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Join TSPR for a weekly conversation about media issues. News Director Rich Egger and expert panelists discuss what’s in the news about the news business.

Gender Equality Elusive in the Media

The Women's Media Center issued a report, The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2015.   As Time Magazine noted, it paints a pretty bleak picture. Time's article is headlined, Eight Sad Truths About Women in Media.

The WMC study found political stories are mostly reported by men, opinion pieces are mostly written by men, and fewer women are in positions of power on-screen and behind the scenes.

Shop Talk panelist Jasmine Crighton is not surprised.  She worked for just one female general manager during her ten years in the world of television news.  She also said few women worked in technical positions, but females were pretty well represented in production jobs.

Crighton also pointed out women have enjoyed the right to vote for less than 100 years so she feels there’s still a long way to go to achieve gender equality.

Rich Egger said positions of power have long been dominated by white males and continue to be dominated by white males, which is probably a factor in the low numbers of women in such jobs.  He also said strides were being made to bring more women into the world of journalism but those seem to have lost steam.

Rich Moreno feels those efforts largely stalled out for economic reasons. He pointed out staff cutbacks in the media make it a less appealing professional field to enter.    

Moreno believes women generally account for 50% or more of the students in journalism programs across the country.  He’s not sure why more of them are not ending up in journalism jobs and advancing to influential positions.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.