Swedish media report improved gender balance in news
It looks as it will take time until there is a global gender balance in news reports. The last five years, there has practically been no development. However, Sweden has taken a step forward and after many years with approximately 30% of women in the news it was 2020 up to 38% while the global average is around 25%.
The numbers are from the report Count on Women 2020 and the Swedish contribution to the Global Media Monitoring Project first introduced in 1995 prior to the UN women conference in Being.
The Swedish increase is mainly attributed to better balance in newspapers. The report shows that the majority of news presenters are women while there is a slight majority for men as news reporters.
USING TOOLS
At that time, 17% of persons in the news were women and this has grown to 25% in 2020. The Swedish report is made by media institute Fojo and the Gothenburg university.
An explanation to the Swedish increase is that several news rooms have systematized their gender and diversity work. Many of them use digital tools to check the visibility balance between men and women, the report says.
MORE WOMEN ONLINE
It is good to see that news rooms are creating routines but the news are still not gender balanced, neither in Sweden nor globally, said Maria Edstrom, department for journalism, media and communication at Gothenburg university.
- In Sweden it is mainly newspapers that have contributed to increasing the number of women in the news to 38%
- Online news also include more women than earlier – 34%
- The number of women experts in the news continues to be low _ 21%
- 77% of news presenters are women
- 54% of news reporters are men
- In news about the pandemic there is a slight women majority
- All Nordic countries have a clear increase of women in the news reports
MEN DOMINATING ALL CATEGORIES
Men dominate in all news categories measured in the Swedish study
- Crime reports 76% are men
- Social and legal issues 70% are men
- Politics 66% are men
- Science and health 56% are men
- Economy 53% are men
- Celebrities, culture, sports 51%
If it is encouraging that the only category with a reasonable gender balance is celebrities can be worth thinking about.
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.
