Where are the Women in Journalism?

In this economy, journalism has been one of the hardest hit industries, and women were at a disadvantage even before the double whammy of the Great Recession and the technology revolution.

Despite the fact that women account for the majority of journalism majors at schools across the country, many don’t make it into mainstream media – whether it’s broadcast, radio or print, due to discrimination and lack of opportunities.

Of the top 15 media corporations, all CEOs are male and only 17 percent of board members are women, according to a recent White House Project Benchmark Study.

But the disconnect not only occurs at the corporate level – it occurs on TV everyday. So far this year, the majority of guest appearances on all five major Sunday news shows have been men – 128 men vs. 20 women.

TV isn’t the only media that fails to showcase women. From Newsweek’s 1970s gender discrimination lawsuit and small percentage of cover stories written by women to The Washington Post’s 2008 internal Post newsroom study found women had been the focus of just 18 percent of their stories – and that “men are quoted almost three times as often as women in the paper.”

A recent report found that women make up only 24 percent of those “interviewed, heard, seen or read about in mainstream broadcast and print news.”

PINK Profile: Here’s how Soledad O’Brien found the courage to overcome these
obstacles – and ask for change.

By Muriel Vega

“Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it.” Diane Sawyer