UK leading way on representation of women in news but still a long way to go as ‘picture remains dire’

Researchers say representation of women has ‘flatlined’ in 21st century

Researchers say their findings are ‘dispiriting’ due to demonstrating the ‘striking under-representation’ of women in both newsrooms and in news media coverage

The UK is leading the way on representation of women in news but there is still a long way to go with the picture remaining “dire”, a report has found.

The study, carried out by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, warned representation of women has “flatlined” in the 21st century and three times as many men are the leading figures in UK stories.

Researchers said their findings were “dispiriting”, with a “striking under-representation” of women in both newsrooms and in news media coverage in six English-language countries – the UK, the US, India, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

In all of these countries, women were found to be up to six times less likely to be quoted in news as experts, protagonists, or sources.

The UK came top of all the countries – with women constituting 29 per cent of quoted voices in news stories, while 30 per cent of protagonists were women, however men were still around three times more likely to feature.

The majority of journalists around the world, including those in editor roles or who own media outlets, are men, even though roughly the same amount of men and women study journalism in many countries, the report found.

The study’s authors said the findings unveil “a dire picture of women's under-representation” within the news, demonstrating that female representation “has flatlined (if not reversed) in the 21st century".

South Africa came top in terms of gender balance within the newsroom – with female journalists making up 49 per cent of the workforce. In the UK, 47 per cent of journalists are women.

The research, which examined 11,913 publications and 56.9 million stories, found female expert voices were notably absent in political news, with men quoted up to seven times more often than women. In economic news, men’s share of expert voice was found to be up to 31 times higher. 

Less than 1 per cent of all stories looked at gender equality last year, researchers found.

It comes after a recent report by the foundation found women’s voices have been “worryingly marginalised” in coverage of the Covid-19 emergency. Researchers partially attributed this to the fact the crisis is being reported in terms which are evocative of war and conflict, which has bolstered stereotypes that men are better in crises.

The study said women have been “locked out” of decision making and policy formulation in five of the six nations.

A separate recently published report from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London found women’s voices and expertise have been marginalised and disregarded in press coverage of the coronavirus emergency. 

The study found just a third of people quoted in articles about the public health crisis were women.