Women’s thinking kept out of UK Media and Analysis

Women’s Brains. No Place in the UK Media?
By Claire Shaw – Safeworld – 29 October, 2012

According to a recent study conducted by Women in Journalism, women neither write big news or make it in the UK. They play a minor role in public life, and are not generally seen as the ‘go to’ for expert comment and opinions.

The study published earlier this month, found that after analysing nine national newspapers for four consecutive weeks, 78 percent of all front-page articles were written by men compared to only 22 percent by women, with the Independent having just 9 per cent of front-page stories written by women.
Men as ‘Experts’. Women as ‘Victims’, Pin-ups or Princesses

It showed that national newspapers tend to seek expert opinions from men (76 percent), but where a victim was quoted it was more likely to be from a woman (79 percent).

What’s more, where numerous male political figures were pictured regularly on front pages of national newspapers, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, current French president Francois Hollande and the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt, the only females that made the top ten images were Kate and Pippa Middleton, and missing victim Madeleine McCann.

So what does this say about how women are represented in the media industry today?

According to Rosie Boycott, founder of feminist magazine Spare Rib, in order for women to appear on the front page, women have to be either “wrong, sexy or a celebrity”.

And this view is not just restricted to the newspaper industry, but appears to be prevalent across all media platforms including radio and television.
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