Media on Women
Portrayal and Conflict
Reporting
Principles and Values of Engendered Peace Journalism Made Popular
through Community Radio
Min-WoW and Isis Intenational-Manila
Session Topics
Who controls Media?
Women in Media Workforce
Male-stream Media and Work Culture
How it Affects Portrayal of Women
Media on War and Conflict
Gender Fairness as Good Editorial Policy
Re-framing our stories
Participatory Media Approach
Who Controls the Media?
“Today, the majority of media companies world-wide are
managed by men. While some women have advanced into
media leadership, men make most of the decisions about
what does and does not constitute as news. In addition,
women are not moving into leadership positions in the
media in numbers that reflect their numbers in society.”
Leading in a Different Language: Will Women Change the News Media?
A report by International Women's Media Foundation, 2001
Women in the Media Workforce
 40% women journalists world-wide.
(International Federation of journalists June, 2001)
 3% - 5% of editors, heads of departments or directors.
 Asia : 21% of women are represented in the media
workforce but this varies very much from country to
country.
Nepal 6%
Japan 8%
India 12%.
On the bright side, in Thailand, 50% of all the
journalists are women. (IWMF, 2000)
Women in Media
From these figures we can easily say, mainstream media
is controlled by men mostly coming from the upper class.
Since in today's globalised world, majority of the
mainstream media networks are owned by less than
ten global media conglomerate, we can also say that
majority are owned by white men.
Male-stream Media and Work Culture
Family responsibilities having an impact on the
work of women journalists
Not recognizing their rights to maternity leave
Promotional opportunities are affected by
childcare
Putting up with sexist remarks and gestures
from colleagues or sources
Experiencing sexual harassment
MediaWatch
Is a Canadian not for profit feminist
organization that works to eliminate sexism
in the media. It advises Canadian media to
reflect on the full spectrum of diversity and
experiences of contemporary women, a
view that would not be out of place in Asia.
MediaWatch has the noted the
following distinct trends in media
portrayal of women and girls.
Dismemberment
Advertising often markets the separate parts of a woman’s body: a
disembodied pair of legs, close-up of her buttocks, and in this case a
close cleavage shot.
Clowning and Exaggeration
Women in Media are frequently shown in extremely unnatural and
unrealistic positions that make them look silly or childish or not to be
taken seriously. In contrast to men who are always portrayed as
serious, powerful and strong.
Other Trends observed by
MediaWatch are:
Superiority and Domination
Coy Behaviour
Male approval
The voice of authority
Irrelevant sexualisation
Media ‘s view of women and issues
Rape is seen as an atrocity that spoils a girl/
women (for other men)
Only young, virginal girls get raped; the rest
are asking for it
There’s no such crime as marital rape
because of the sanctity of conjugal rights
Men are breadwinners; women are home
makers and should take care of the home
and children
Media’s portrayal of women
 Women only work for “lipstick money” or until they
ensnare the boss.
 Women are naturally docile and weak; they need men
to take care of them.
 Women are not seen in the streets, markets or rallies.
 Women are covered in media mainly as crying mothers
and victimes.
 Women are never asked about their opinion.
Does this give justice to women’s work and involvement?
Women in the News
Gender Profiles of Resource Persons in the three
major evening TV -news in the USA:
(FAIR – Fairness and Accuracy in reporting, 2001)
 85 % of all interview sources were men, 15 %
women.
 Of these 15 % every second was interviewed as an
'ordinary American', not as a resource person.
 Women are more often seen on so-called soft news,
society and entertainment. But not in the hard news.
 As professionals or politicians, women made up 9 %
of all the interviews versus 91 % men.
 George W. Bush alone made up 9% of all the
interviewees in 2001.
It’s Effects on the Audience
It is depressing for our women listeners to hear
all these horrible stories of women becoming
victims of sexual violence and harassment.
It can discourage women not to go out any
more because they are afraid.
We also have to talk about the success-stories of
women who fight against violence, whether as
an individual or as a group in a rally or forum.
Only then, listeners can get the complete the
picture.
Missing the Women’s Perspective
In Japan the coverage if the Hanshin
Earthquake in 1995 had male reporters, male
commentators and male experts analysing the
situation. Where were the women? They were
shown huddled in a shelter cooking or wailing.
While in truth many were involved in relief and
rehabilitation efforts.
Silencing Women’s Voices
The silencing of women’s voices is among the
most insidious outcomes of “manstream”
media evolution. Male-controlled and
dominated, the media in most Asian and
Pacific societies has influenced the gathering
and distribution of information from a
perspective that is, pre-dominantly male.
Media on War and Conflict
“The power of media in warfare is formidable.
It can be a mediator or an interpreter or even
a facilitator of conflict. If only by editing away
facts that do not fit the demands of air time or
print space”
Elizabeth Rehan, Ellen Sirleaf, Women, War and Peace
How media portrays conflict stories
Media mostly just follow events. They don’t
explain what led to those events.
They concentrate on bad news. They are
problem-focused.
They are often sensational and emotional in
tone.
Who are the news makers? They tend to
focus on powerful people, political leaders,
the rich and the famous, who live in town
and cities.
They often reinforce stereotypes.
Framing Stories
When telling every story, we not only choose
who and what to include inside the frame
but who and what to leave out.
Our choices are shaped by
Personal values
Professional standard
News ethics of the organization
Our Role as Journalists
 We are reporting about the lives of other
women; their experiences, situations,
activities, and status in society.
