The cost of gender underrepresentation in the media runs into billions of dollars.
Women are still significantly underrepresented in leadership in news media organisation, says a report titled From Outrage to Opportunity: How to Include the Missing Perspectives of Women of All Colours in News Leadership and Coverage, released on November 29, 2022.
According to the study, there are revenue of opportunities for media houses that can run into billions of dollars, but which can be unlocked if they improve women representation both in their leadership and in their content.
The report by Luba Kassova, Co-Founder and Director, AKAS, and commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examines situations-focused women realities in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India, the UK and the US.
Editorial roles
It says high profile appointment of women in editorial leadership roles cannot stand a close scrutiny, which shows women are still underrepresented in news media.
The study analysed 1,166 editorial roles, and found that for every woman who is an editor-in-chief, there are between two (in South Africa, the USA and the UK) and 12 (in Indian regional news outlets) male editors-in-chief.
Women are also seriously underrepresented in editorial leadership in high-profile news beats, such as politics, economics/business, and foreign affairs, where they can hold as few as one in six editorial roles
“Women’s position in news leadership and coverage revealed in this report is a source of outrage and hope,” said Ms Kassova.
“Outrage because women are still severely side-lined as top editors and news protagonists, while women in multi-racial societies are suffering unfathomable exclusion in leadership and their stories are routinely missed. Hope because, if brought in from the side-lines, women can be a lifeline for the news industry.”
Unfair advantage
There is also a significant dearth when it comes to coverage of issues affecting men compared to those that affect women. News either fails to cover sufficiently, or omits altogether, the seven substantive gaps in which men enjoy unfair advantage over women: gaps in power, pay, safety, authority, confidence, health and ageism.
Less than one in 5,000 news stories, globally, between 2017 and April 2022, featured any reference to these gaps, with over 90 per cent of such coverage focusing exclusively on the pay gap.
The situation has worsened as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Globally, news coverage on gender equality issues declined from 0.56 per cent before Covid-19 pandemic to the 0.44 per cent.
The report outlines 12 solutions at the strategy and practical level. They include a focus on auditing, target setting and measuring representation across the entire news value chain; tracking and improving the inclusion of women of all colours in news leadership and key decision-making roles. It also outlines looking for story angles that appeal to both women and men; and increasing coverage of seven gender gaps as solutions.
Billion dollars
These strategies, the study says, will improve representation and inclusion of women of all colours in news strategy and leadership, and create more balanced and inclusive coverage.
The report, which makes a business case when it comes to women’s inclusion, says if the current trend continues, revenue for news organisations will further dint by a quarter – from 90 billion dollars to 69 billion dollars, globally, by 2032 if more women feel disconnected from news and media because the content does not speak to them.
“The financial argument should not be the only reason to aim for gender parity,” said Richard Addy, Lead Researcher, Co-Founder and Director, AKAS, “however for those news organizations that make a concerted effort to improve their performance in relation to women in terms of leadership, representation, inclusion, portrayal and coverage, the prize is significant.”
For the best results, it is important news organisations approach the challenge of women representation strategically, rather than symbolically, for the sake of not just their bottom lines but to drive inclusivity, diversity, balanced-coverage, trust and representation among all critical segments of their audiences.
