Media bias

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...

Nowhere to be “scene,” women protagonists have less than one-third of all speaking roles in film and are largely absent from powerful positions, according to a United Nations-backed survey released recently. The study argues for the involvement of more female filmmakers in the industry, and for greater sensitivity to gender imbalance on screen. “The first-ever global study of female...

The global media has turned a blind eye to the issue of human trafficking, focusing on conflict around the globe instead. It is estimated that some 2,5 million people are victims of trafficking each year but the issues are not covered in great depth by the world’s media. Incidentally, last week marked world human trafficking awareness week. The United Nations, which is at the forefront of the...

In the complex media landscape of Pakistan, ethnicity has emerged as a key indicator in predicting media credibility. Researchers have concluded that in a scenario where ethnic composition is critical to national politics, minority ethnic groups tend to find domestic television to be less credible, and international television or traditional media to be more credible, than do members of the...

The US media is failing to question presidential candidates on their denial of climate change. Quite miserably. Seven major newspapers and wire services surveyed by not-for-profit research organisation Media Matters have failed to indicate that candidates' statements conflict with the scientific consensus on the issue in approximately 43 per cent of their coverage. In case of broadcast and cable...

When it comes to media coverage, the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada has already been a major milestone for women’s sport. According to official figures from FIFA, TV records have been broken in each round so far. With a total expected TV audience of more than 1bn viewers worldwide, the tournament is set to more than double the 400m viewers who tuned in to the previous Women’s World Cup in...