Women still under-represented in news media coverage

A new survey has suggested that women are still significantly under-represented and misrepresented in news media coverage.

The research of 108 countries by the Global Media Monitoring Project, showed that about 76% of the people heard or read about were male, and that they form the major part of the news, the Daily Times reported.

The project monitored 1,3656 newspapers, television and radio stations and news websites, 17,795 news stories and 38,253 persons in the news in 108 countries with 82% of the world's people.

The report, released on September 29, said about 24% of people in the news were female, compared to 17% in 1995, and about 44% of persons providing popular opinion in news stories were female compared to 34% in 2005.

The news media show significant gender bias with 46% of news stories reinforcing gender stereotypes. About 13% of the news stories focus centrally on women.

According to the report, female reporters were responsible for 37% of the stories compared to 28% 15 years ago, and their stories challenge gender stereotypes twice as often as stories by male reporters.

In Pakistan, the Uks Research, Resource and Publication Centre on Women and Media coordinated the research.