Women are severely underrepresented on international TV news and are frequently framed as victims as opposed to political leaders, business people, and other high-achieving public figures, according to new research from Media Tenor International.
“Not only do women represent only 11 out of the 100 most visible people on international TV news,” says Racheline Maltese, a researcher at Media Tenor, “these women only get 3 per cent of the news coverage, highlighting the gender imbalance on TV.”
Media Tenor also found that women as a group were visible on international TV news with less frequency than athletes, soldiers, and criminals, groups the media often frame as male. Additionally, the research highlights that women are often only visible on TV news in regard to “women’s issues” or when a target of discrimination or sexual violence. Women are rarely visible on more general topics.
This research examined all 110,245 reports on individuals and all 498,655 reports on groups of people on international TV news from September 1, 2013 – August 31, 2014.
For over 20 years Media Tenor’s mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse and newsworthy media content by bringing together the diverse parties. Media Tenor’s global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences.
Over a 12-month period, only 11 of the 100 most visible protagonists on international TV news were women. These women include German leader Angela Merkel, potential US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, and shooting victim ReevaSteenkamp.