 Telling their experiences over the radio
has a big impact on the lives of our
subjects.
 However the listener, and the women we
are reporting on learn very little about us.
Our Responsibility as Journalists
 Most journalists care little about what might
happens to their subjects after the media
coverage.
 They are primarily interested in spectacular
and adventurous stories that pay well.
 We cannot protect our subjects and their
communities after the radio media
coverage.
Gender Fairness
as
Good Editorial Policy
Women Empowering Communications
Conference, Bangkok, 1994
Pushing for a Media that…
 encourages dialogue and debate;
 advances women and people’s creativity;
 re-affirms women’s wisdom and knowledge
 sees people as subjects rather than objects
or targets of communication
 is responsive to people’s needs
www.waccglobal.org
Inter Press Service Asia-Pacific
Johana Son, Regional Coordinator
 “Mainstreaming gender is a good editorial policy as it
reflects a more accurate picture of the world and
makes for a better story. If women make up half of
the world, they must be seen in news stories that
claim to be about people’s lives. Even in a news
agency like IPS, where gender is a regular item on
the news menu, sometimes one has to remind
writers to look for women’s voices – not because it is
a gender thing, but because it improves the story.”
 www.ipsnews.net
” Gender, Media and Tsunami”
by Ammu Joseph, India Together, 2005
“The media – and media professionals – stand to gain
by recognising that there is a gender dimension to
virtually every event, process, institution and/or
individual experience covered by the media, including
disasters and conflicts. And that women, including poor
and illiterate women, have knowledge and opinions on
practically everything. Failure to tap women – including
those now attempting to resume life after the disaster
(tsunami) – as sources and resources can only
impoverish media coverage and diminish our
understanding of the post-tsunami scenario, as well as
many other similar situations.”
www.indiatogether.org
Spaces for Intervention
 Gender Sensitivity: The gender-sensitive reporter
understands how gender relations play out and is better
equipped to uncover the underlying roots of the conflict
and the solutions culled from people.
 Do No Harm: As we cannot control the impact of our
stories on the people and communities we report about,
we have to make sure beforehand that our reporting
does not cause and harm to them.
 Trauma Sensitivity: People who experienced trauma
need special care and protection of their dignity in order
not to by re-traumatized by Media.
Gender Sensitivity
Ensure fair and balanced reporting which means that
both male and female views / perspectives and
voices are reflected in all stories
Give equal prominence to the achievements of
women across all issues covered
Achieve balance in the presentation of women and
men as experts, authorities and commentators.
Use non-sexist, gender-fair terms and phrases.
Women need to be visible.
Do No Harm
Refrain from stereotyping along gender, race, religion,
ethnicity, language, sexuality, age and class.
Recognize that domestic violence is a public problem
that crosses all lines of race, class, and culture.
Don't Divulge the survivor's real name, address, or
other information that identifies her/him.
Not including materials which incites violence.
Find affected women and children and include their
untold stories, opinions, goals, and solutions.
Trauma Sensitivity
 Determine if the survivor is in the right frame of
mind for an interview.
 Recognize the survivor’s right to decide whether
or not to be identified, Make sure the consent
given is free and informed.
 See women as actively changing their situation
and not just as suffering victims. Highlight the
survivor’s efforts in defending her-/himself
instead of the attacker’s moves.
 Eliminate details or descriptions that
sensationalize the story or ridicule the survivor or
blame her for the rape.
How to say it?
Choose your words carefully:
Words that perpetuate biases and prejudices (easy,
nymph-like, sex kitten, prostitute, pretty, attractive,
sex maniac) pass judgments on survivors and/or
suspects.
Terms like “Muslim” or “Christian” to describe
criminals, suspects and survivors are branding them.
Labels like “terrorist”, “extremist”, “fanatic”, or
“fundamentalist” are given by “us” to “them”. No one
uses them to describe her-/himself.
Basic points to
reflect on...
(Re)Framing stories with a gender lens
Where is the woman in the story?
How can gender information strengthen the story?
How do gender roles and power relations between
men and women further explain the issue?
How are the impacts of events and processes
different for women and for men?
Where are the points of collaboration
between genders?
What are common grounds and shared
interests?
Your conflict stories should reflect:
Who is affected by this conflict; who has distinct
stake in its outcome? What is their influence,
affluence?
What triggered the dispute? What issues do the
parties need to resolve?
When did the conflict begin? how long have the
circumstances existed that gave rise to the dispute?
Where? What geographical or political jurisdictions
are affected by the dispute? How has this kind of
thing been handled in other places?
Your conflict stories should reflect:
Why do the parties hold their positions? What needs,
interests, fears and concerns are at stake?
How are they resolving the conflict? - Negotiation,
mediation, arbitration, armed warfare - What are the
costs/benefits of the chosen method?
What Optionshave the parties explored? How do the
various options related to the interests identified?
What Common grounds are there between the
parties? What can they build on?
Participatory Media Approach
Allows the people you report about to participate
in your story and to overcome the power gap
between subject and journalist.
Try to incorporate their ideas and suggestions
into the media story.
Ask the community to come up with their
own program or story.
Lend them your journalistic and technical skills.
Give them free reign to produce their own radio
program or story.
Community Media
The subjects of the media stories become
the creators of their own stories.
Community radio is based on the principle of
participation. This is our chance to challenge the
dominant stereotypes in mainstream media.
Media can be more than
news. It can contribute
much to gender parity
and peace building in
many ways.
By engendering
the media, we
can make a
difference.