Underrepresentation of women in the news.

Women as professionals, leaders, and athletes also continue to be underrepresented in the news. When they are present, stereotypes distort who they actually are as women and even what they actually look like. Women have been steadily becoming professionals over the past twenty years, but most mainstream press coverage still focuses on men as experts on the topics of business, politics, and economics. Women are more likely to be featured in stories about accidents, natural disasters, or domestic violence than in stories about their professional abilities.

Canadian journalist Jenn Goddu studied newspaper and magazine coverage of three women’s lobby groups over a fifteen-year period and discovered that journalists tend to focus on the domestic aspects of female politicians’ lives. For example, Michelle Obama is constantly judged for her choices in fashion and has been featured in entertainment magazines regarding her beauty practices and fashion choices, although this is rarely a topic of discussion for Barak Obama.

Insufficient coverage of women and their issues is a worldwide occurrence. In 2000, the Association of Women Journalists studied news coverage of women and women’s issues in 70 countries.

• Only 18 percent of stories quoted women.
• The number of women-related stories came to barely ten percent of total news coverage.

News talk shows are also showing these trends. The White House Project proves that...

• Only nine percent of the guests on Sunday morning news shows such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation are women.
• These women only speak ten percent of the time.
  

Women’s voices are increasingly lost from the news and the only way to change this is to make sure women more present.

Source: "Media Coverage of Women and Women’s Issues,” Media Awareness Network, 2010. www.media-awareness/issues/stereotyping/women_coverage.cfm