Published: 8 March 2011
Region: UK
“New research has shown that women are still underrepresented in Britain’s newspapers, less likely to make editorial positions and less likely to write about hard news, politics and current affairs than their male counterparts.” – Women in Journalism
On the occasion of 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day (8 March 2011), a research report from the Women in Journalism (WiJ) group reveals that women are still underrepresented in Britain’s newspapers, less likely to make editorial positions and less likely to write about hard news, politics and current affairs than their male counterparts.
According to the report, even traditional areas like lifestyle and features are being taken over by male colleagues. Is macho culture holding back female talent, or is a more competitive culture leading to genuine meritocracy?
It was clear from the WiJ study that women are less likely to be in senior positions. Eight out of the UK’s top 10 newspapers have almost twice as many male as female editors.
That gender divide penetrates the whole newspaper industry with women making up just 30% of all newspaper journalists.
Rowenna Davis, WiJ committee member who led the research, says:
“These results raise serious questions about the meritocracy of our national press. The UK’s media contributes a huge amount to our democracy by holding others accountable, but it should not be beyond that scrutiny itself. With such gaping underrepresentation in hard news, business and politics, we have to question whether the absence of women is effecting the content and slant of our news.”
Sue Matthias, Chair of Women in Journalism says:
“Women’s rights in the workplace may have improved, but this research shows that there is still a long way to go in British newspapers. The gender imbalance we have uncovered is shocking and it seems old attitudes are still alive and well in many places. We hope this research contributes to the debate on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day and helps to build a fairer, more meritocratic press.”
The study was conducted by Echo, which surveyed the UK’s top 28 national papers by circulation size. Original data was taken from Mediadisk, a database of UK journalists, but this organisation has no responsibility for the analysis of the data. The research was carried out in October 2010.
Women in Journalism is a networking, campaigning, training and social organisation for women journalists who work across all the written media, from newspapers and magazines to the new media.
For an illustration of the gender divide in the UK newspaper industry click here.
Click here to take a look at their website.
