Time to correct imbalance of genders in news media
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2012
LISTENING TO any of the Republic's major current affairs radio programmes, one could be forgiven for thinking that women, by and large, are not interested in the news or have nothing interesting to say on the serious topics of our turbulent political times - nothing, at least, that cannot be said better by a man.
Male voices dominate the airwaves, be it as presenters or commentators, a fact many of us suspected but didn't have proof of until now. The National Women's Council recently published its submission to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. It set out its recommendations in a consultation document for the "draft code on fairness, impartiality and accountability in news and current affairs".
This contained research showing that women's voices accounted for fewer than a quarter of all panellists, presenters and newsreaders in current affairs radio shows aired by the main stations of the State.
The phenomenon of the extensive exclusion of women in the media is not limited, though, to the airwaves. Print media and television programmes regularly reinforce the impression that women are, or should, be non- contributors and that the hard business of politics and current affairs is better left to our male counterparts.