When analysing the misrepresentation and lack of more presence in the women in the media, statistical evidence and findings explained below shed more light on the urgent need for a stronger gender balance in the media.
Elastic Tree’s recent study on media representation and gender equality analysed through the presence of women as newsmakers and news sources in five leading English newspapers in India. The key findings underscore the urgent need for advancing gender equality.
(To read more about this study, click here.)
1. Gender Proportional Representation:
The study indicates a lack of progress in gender proportional representation within Indian news reporting as of June 2023. Despite the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) reporting a 15% share in 2020, this figure remains stagnant post-Covid.
2. Representation Disparities:
A concerning discovery from the study is that 46% of scanned news pages featured no women newsmakers or news sources. This underscores the glaring underrepresentation of women in the news media landscape.
3. Need for Mindful Reporting:
The study strongly advocates for media houses, newspaper editors, and journalists to adopt a more mindful approach during reporting. Emphasizing the promotion of gender parity in news sources and newsmakers suggests the importance of seeking women experts beyond the current network of sources.
