As women worldwide fight for that equal chance in the newsroom or boardroom, others are building their own media to make their voices heard. Critical questions are being raised: Will women's equal participation change the nature of journalism? Is women's news fundamentally different from men's? Are "women's pages" a pink news ghetto or a needed remedy for historic neglect? Do mainstream women's media have to be apolitical and marketing-driven? We will try to answer these questions in two points. First we will study the participation of women in the media and then the consequences of this, that is to say the representation of women in the media. Though women make up more than half the world's population, men routinely decide what news they should hear and read. What is the impact on all of us when the news is constantly reported from a male point of view?
[...] In her study of Cosmopolitan and Playboy magazines, for example, Nicole Krassas found that both men and women's magazines contain a single vision of female sexuality—that "women should primarily concern themselves with attracting and sexually satisfying men." The presence of misinformation and media stereotypes is disturbing, given research that indicates young people often turn to media for information about sex and sexuality. In 2003, David Buckingham and Sara Bragg reported that two-thirds of young people turn to media when they want to learn about sex - the same percentage of kids who ask their mothers for information and advice. [...]
[...] In stories on politics and government only 14% of news subjects are women; and in economic and business news only 20%. Yet these are the topics that dominate the news agenda in all countries. Even in stories that affect women profoundly, such as gender-based violence, it is the male voice that prevails. a. Media coverage of women and women's issue Women professionals and athletes continue to be under-represented in news coverage, and are often stereotypically portrayed when they are included. [...]
[...] On programs with no female executive producers, female writers accounted for only 13% of all writers. Studies show that a difference can be made when women hold positions of power. In 2000, women editors and journalists took over the newsroom for one day at a newspaper in Wichita Falls, Texas. For the day's top story a choice had to be made between a crime-stopper's story about a peeping tom and an item about local women fighting for equal rights. When the women opted for the latter story, a heated argument erupted. [...]
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