Press Release # 6

JON SNOW AND TOP INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTS EXPLORE “WHO MAKES THE NEWS” AT MEDIA ROUNDTABLE; SNOW ADVOCATES FOR CODE OF CONDUCT FOR NEWSPAPERS AS WELL AS BROADCAST

(London) 20 February 2006 - Media censorship of women, the journalist’s role in society as reflector or reformer of society and a call for a code of conduct for the press by Jon Snow were just some of the topics raised during a discussion between top ranking international journalists, editors and members of an audience of media management and non-governmental organisation representatives at a media roundtable held 15 February.

The roundtable and press conference were part of the launch event of both “Who Makes The News?," the report of the 2005 WACC Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), and the launch of “Who Makes The News? Three Weeks of Global Action,” an international campaign to raise awareness of the imbalance in representation of women and men in news and newsrooms around the world confirmed by the GMMP report to run 16 February – 8 March.

The press conference and media roundtable outlined the findings of the third WACC Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), which analysed television, radio and newspaper coverage on one day in 76 countries around the world. The data gathering resulted in more than 13,000 articles being reviewed by hundreds of volunteer monitors.

In his wrap-up statement at the close of the roundtable, Jon Snow expressed surprise at the level of intensity and passion and the key issues that had been raised during the two hours’ discussion with an audience he supposed would be fully in support of gender equality. He also noted that “Who Makes The News?”was a tool that he planned to use back in Channel 4’s newsroom and in conversation with media management, encouraging his fellow journalists to do the same.

Snow also called for regulation in the media and a code of conduct for the press similar to what broadcasters are bound to follow, because at present there are no obligations for the print media to comply to. “The self-regulatory structure in the printed press is a scandal,” he said, “and it is not a way to make media better for citizens.”

The GMMP findings show that women don’t “make the news” as often as men, either in categories of news subject, news content or as those reporting on the news. “While 51% of the population is female, women make up only 21% of news stories,” observed Anna Turley, WACC Women’s Programme Coordinator at the press conference held to release the report. Margaret Gallagher, “Who Makes The News?” author, said the findings show the media as a “mirror on the world is a strangely distorted one.” Part of the distortion, she said, arises because only 10% of news stories worldwide have women as the central focus and many news stories reinforce rather than dispel stereotypes of women. In the newsrooms, the gender divide continues, where hard news remains the territory of male journalists while women journalists are relegated to soft news. At the same time as women are increasing as news presenters (57%), only 29% of newspaper stories are written by female reporters.

The experience of the GMMPvolunteer media monitor was reflected upon by Loveness Jambaya of Zimbabwe, and Muhammad Janhangir of Bangladesh.

The media roundtable moderator, Jon Snow of Channel 4 in London, was introduced by WACC General Secretary Randy Naylor. Panellists included Lesley Abdela fromEyecatcher/Shevolution, Ferial Haffajee, Mail & Guardian South Africa Editor; Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 International Editor; Bob Jobbins, former BBC World Service News head and now at the Rory Peck Trust; and Stephen Pritchard, Organisation of News Ombudsmen and Readers' Editor at the Observer.

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Panellist Yosri Fouda from Al-Jazeera was unable to attend the event at the last moment. Snow posed the question for discussion: “Good journalism involves a search for diversity and balance in subject matter, perspectives and points of view. Fair representation of women is simply a matter of good journalism. The GMMP 2005 report shows that this is currently not the case.” The media roundtable was structured like the popular BBC Radio 4 program “The Commission,” with “witnesses” confronting the panel with provocative statements related to the discussion question.

Witness Agnes Callamard from Article 19 suggested that the deficiency in coverage of women amounts to “gender censorship by the media.” Callamard also suggested that women’s news is censored by the media through denial of the leadership and expertise of women (GMMP 2005 showed that 83% of experts quoted in the media are male), reducing women’s point of view in the news and news content. “Women are only symbols of glamour and beauty when presented” this way, she said.

Challenged by the charge of censorship, Snow and other panellists pointed out that tight deadlines force journalists to rely on known sources and decrease journalists’ interest in gender-balanced news. “Don’t assume an order in the media that isn’t there,” said Snow. “Up against a deadline, you take what you can—we will use anyone [as a source].”

The need to train journalists to have female and male sources on hand was also discussed. It was noted that concerted efforts by media can and do change balance of coverage. A Swedish television station was identified that increased their coverage of women to 44%, increasing viewership with female viewers as a result. Training and evaluation should be provided to both journalism students and mainstream reporters, suggested Abdela, and “it is good to push government to put money into training journalists.”

Panellist Pritchard, The Observer’s Reader’s Editor, agreed with Callamard, since his experience is that women readers send letters and e-mails to The Observer often as a reaction to the misrepresentation of women.

Speaking on behalf of WACC, Witness Dr. Dafna Lemish, Chair of Communications at the University of Tel Aviv, outlined the practice of reporting on women around the world identified by GMMP 2005. She made four points: 1) Who are the women presented in news reports?; 2) How are women portrayed when interviewed?; 3) Language is often male-oriented; 4) Women are often relegated to soft news, and soft news is not as highly valued as hard news. All of this leads, in Lemish’s view, to “symbolic annihilation of women by excluding their lives and trivializing their experiences.”

Panellist Jobbins observed that both women and men are socialized by society and to succeed in the profession, journalists must work according to social norms of journalism; both male and female journalists are part of the same system.Noting that while media reflects society, Lemish said that media can play a major role in changing society. An example of this is the media’s role in the civil rights movement in the United States. “We need you [the media] to help society change,” she charged.

The challenges faced in the newsroom by women journalists was explored with the panel by witness Mindy Ran of the International Federation of Journalists. Lack of training (especially for War zone reporting or for freelancers), high pressure and stress, gender pay gap, sexual intimidation, pregnancy discrimination, and being stuck with ‘soft subjects.’

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Were problems identified by IFJ members around the world. Sexual stereotypes regarding women journalists need to be broken down, noted Ran, to end editors assigning soft subjects to women journalists. “I would like to read a text written by a male journalist about breast feeding,” she suggested. Panellist Haffajee agreed with Ran’s assessment, noting these issues should be address by journalist unions.

Who is setting the agenda? “Those controlling the financing and not the journalists themselves,” observed panellist Abdela, talking about her experience in Kosovo, and the problems in budgeting to cover women's stories. “What do you want the media to look like?,” asks Jobbins. “Media are not fair and not even good.” Jobbins suggested to take action against what we do not like in themedia.

Panellist Pritchard noted the value of the “Who Makes The News?” report in is its ability via its data to show the reality behind gender biases and, by the level of debate in the room, showed that the issue of gender bias was not "solved" for progressive media.