In many countries, the majority of high profile journalists and editors remain male. Although there have been considerable changes in the prospects for women working in the media in the past few decades, women are still noticeably in the minority in the top journalistic roles, despite making up the majority of journalism students.
Suzanne Franks looks at the key issues surrounding female journalists – from onscreen sexism and ageism to the dangers facing female foreign correspondents reporting from war zones. She also analyses the way that the changing digital media have presented both challenges and opportunities for women working in journalism and considers this in an international perspective.
Her recent report for the Reuters Institute of Journalism (Oxford University) ‘Women and Journalism’ examines why women in many countries are not fulfilling their promise in the media and in newsrooms.
Recommended Reading
Recent book on the subject:
“Women and Journalism” / Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (distributed in the USA by Palgrave Macmillan)
Guest blogs:
Women in Journalism | “What ways are women held back?”
BBC Academy | “Online abuse is a danger for many female journalists”
Suzanne Franks is Professor of Journalism at City University London. She was formerly Director of Research at the Centre for Journalism, University of Kent and a news and current affairs producer for the BBC, working on Newsnight, the Money Programme, and Panorama. Her publications include Reporting Disasters – Famine, Aid, Politics and the Media and Having None of It: Women, Men and the Future of Work.
Five-minute video, “Meet Suzanne Franks”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fry2TCmdpVo