Questioning the idea of essential differences between men and women can increase our understanding of the impact of gender differences in the newsroom. Romy Fröhlich argues that the lack of women working in the media is a serious problem for democratic media worldwide. In fact, Fröhlich believes that while female journalists around the world made some inroads during the 1980s, their position in the media deteriorated since the mid-1990s. Yet, even when female reporters enter newsrooms, the content of news does not necessarily become more gender sensitive. On the other hand, male reporters are also able to report news from a gender sensitive perspective.
The idea that male and female journalists bring something different to the reporting table seems to intuitively make sense to many of its advocates. For example, some editors believe that women journalists are seen as being more comfortable reaching out to audiences and trying new styles of journalism, such as public journalism. Female reporters “drew upon a greater diversity of sources, stereotyped less, and wrote more positive stories than did male reporters.”
Yet, several scholars and professionals insist that women do not have different news values than their male counterparts. In a study of British journalists, it is stated that “women journalists had become so completely assimilated into the journalistic workforce that they need no longer be regarded as a separate group---save for the factor delicately referred to by one authority as the ‘gendered restraints of reproductive responsibilities’”
The reason for this apparent lack of influence on the individual level has to be situated in higher levels of analysis. Indeed, workplace routines and norms force reporters to conform to dominant values. Unfortunately, a “macho” newsroom culture seems to be quite stable across countries. One can see here the limitations of simply increasing the number of female journalists in the newsroom without fundamentally challenging the way news works. Any improvements in women’s treatment in the news will require not simply more coverage of women or more women journalists, but a fundamental change in news as a narrative genre.
Questioning the idea of essential differences between men and women can increase our understanding of the impact of gender differences in the newsroom. Romy Fröhlich argues that the lack of women working in the media is a serious problem for democratic media worldwide. In fact, Fröhlich believes that while female journalists around the world made some inroads during the 1980s, their position in the media deteriorated since the mid-1990s. Yet, even when female reporters enter newsrooms, the content of news does not necessarily become more gender sensitive. On the other hand, male reporters are also able to report news from a gender sensitive perspective. The idea that male and female journalists bring something different to the reporting table seems to intuitively make sense to many of its advocates. For example, some editors believe that women journalists are seen as being more comfortable reaching out to audiences and trying new styles of journalism, such as public journalism. Female reporters “drew upon a greater diversity of sources, stereotyped less, and wrote more positive stories than did male reporters.” Yet, several scholars and professionals insist that women do not have different news values than their male counterparts. In a study of British journalists, it is stated that “women journalists had become so completely assimilated into the journalistic workforce that they need no longer be regarded as a separate group---save for the factor delicately referred to by one authority as the ‘gendered restraints of reproductive responsibilities’” The reason for this apparent lack of influence on the individual level has to be situated in higher levels of analysis. Indeed, workplace routines and norms force reporters to conform to dominant values. Unfortunately, a “macho” newsroom culture seems to be quite stable across countries. One can see here the limitations of simply increasing the number of female journalists in the newsroom without fundamentally challenging the way news works. Any improvements in women’s treatment in the news will require not simply more coverage of women or more women journalists, but a fundamental change in news as a narrative genre.
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