On September 2, Karen Ross, a professor of media at Northumbria University, gave a talk on gender equity and the media at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism.
Globally speaking, the number of women entering the media industry surpassed that of men over the past five to six years, yet women take up only 31 per cent of all decision-making roles at media corporations.
The lack of gender diversity presented in the media may perpetuate gender bias and turn society into a men’s world. Ross hopes that people, journalists and citizens alike, can take it upon themselves to look at media outlets critically.
“Every five minutes, there is yet another new horrible example of how the media is undermining or trivializing or commodifying women.... [I want people to look] at news and be [like]: ‘I’ve just been watching the news for 10 minutes, and I haven’t seen one woman,’ or ‘I’ve just been watching the news for 20 minutes, and the only women I’ve seen have been victims of male violence,” said Ross.
Some are dismissive of the hardship that women face professionally, trivializing the role that gender plays in their career pursuits, or even denying gender as an important part of their experiences and expressions. However, to Ross, women’s experiences are different, and they can use their femininity positively.
“Most [female] professors ... looked like female versions of male professors, and I decided that I was never going to do that.... If I had any role model potential, it’s actually to be true to myself, and to actually show to everyone else or anyone else interested that there are these different ways to be a ‘something,’ in this case, a professor,” said Ross.
According to Alfred Hermida, director and professor at UBC Graduate School of Journalism, gender imbalance in media management is also a result of gender discrimination that is not readily visible. Women are sometimes excluded from decision-making processes as these sometimes may take place at bars or golf courses where men are socializing together.
The gender bias off screen inevitably spills over onscreen and in interviews.
It is unclear whether news crews are discriminatory in selecting interviewees, but men are more likely to agree to be interviewed than women are. When being approached for expert advice on a subject that is not exactly within one’s area of research, a male professor is more likely to share his knowledge, while a female professor is more likely to decline, said Hermida.
Ross hopes that media consumers assess whether media portrayals respond to their lived experiences and, if not, be dissatisfied and uncover the basis of their dissatisfaction. The efforts of journalists and audiences are equally crucial in pushing the media to be more accurate in representing the diversity and reality of this world, and in cultivating a more open and positive social culture.