By S, KNA
Despite making up half of the global population, women appear and are only heard in about 26 per cent of all broadcast, radio or print clips.
This is according a recent edition of Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), by World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and supported by UN Women’s ACT to End Violence against Women Programme.
The findings also found that despite global governments pledging to pursue a transformative change for women through the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995 women remain almost invisible in global news.
This gap in representation is said to be critical for young women and girls who do not get a place in mainstream media outlets.
But equally shocking is Gender-based violence(GBV) which barely makes the news, despite affecting half the world’s population.
Fewer than 2 in every 100 stories that were written cover the abuse that far too many women experience during the 30 years of the study, according to a press release from UN Women dated September 4.
In addition, only 2 out of every 100 stories clearly challenge stereotypes, confirming that news media remains a sticky barrier to gender equality by reinforcing existing biases.
According to UN Women Deputy Director, Kirsi Madi, media coverage that zeroes on women rights, and gender stereotypes has over the years been at its lowest during three decades of GMMP monitoring eroding any efforts for any previously won progress.
As at 2024 women formed 49.72 percent of the total global population of 8.142 billion people according to World Bank records.
“Media reflects reality – and is essential for democracy and a fair and equal world for all women and girls. But when women are missing, democracy is incomplete. In today’s backlash against gender equality, these findings are both a wake-up call and a call to action. A radical rethink is needed so that the media can play its role in advancing equality. Without women’s voices, there is no full story, no fair democracy, no lasting security and no shared future,” noted Madi.
Be as it may there have been some positive strides in some areas as far as highlighting women issues on the media outlets is concerned.
For instance, since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995,41 per cent of reporters in traditional news articles are now women, an improvement of 28 per cent.
The rationale behind this shift has been attributed to the fact that female journalists would more likely tend to incorporate women subjects than their male counterparts.
This underscores the reason media houses should address parity in news room staffing as a panacea to an all gender inclusive reporting.
“The Global Media Monitoring Project is a global accountability tool,” said Sarah Macharia, GMMP Expert Group Convener.
“Thirty years of data reveal both the persistence of deep-rooted stereotypes and the need to radically change our strategies toward a more inclusive, representative journalism.”
Overall, according to the GMMP findings, the media sector is still dominated by the male voice with women often being sidelined as eyewitnesses giving personal accounts and not as subject matter experts.
As a result, the report is calling for an all-inclusive field where women play a central role in media five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal projections.
“Women and girls deserve to see themselves represented in the media and to have their stories told. The responsibility now lies with governments, editors, platforms and policymakers to make this equality real. We will not back down until women’s voices are heard in every newsroom and every story,” Madi pointed out.