gender and sexuality

RESOURCE MATERIAL / Media Diversity: GENDER & SEXUALITY

A selection of articles and resources examining the theory of the media's role in reporting on gender and sexuality issues

•

I'lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel has produced a report on Women’s Representation in the News of Commercial Arab Newspapers in Israel. The report is by Dr. Amal Jamal and Umayma Diab. The report says that women are a marginal social group in the public sphere of societies. This fact is also true regarding Arab society, where women are usually excluded from key positions in political and social institutions.

One of the social institutions that plays an important role in portraying women in society and their social roles is the media. Although the media is not the sole player in constructing the image of women in society, it has become a very central player in recent decades. For further information about the report please see: www.ilamcenter.org

•

2006 Leadership Institute for Women Journalists
A MANAGER HAS A JOB, BUT A LEADER HAS A CALLING
Many women manage in newsrooms, but it takes more than management skills to become a leader. Leaders are the people who set the pace, the people to whom everyone goes for answers, who remain calm in crisis and who look at journalism as a calling and not just a job.

This was one of the topics of the 2006 Leadership Institute for Women Journalists. The last month event geared toward mid-career journalists, featured sessions on such topics as work-life balance, diversity and leading change in a newsroom. (IWMF)

•

Reporting Diversity - Gender and Sexuality (PDF / 256KB)
The Media Diversity Institute’s “Reporting Diversity Guide” is a comprehensive manual for journalists and trainers. It includes sections on ‘Gender’ and ‘Sexual Orientation’ which provide tips on reporting on gender and issues of sexual orientation, and analysis of articles on these themes taken from newspapers from Britain and South East Europe. (MDI, 2002 )

ASTRA-Trafficking in Women - Manual for Journalists

•

Trafficking in Women - Manual for Journalists
The 100-page 'Trafficking in Women - Manual for Journalists Trafficking in Women - Manual for Journalists, is published by ASTRA, the Belgrade-based Anti Sex-Trafficking Action organization. It focuses on the situation in Serbia, giving an overview of sex trafficking in general before addressing the specific situation in Serbia, including media coverage, local laws and regulations, trafficking in children, and the experiences of ASTRA through its SOS Hotline. The manual also gives tips for journalists, including how to find sources and interview them. The manual is available in Serbian and English, languages, but not online. For hard copies contact ASTRA: Tel +381 11 3347 817, e-mail: astrasos@sezampro.yu

	•	Whose News? Whose Views? Southern Africa: Gender in Media Handbook
		Produced by the 'African Gender and Media Initiative' and 'Gender Links', the handbook is based on the premise that the media can and should play a critical role in the transformation of gender relations in society. It provides analysis, training exercises and checklists for making gender equality a reality the news room. (Gender Links)

