Editing them out
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COMMENTS 
A major new study shows how the media have failed to give an equal voice to women
Freedom of expression has taken centrestage in the ongoing 'clash of civilisations' debate sparked off by the contentious cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. But, as usual, it's being discussed largely in narrow, limited terms. Both sides of the dispute should, perhaps, ponder a question raised by Justice Athalia Molokkome of Botswana at a gender and media summit in Johannesburg in 2004: "What, in the end, could be more central to free speech than that every segment of society should have a voice?"
A major new international study raises serious questions about the meaning of freedom and expression in general, and freedom of the press in particular; when women, who constitute over half the world's population, make up less than a quarter of the people featured in the news. If the news media hold up a mirror to the world, it is obviously one of those that distort reality, exaggerating the importance of certain individuals and groups, while relegating others to the margins of public consciousness.
According to 'Who Makes The News?', a comprehensive report of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2005 "When it comes to reflecting women, women's viewpoints and women's perspectives, on the world, this mirror has a very large and enduring black spot."
The GMMP 2005 is the third in a series of surveys conducted every five years from 1995, and the most extensive international research into gender in news media to date, covering newspapers, television and radio in 76 countries including India. The contents of the latest reports, which presents the global findings, are not exactly cheering. Women continue to be markedly under-represented in the news, comprising only 21% of all news subjects in the nearly 13,000 news stories scrutinised by volunteers across the world on February 16, 2005. There has been only marginal improvement in the number of women seen and heard in the news over the past decade; the corresponding figures revealed by the earlier exercises were 17 % in 1995 and 18 % in 2000.
The dismal total hides even more disheartening facts. When women do make the news, it is primarily as 'stars' (celebrities, royalty etc.) or as 'ordinary people'. Female newsmakers outnumber males only in two occupational categories: homemaker and student. They are underrepresented even in professional categories where they do have a substantial presence - for example, in Rwanda, which has the highest population of female politicians in the world (49 %), only 13 % of politicians in the news are women.
Expert opinion in the news is still overwhelmingly male, with men making up 83 %of all experts and 86 % of all spokespersons quoted in stories. If women do appear at all, it is generally in their personal capacity, narrating personal experiences or voicing personal opinion. Women's points of view are rarely heard on topics that dominate the news agenda, such as politics or economics. Surprisingly, even in stories that affect women directly and profoundly, such as gender based violence, it is the male voice that tends to prevail.
Female news subjects are over three times as likely as males to be identified in terms of their family status, even when they are experts or spokespersons. Women are also more than twice as likely as men to be portrayed as victims. Even among women, certain categories - such as older women - are more invisible than others: nearly three-quarters of female subjects are under 50. Yet women are much more likely than men to appear in photographs, especially in stories relating to crime, violence or disaster.
Just 10 % of all stories focus specifically on women, except in North America where women are central to the news in 20 % of the stories - which still amounts to only one in five. Women are rarely central to stories relating to politics (8 %) and economics (3 %), the most high volume areas of the news agenda. Even in topics where the percentage of female news subjects is relatively high, such as education, health, childcare and consumer issues, women seldom feature centrally. As the GMMP 2005 report puts it, "With so few women central to the news - particularly in stories that dominate the news agenda - news content reflects male priorities and perspectives. The absence of a gender angle in stories in the 'hard' news topics reflects a blinkered approach to the definition of news and newsworthiness."
To make matters worse, news stories are twice as likely to reinforce as to challenge gender stereotypes, although the percentage of stories in both categories is quite low (6% and 3 % respectively). News relating to gender disparity is almost non-existent, with only 4 % of stories highlighting equality-related issues, and most of these concentrated in subject areas like human rights, family relations and women's activism, which are considered marginal in the overall news agenda. Stories examining events and issues from a gender equality angle are almost completely absent from major areas of news coverage, such as politics (3 %) and economics (a mere 1 %).
Although the data gathered in India has not yet been analysed to provide a similar snapshot of gender in the news media here, preliminary figures more or less reflect the global trend - for example the ration of female to male news subjects is apparently the same (21:79). Interestingly a large proportion of women appear to be portrayed as victims in the Indian media - 28 %, compared to 19 % globally.
Why is any of this important? Few would dispute the fact that the media constitute one of the most powerful forces in the world today, with a profound influence on the way people think, feel and act. In the present 24-hour news environment, with the news media in particular playing an ever more central role as the primary source of information, ideas and opinion for almost everyone everywhere, the question of who and what is selected for news coverage - or not - and how events and issues, individuals and groups are represented - or not - is ever more significant.
It is widely recognised that the news media, designated the Fourth Estate, form an essential pillar of democracy, entrusted with the role of a watchdog over the other three Estates and over society as a whole. It is often forgotten that this is what entitles it to special protections and privileges meant to help preserve its independence. And it is seldom acknowledged that freedom of the press is only one, albeit crucial, aspect of freedom of speech and expression, which is essentially a fundamental right to which all individuals from diverse sections of society are entitled. Giving equal voice and airtime to women (and other underrepresented groups) and reflecting their multiple roles and contributions is intrinsic to this freedom.
As South African gender and media activist Colleen Lowe Morna often says, "When every voice counts we can stop counting the voices."
This article originally appeared in the Hindustan Times issue dated February 16, 2006.