BEIJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) — Men still play the dominate role in China’s media industry, and most news stories disregard or reveal insensitive attitude towards gender problems, according to a survey released by China’s Women Reporter Association Saturday.
Among China’s broadcasters, 69 percent are female, and among journalists, 54 percent are female. However, about 81 percent news stories are telling stories about men, and only 19 percent are about women.
In China’s media industry, no matter broadcasters or reporters, women employees always take the larger ratio than men, the survey said, and their reports have penetrated various fields, including economic, crime, science and technology, society, law, celebrities, sports and artist, but in the power areas such as politics and government, they are usually subject to their male counterparts, said the survey.
Male images dominate the screen, especially in interview programs, it said. Experts, spokesmen are usually male. And in most news stories, gender equality contents are not highlighted, according to the survey.
China Women Reporter Association conducted the survey on February 16, 2005, by collecting 438 sample news stories in 25 mainstream medias including China Central Television.
A separate survey conducted by the China Journalists Association and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that though China’s women employees take one third of the total reporters, only 10 percent of women reporters managed to take high ranking positions, while the ratio to male is 20 percent.
