Spring Break
Community forum: sexism in media
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Forum
When crimes are committed against men, they are frequently portrayed as survivors ("Man recovers from attack"). Women, however, are frequently portrayed as victims ("Woman hospitalized after attack").
With the second common occurrence - assigning different newsworthiness to gender-specific stories - journalists create irrational differences between special and general interest news.
When covering workplace and school shootings - crimes largely committed by middle class white males - the stories are presented as the problem of a whole society. News centering on women, however, is typically presented as only a woman's issue ("Women paying more for birth control").
With the third common occurrence - photos and/or quotes that fit gender stereotypes - journalists only receive part of the story.
When crime, war or conflict occur, men are typically used in news coverage to report facts and figures. In these same stories, women are frequently relied on for sensational, emotional reactions.
With the fourth common occurrence - different men's and women's sports coverage - journalists glorify ideals that harm each gender.
In coverage of men's sports, the traditional themes are of speed, strength and attitude. For women's sports, journalists' praise seek different values - beauty, endurance and balance.
In biographical personal profiles, male athletes are frequently photographed in uniform, portrayed as stoic and powerful. Women are typically in dressy attire, often with a partner, their children or pets at their side.
With each of these four cases, the forum clearly saw the differences between the ways males and females are portrayed in the media. When it comes to solutions for sexism, however, the forum was less conclusive; while public awareness of the problem creates opportunity from change, the media profession itself must act to change.
Complicating the solution, the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics is voluntary. SPJ "encourage(s) fellow journalists and the public to hold news reports and commentary up to ethical scrutiny."
With the second common occurrence - assigning different newsworthiness to gender-specific stories - journalists create irrational differences between special and general interest news.
When covering workplace and school shootings - crimes largely committed by middle class white males - the stories are presented as the problem of a whole society. News centering on women, however, is typically presented as only a woman's issue ("Women paying more for birth control").
With the third common occurrence - photos and/or quotes that fit gender stereotypes - journalists only receive part of the story.
When crime, war or conflict occur, men are typically used in news coverage to report facts and figures. In these same stories, women are frequently relied on for sensational, emotional reactions.
With the fourth common occurrence - different men's and women's sports coverage - journalists glorify ideals that harm each gender.
In coverage of men's sports, the traditional themes are of speed, strength and attitude. For women's sports, journalists' praise seek different values - beauty, endurance and balance.
In biographical personal profiles, male athletes are frequently photographed in uniform, portrayed as stoic and powerful. Women are typically in dressy attire, often with a partner, their children or pets at their side.
With each of these four cases, the forum clearly saw the differences between the ways males and females are portrayed in the media. When it comes to solutions for sexism, however, the forum was less conclusive; while public awareness of the problem creates opportunity from change, the media profession itself must act to change.
Complicating the solution, the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics is voluntary. SPJ "encourage(s) fellow journalists and the public to hold news reports and commentary up to ethical scrutiny."
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