The Missing Perspectives of Women in the News

(disturbing, frustrating, completely unsurprising. The entire article can be read at the link provided)





The Missing Perspectives of Women in the News
11/15/2023 by International Women’s Media Foundation

Feminist journalism is essential to public discourse. It is essential to political debate. And it absolutely essential to free and fair democracy. Explore more at Feminist Journalism is Essential to Democracy—Ms. magazine’s latest installment of Women & Democracy, presented in partnership with the International Women’s Media Foundation.


In the last few decades, women’s stories have been significantly underrepresented in the news compared to men’s, at a ratio of approximately one to five. (The International Women’s Media Foundation)
Women’s representation in the news has flatlined—if not reversed—in the 21st century.

Women’s voices continue to be underrepresented in the global news media. “The Missing Perspectives of Women in News,” commissioned by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (https://www.gatesfoundation.org) and authored by Luba Kassova, examines women’s representation in newsrooms, news-gathering, and news coverage in India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. Analyzing three audiences—journalists, decision-makers and the public—the report seeks to understand the status of women in the news media through the political, economic, sociocultural, regulatory, technological and news consumption contexts of each country.

The report finds that women’s representation in the news has flatlined—if not reversed—in the 21st century. This alarming marginalization is clear in all areas of the news media: Women are underrepresented in newsroom leadership, gender equality stories are going untold, and men remain the vast majority of quoted experts and sources.

To address the challenges uncovered by this research, the report offers 50 evidence-based recommendations and a checklist for newsrooms to use as they work to increase women’s representation, challenge biases and work to achieve gender parity. With these recommendations, the journalism industry can further its work to uplift women’s voices and create a more diverse, free global news landscape.

Below is an adapted excerpt from “The Missing Perspectives of Women in News”; explore the entire report here (https://www.iwmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020.11.19-The-Missing-Perspectives-of-Women-in-News-FINAL-REPORT.pdf).

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https://msmagazine.com/2023/11/15/missing-perspective-women-news-representation/