7th October, 2015
Women are "virtually invisible" in news reporting on peace and security issues in nations experiencing conflict, new research has found.
Presented at a conference in Norway this week, the research shows that women only make up 13 per cent of people interviewed or spoken about in news stories relevant to peace and security published in some 15 countries impacted by conflict.
The research, which covered 876 stories relevant to peace and security published in 83 major newspapers in 15 countries over a three-day period in April 2015, also shows that only 39 per cent of the women mentioned are directly quoted, compared to 60 per cent of men.
Sarah Macharia, program manager for gender and communication for the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) – a global network that promotes communication rights for social justice and sustainable development, was the study’s coordinator.
She said the results show reporting “falls considerably short on the measures of respect for the right to freedom of expression for all, particularly women, as well as the professional and ethical obligation of news organisations and journalists towards their publics".
The researchers say that factors identified as contributing to the imbalance included inherent gender inequalities in society, the control of media output by those with money and power, and lack of training and support to understand and overcome how journalists’ personal values and interests constrain their reporting.
– DAVID ADAMS
