the topics being covered or assigned to each sex. Gibbons (2005) mentions how women are traditionally chosen for certain topics only, as they are generally unrecognised when it comes to authoritative views. Women are most often cited as sources only if the report is on lifestyle segments, light entertainment, or if the reporter is also a female. In the newspaper sector, female sources are only likely to be used in articles longer than a thousand words, which is a rarity for small-circulation or even big-scale newsrooms. The least likely of programs where females are cited as sources are on news programs on cable or in sports stories. Gibbons also cite the Project for Excellence in Journalism, in saying that women are least quoted in foreign affairs news. The 2005 project studied 41 various news shows for nine months, and found that over three-fourths of all stories had one male source, while only a third had a female source, and more males were more likely to be cited as secondary sources if the primary source is already a male. Also, morning news shows that usually covered lighter issues relied on more female sources, compared with the night news with less female sources. On specific news genres in relation to who reports it, Kleinfelder observed that women journalists often cover social, human interest and lifestyle issues – ‘soft news’, and men focus on political and economical issues, factual ‘hard news’ (Carter et al 1998, 8). Women are responsible for giving a compassionate and personal touch on the issue, having to please the audience as well. In contrast, males deal with giving the hard facts and inciting interest on a topic, appearing objective, perhaps leading to their image as verifiable. Moreover, the aforementioned study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism group found that the only category where there was a majority of females in the report where lifestyle stories, and most significantly, men are twice as more likely to be trusted to deliver news than women. Table 1 outlines these basic observations of the male-female relation with media. (NOTE: I don’t know the source of this table, it’s the one included in the client’s notes) News genres and gender Masculine Feminine Topics Politics ‘human interest’ Crime Consumer news Finance Culture Education and upbringing Social policy Angle Facts Backgrounds and effects Sensation Compassion Male General Sources Men Women Ethics Detached Audience needs This leads to the furthering of the woman stereotype as unable to take on hard news, as they are more emotional and fragile, ultimately leading to their lack of credibility compared to the stronger, detached males. Physical appearance provides another angle in considering how women have come to be presented as passive objects in the media. There is the natural inclination of people to categorise a person based solely on physical attributes, and Kleinfelder (2001) cites researches on how people in general tend to rely on the notion that ‘what is beautiful is good’. This is of importance in the media industry, as the audience only gets a brief look of the news, and so images must be ‘good’ at first glance. Engstron and Ferri (2000) say that women are upheld to beauty standards, as image plays a huge role in how women are assessed (p. 615). Especially for women journalists desiring to be in the news, they have to deal with societal demands of appearance and beauty. Bal (1993) even quotes a television news executive saying ‘TV men can age on camera, they can be bald and fat… but women must remain attractive. It’s a function of our society’. It appears then that physical attributes are more important than working skills, as men do not have to answer to high beauty expectations. Furthermore, female newscasters were asked about their career perceptions and the researchers found that the women felt judged on their appearance in contrast with their male colleagues who are judged more for their work skills (Engstron and Ferri 2000, p. 616). Also, the women’s greatest perceived barrier in terms of career progress is the overemphasis on physical appearance, while for men the highest were lack of professional networks and support groups – evidently presenting a huge discrepancy. Engstron and Ferri suggest that this may be rooted on the perceptions of how ladies must behave in society; ladies have to merely look good next to her husband, and knowledge on current events are irrelevant (2000, p. 617). There is also the issue on “window dressing” in television, where women are hired not because of their skills, but because of their physical appearance. Such was the case for a female co-anchor in a news show in the US, who complained that she was never told of her roles clearly. She recounts of having to report features relating to women’s issues but were created by men, knowing that the news would have been better had she given her own views on the topic. The use of women as news anchor is limited to presenting and looking nice for the TV, ‘dressing’ the tv window (Powers 1977, p. 144). In a more recent study on the sexualisation of television news anchors for promotional strategies, Nitz et al. (2007) found that 62% of segments had journalists with high sex appeal, described in terms of physical attractiveness, suggestiveness of clothing, and strategic filming in order to accentuate certain features. The women are clearly used to get higher ratings, though there is no note of the relative intelligence of the women. Nevertheless, combining sex appeal, higher ratings and credibility is still possible in the television news industry. Such is the case with Natasha Kaplinksy of Five News, whose appearance on the news gave a 69-72% growth in audience for the programme, as senior programme controller Chris Shaw relates on how Kaplinsky ‘brings something new and fresh to TV news, combining authority with true warmth and accessibility’ (Holmwood 2008). As feminism arose, concentrating on breaking sex-role stereotypes, and changing society’s perceptions of sex-appropriate abilities among others, the condition of female journalists are improving as well. Kodama (1997) remarks on how the news reflects the state of the society, and there appears a correlation between media women and the community. Misconstrued perceptions can change as women continue to be exposed for the right reasons, and credibility becomes detached from a gender bias. More female news anchors are continuing to gain credibility, as women bring forward a stronger, authoritative stance, while remaining attached to the news and to her audience. They can handle gender-related issues such as abortion, deal with the facts as well as give their opinions on the topic, and also report on gender-neutral subjects as efficient as their male counterparts. It is by combining the best of both genders that becomes the strongest weapon of women. And this is only possible if women continue to push away from the stereotypes that limit their success not only in the TV newsroom but also in society. Gender inequality is ‘old news’. References 1. Bal, J 1993, Proving Appearance-Related Sex Discrimination in Television News: A Disparate Impact Theory, University of Chicago Legal Forum, vol. 1993, p. 211. 2. Carter, Branton & Allen, 1998: 8 3. Engstrom, E and Ferri, A 2000, Looking Through a Gendered Lens: Local U.S. Television News Anchors′ Perceived Career Barriers, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 614-634. 4. Gibbons, S 2005, Multi-Media Tune-Out: Ignoring Female Expertise, Womens Enews, May 25, viewed 9 May, 2010, http://www.womensenews.org 5. Holmwood, L 2008, Natasha effect boosts Five News, guardian.co.uk, March 25, viewed 9 May, 2010, http://guardian.co.uk 6. Kleinfelder, P 2001, Women in the TV newsroom: An equal employment opportunity? Scholarly paper. 7. Kodama, M 1997, Womens representation in the news - from a comparative study on American and Japanese television news, Asian Women, vol 4, pp.55-68. 8. Nitz, M, Reichert, T, Schultz, A, and Velde, A 2007, All the News Thats Fit to See? The Sexualisation of Television News Journalists as a Promotional Strategy, Journal of Promotion Management, vol. 13, no. 1 & 2, pp. 13 - 33. 9. Powers, Ron. The Newscasters. New York: St. Martin′s Press, 1977. 10. Project for Excellence in Journalism, The Gender Gap: Women Are Still Missing As Sources for Journalists, 23, May, 2005, viewed 9 May, 2010, http://www.journalism.org/ 11. van Zoonen Read More