Women in media are still in the minority and it is no different in the UK. That’s what Professor Suzanne Franks discovered in research done for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
They are also less likely to achieve higher rankings and be better paid in the hierarchy of communications companies. Those who manage to reach higher positions tend not to have children in a greater proportion than men in the same jobs, the study finds.
Is there any gender-specific reason for such discrepancies? Arnold Bennett in his book ‘Journalism for Women: A Practical Guide’ published in 1898 couldn’t find none. What did prevent them then were hurdles such as a lack of educational opportunities, society’s prevailing view that a woman’s place was at home and resistance from the male workforce.
In recent history, there was only one woman heading a UK broadsheet; 15 years ago when Rosie Boycott donned the editor’s mantle at The Independent for three months. In 90 years, there has never been a female director-general at the BBC. At the last UK Press Awards, the number of women winners was the lowest in five years.
Ironic then that in 2012, there were two times more women students than men at leading British journalism programmes. With regard to wages, there is a significant disparity in favour of men, which tends to be a worldwide phenomenon.
Women who have achieved success in media tend to focus on fashion, economy, local media and war conflicts, while politics, breaking news and opinion are still the man’s preserve.
BRIEFS
Going under the knife
Julie Chen, as a tyro journalist in Ohio, wanted to be a news anchor on American TV. But career counsellors would suggest her features as being “too Asian” and which indeed came in the way of realising her dream. Determined, Julie underwent plastic surgery, which had as its main objective the ‘opening’ of her eyes.
From then on, Julie saw her career take off, won the post of the morning news anchor on CBS and went on to host Big Brother. “If you compare the photos, you will see that my eyes appear larger.”
(Source: Jezebel)
Setting out to meet all followers
Scriptwriter and magician Declan Dineen wants to meet everyone who follows him on Twitter. He launched a #meetandtweet project in January with a spur-of-the-moment idea on his blog. Since then, has been ticking off both new and long-time followers one by one.
Dineen doesn’t believe that he’s in any significant danger when he meets his fellow Twitter users. But even if there was, he reckons: “It’d make the story even better.”
(Source: The next web)