•	'Who Makes the News?' - global media monitoring Even though women constitute more than a half of the world's population, only 10% of news stories worldwide have women as a central focus. Women are featured as spokespeople only in 14%, and as experts only in 17% of news stories. The figures come from Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) - the most extensive global research into gender in news media ever undertaken - maps the representation of women and men in news media worldwide. Media Diversity Institute has been one of the partners in promotion of the GMMP. The whole project is coordinated by World Association for Christian Communication. (WACC)
•	Gay press slams Sun 'schoolboy' humour The Sun has been accused of "insidious homophobia" and of being "out of touch" by the gay press over its coverage of Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Simon Hughes's decision to announce his bisexuality. Lou Thomas reports. (Press Gazette)
•	How can the media be more gender sensitive? Tips from the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre for more gender sensitive coverage, with a focus on coverage of violence against women. (Fiji Women's Crisis Centre)
•	How to Conduct a Gender Survey of Your Local Newspaper The US-based Center for Media Literacy says that a little time and a set of four color highlighter pens are all you need to evaluate your local paper's treatment of female reporters and newsmakers. (CML)
•	Can a Woman Deliver the News? Only the United States uses a single, never-changing male anchor, writes Anne Cooper Chen. A longstanding argument holds that women's voices are not authoritative on-air personalities. Following this tradition, U.S. network anchors have almost always been male. As the research coordinator for a late 1980's study of women's participation in five countries' newscasts, Cooper Chen had the opportunity to observe that barriers against women are falling in many countries. (CML)
•	Study of coverage of sex trafficking in the media of Serbia & Montenegro Prepared by ASTRA, the Belgrade-based Anti Sex-Trafficking Action organization, the study is based on a sample of 240 articles published in daily newspapers in Serbia & Montenegro during the period 1998-2002. It found that coverage was increasing in quantity over time, but was generally sensationalist. The issue of trafficking in children got far less attention than trafficking in women. (ASTRA) (PDF / 256KB) [NOTE: The study is in Serbian language].
•	US women of colour face stereotyping and discrimination in the newsroom 'Women Journalists of Color: Present Without Power' resulted from a March 1999 US-wide study by the 'International Women's Media Foundation' (IWMF) in Washington, D.C. The majority of women of color working for the media say their career progress is hampered by lingering racial stereotypes and subtle discrimination. They still face substantial obstacles to promotion opportunities, and still find that their strengths as journalists, and the value that their presence brings, are consistently being ignored and downplayed. (IWMF)
•	Gender stereotyping rife in Eastern European and Central Asian media The mass media in Eastern Europe and Central Asia tend to promote gender stereotypes - that was the conclusion of a monitoring program conducted in eight countries by the CaucAsia International Coalition of Journalists. The program analyzed the comment from men and women experts in 15 national newspapers - and found that women's opinions were practically non-existent. (IJNet)
•	First independent women's radio station in Iraq The first independent women's radio station in Iraq is on the air in Baghdad. The Al-Mahaba station offers a variety of programming aimed at women listeners, including topics such as the role of women in elections, democracy, peace, society, education and legal issues. (IJNet)
•	Morocco draws up charter of ethics on women's image in the media Morocco has drafted a charter on the image of women in the media, designed as an ethical platform to improve the image of women in the print and broadcast media, and in advertising. The charter follows a new Family Code enacted in Morocco last year and is intended to guarantee women's rights to be portrayed by the media in an objective and professional way, It was developed by several government departments, including the Moroccan news agency (MAP). (ArabicNews.com)
•	Gay TV launches in France in search of the pink euro A gay television channel, PinkTV, has been launched in France with backing from three of the country's biggest mainstream channels and several well-known television stars. PinkTV, backed by the most popular French channel, TF1, as well as M6 and Canal Plus, will initially broadcast for 40 hours per week. (The Independent, 26 October 2004)
•	Rainbow connection: Britain's growing gay press Today there are dozens of gay publications, both local and national, in Britain. The launch of two major gay publications in the past year - Re:Fresh and Gay UK - has brought the total number of free and paid-for national 'pink' publications up to nine in a market that many feel is already flooded. (Press Gazette)
•	Gay anger at 'offensive' holiday adverts Two British newspapers have come under fire for running frontpage luxury holiday advertisements that gay rights campaigners say are discriminatory. The adverts, which appeared in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, are for luxury all-inclusive Caribbean holidays for "couples in love". A footnote in small print in the advert stipulates "mixed sex couples only". (Press Gazette)
•	'Just call me Donna' British sports journalist Donna Gee explains how her colleagues reacted when she stopped living a double life and outed herself as a transsexual (Press Gazette)
•	Saudi Arabia lifts ban on two gay websites Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on two gay websites in response to pressure from Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF). Access to the websites gaymiddleast.com and 365gay.com within the country had been blocked since early March 2004 after authorities deemed them "pornographic." (IFEX)
•	Negative Coverage by the Bangladeshi Media Degrades Women The UNHCR in the United Kingdom monitored the British media’s coverage of refugees and asylum seekers – and then researched the reality. It found that many headlines were a long way from reflecting the truth..... (www.ijnet.org)
•	Gender in Media Training: A Southern African Tool Kit Gender Links, in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, has released a new tool kit for Southern African media trainers on mainstreaming gender in the media. (Gender Links)
•	Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk City Councils pull down billboards of homosexual couples An anti-homophobia advertising campaign called "Let Them See Us" will not be seen after all by most residents of three of Poland's largest cities after local authorities ordered billboards portraying gay and lesbian couples taken down...... (TOL, 28 April 2003)
•