Helping ensure that GMMP 2009/10 is the most successful GMMP to date!

William Bird

Media Monitoring and gender!!

The joy!

The power!

The how-to!

The idea for GMMP or for one-day study of the representation of women and men in the world’s news media

conceived at ‘Women Empowering Communication’ in Bangkok in 1994

A little history

Chad

USA

Sweden

Fiji

Netherlands

Cuba

GMMP 2005

Scope of GMMP 2005

• 76 countries

• 12,893 news stories on TV, radio and print

• 25,671 news sources

• 14,273 news personnel

• Total of 39,944 people in the news

Women are dramatically under-represented in the news. Only 21% of news subjects are female. This is an increase from 1995 - 17% women.

Results: Representation

Women's points of view are rarely heard in the topics that dominate the news agenda. In stories on politics and government only 14% are women; in economics and business, 20%. Even in stories on gender-based violence, male voices, dominate (64%) .

When women do make the news it is primarily as 'stars' (celebrities, royalty) or as 'ordinary' people. Women make the news as celebrities (42%), royalty (33%) or as 'ordinary people'. Female newsmakers outnumber males in only two occupational categories - homemaker (75%) and student (51%).

As authorities and experts women barely feature in news stories. Expert opinion overwhelmingly male. Men - 83% experts, and 86% of spokespersons.

Women are much more likely (23%) than men (16%) to appear in photographs.

For women, age has a crucial bearing on whether they appear in the news. Men make news well into their 50s and 60s: 49% of all male news subjects are aged 50 or over. But older women are almost invisible: 72% of female news subjects are under 50. Similar findings for presenters.

Female reporters dominate in only two topics - weather reports on television and radio (52%) and stories on poverty, housing and welfare (51%).

Results: News Delivery

Overall, male journalists report at the so-called 'hard' or 'serious' end of the news spectrum such as politics and government (where women report only 32% of stories

There are more female news subjects in stories reported by female journalists (25%) than in stories reported by male journalists (20%).

Very little news - just 10% of all stories focuses specifically on women.

News stories are twice as likely to reinforce (6%) as to challenge (3%) gender stereotypes.

News on gender (in)equality is almost non-existent. Only 4% of stories highlight equality issues, and these tend to be human rights, family relations, or women's activism

Results: News Content