Gender disparity in news: Women, especially of colour, grossly under-represented in leadership and coverage

Whether it's editorial leadership or rolein news coverage, women continue to be severely under-represented in the media industry and taking the brunt of this are women of colour, shows a new report.The report titled 'From Outrage to Opportunity: How to Include the Missing Perspectives of Women of All Colors in News Leadership and Coverage' says that the media industry is persistently dominated by men and "While women in news have it hard, women of colour have it even harder."

"Women are significantly under-represented in editorial leadership roles and news coverage and their voices remain muted in a global news industry still dominated by men. However, substantive opportunities to reshape the status quo are emerging."

Watch |Gender inequality has cost world USD 70 trillion since 1990, report finds

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The report authored by Luba Kassova had been commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and it "examines the harsh realities facing women of all colours in news leadership and coverage" in six countries: India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, UK, and the USA.

It found that only one in four or 26 per cent of editors-in-chief across the six counties are women. The figure has fallen from the global average more than a decade ago. Additionally, for every woman, there are between two to 12 male editors-in-chief.

The proportion of female editors-in-chief is highest in South Africa and the UK at 37 per cent and lowest in India:11 per cent nationally and 8 per cent regionally). In the US the figure stands at 35 per cent, while for Nigeria, and Kenya, they are 18 per cent, and 19 per cent respectively.

Even in high-profile beats like politics, business, foreign affairs, and health the disparity is still there. In health five out of six nations have achieved gender parity, while in business beat only one in every three senior editors is a woman. For politics beat this figure stands at one in every four.

In the UK, no women of colour occupied the most senior editorial decision-making positions in the key high-profile news beats of politics, foreign affairs, and health.

The lack of representation as per the report means that a lot of important stories are being missed. There's a lack of gender angles and low perceived importance of gender stories. Additionally, the perspective of people of colour and micro (human) stories within big political, economic, or health stories are often missed out.

A dominos effect of this disparity is the declining news consumption of women; the report pegs it at about 11-12 per cent lower than men's.

The author Kassova writes that "organisations and leaders often expect to identify a silver bullet, a quick fix that cansolve the problem. The truth is: there is no silver bullet". The report instead suggests a series of changes at various news levels like organizational, leadership, and sector levels that can help deal with the issue.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.