The topic of gender inequality and bias is one that affects all professions in the working world, and Journalism is not an exception. It may not be obvious for persons who are not directly affected by this, so gender bias can easily be overlooked, though, many journalists face this challenge on countless occasions. Gender bias, and sexual harassment, though affecting both males and females in the career, mostly target women and has lead to various repercussions and consequences. According to a 2018 episode on Al Jazeera’s social media community, The Stream, for some female journalists, the job comes with the threat of gender-based violence, harassment and abusive language online. This does not only occur online but also out there in the real world.
It is known across the globe that the work of a journalist is dangerous as he or she has to work in precarious environments and in life-threatening cases. This is intensified for females as they are faced with this challenge from both in and outside of the workplace. Sarah Stillman, a staff writer for the New York Times said in a YouTube vlog entitled Let's Talk: Personal Boundaries, Safety & Women in Journalism by DartCenter, that bosses may make the female journalist feel like she has to use her “feminine charms” in order get certain information from a source even if the journalist is not comfortable with doing so. There are many examples in this particular vlog post that scream gender bias in the field of journalism, but more specifically to sexual harassment towards female journalists. Journalist Judith Matloff explained that one of her previous bosses used to make comments on her body and ask about who she was sleeping with. This is something that a great number of ladies face on a regular basis in the workplace and it does not seem to stop when they step out of the office. In fact, it seems to have escalated even more.
In many instances, female journalists are preyed upon by persons who are important sources to the journalist’s story. In the same vlog, a featured journalist, Marcela Gaviria related her experience with a male source that kept harassing her. “He started sort of writing me love letters, and calling me at odd hours and I needed to maintain this relationship with him because he was sort of central to the story I was working on.” While this may not be the same for every female journalist, at least at one point in their career they are faced with something similar. Investigative Journalist, May Jeong said that this topic was something that was spoken about in discussions involving strategies to deal with such situations, but it was the murder of a fellow female reporter that made them realize exactly how deadly it is for female journalists.
Sexual harassment, though a major problem for women in this field, is not the only thing that affects females and speaks directly to gender bias. Leadership roles and positions of power in the field is also imbalanced when comparing the number of male titles versus female titles. A study that was done by BBC Future entitled “How we’re Tackling Gender Imbalance”, sought to balance the scale and level the playing field for both genders. It states that while the media didn’t invent gender bias, it has a key role in sustaining it. An editor of TheAtlantic.com, Adrienne LaFrance says in the study, “Both in newsrooms and in news articles, men are leaders – they make more money, get more bylines, spend more time on-camera, and are quoted far more often than women – by a ratio of about 3:1.” Adding to this, New York Times David Leonhardt said recently that journalists are allowing sexism to help dictate their sources by pretending to ignore gender.
A 2013 article in The Conversation entitled “Hard evidence: is there still a gender bias in journalism?” shows a survey done using some UK newspapers which depict that more males get their names in the bylines than females in a ratio of 78:22. This research was conducted in 2012 and is a gender analysis of bylines in UK newspapers. According to the article, women are mostly advised to seek softer feature stories and discouraged from harder news stories. The research also states that only twenty-three per cent of women journalists are present in the parliamentary lobby and there is only one female political journalist listed in periodicals and magazines. Though this was done years ago, not much has really changed about the situation.
Along with this is the preconception of what female journalists can and cannot do in their careers. Featured professionals in Al Jazeera’s The Stream say that persons believe that operating a camera was a “man’s job” and that there are particular places that female journalists cannot attend. It is believed or perceived that depending on a certain nature of a story a female writer cannot write or cover it. Al Jazeera’s senior correspondent Hoda Abdel-Hamid said she was told more than once that she should not go to a certain place because it was not a place for women, which pushed her to prove herself. She was also told that because she was a woman, people will not listen to what she says but pays attention to how she looks instead.
In light of all these challenges for women in journalism, many international bodies and media entities have put in place systems and measures to help prevent harassment against female practitioners. According to an article from the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) entitled “GIJN Guide: Resources for Women Journalists,” some sources established to help address gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace are A Toolkit, developed by Women News in Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes awareness posters, sample policies, and practical guides. The International Federation of Journalists in partnership with the International Labour Organisation campaigns to stop violence against women in journalism. The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in the United States connects legal attornies and media specialists with women who have been affected by sexual harassment. Press Foward in Washington DC has a step by step guide for female journalists who have been in this situation. Several other media houses and organizations are working on preventing and helping the females who had to undergo such experiences at some point in their careers.
The organizations know how to tackle sexual harassment, but do they have a plan to deal with gender bias? How does one even go about changing the perception of the society about what a female journalist is allowed to do or what she can and cannot do where and when?
Writer: Katrich Walker
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