Discussion
Mahatma Gandhi, who is known as the father of India once said “Women is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity”. Gender discrimination is still deeply ingrained in today’s society. This stereotype has been passed from the previous generation. Before 1920 men were considered powerful and mighty and have more rights than women (Hunter 126). The social stigma and the beliefs are what create gender discrimination in today’s society. In this thesis, the mistreatment of female journalists will be discussed in detail. Thesis statement: “The media distorts reality and facts by developing and reinforcing gender stereotypes that represent women as sex objects, victims, and society’s wards. This is especially true of important female figures”
The professional of journalism dated back to the 14th century, however, after the increasing political affairs in the 18th century this professional became well-known (Mabrook and Singer 2 ). More men became associated with these jobs as women were not eligible for interviews and neither have the right to the interview. In the modern times, more females are becoming associated with this profession making this profession free from gender bias. The perception of people about a woman becoming a journalist is changing because of some strong and influential journalists such as Veronica Guerin, Samantha Bee, Christina Freeland and Jane Jacobs (Calleja 1). The people are becoming aware that a woman can hold a similar position as a man in the society. However, despite of the effort of these wonderful women promoting equal rights, still, female journalists face tremendous sexual violence and as well face risks of sexism (Adams 1). This violence is considered dangerous in more than 40 countries. In the United States and Canada, the percentage of women which is 36.9% in the newspaper jobs is approximately 50% less than that of men which is 63.1% (Pew Research Center 1). Similar trends were observed in the Supervision position in the newsroom where the women hold 33.8% of the jobs and the men holds 66.2% of the job (Pew Research Center 1). The women who are working in the field of journalism can also face “sexism” which can be insults, harassment based on gender, verbal abuse, unwanted touching and rape. This field of work is also classified as a “danger zones” for women. The reporter who is covering the field of women’s rights, sports and political affairs mostly be at high risk of an increased emotional trauma. One of the female reporters said in an interview that “I have received death threats which are not only subjected to me but also directed to my family members”. The women also face online harassment which requires assistance from the legal and technological media for reducing the damage to their identity and reputation. Women journalists are also subjected to misogynistic comments and racial attacks however the online platforms gave women the right to speak their minds and fight against the stereotypes of the society (Ferrier and Garud-Patkar 1).
One of the major reasons the female journalists face this issue is because the male chauvinism and the patriarchal society, the females are subjected to harassment and also face prejudices (Rao and Rodny-Gumede 58). The increased dominance of the male in certain professions makes them believe they can do anything they want with their female co-workers which leads to their desire to grow insatiably making the female co-workers prone to harassment. Most women who face discrimination in the workplace do not report the crime due to the threats and abuse. One of notable case related to sexual assault in the workplace is the trial of Jian Ghomeshi (Coulling and Johnston 1). Ghomeshi who was a news host working on the CBC radio, face four sexual assault allegations. In one of the assault cases, the victim was choked to death. In the other three cases, he was not pleaded guilty as there was no proper evidence pointed against him. After this case came into the picture, he was dismissed from the CBC radio. As while the trial was on run in video footage it was clearly portrayed Ghomeshi was causing physical injury to a woman. Later in the case, it was revealed that one of the victims was a female journalist named Kathryn Borel who was sexually assaulted by Jian Ghomeshi without her consent (Richard 73).
Problems Faced by Female Journalists
In the year of 2017, many prominent female journalists across the globe came forward with a #MeToo movement for reporting sexual harassment in their workplace (Hillstrom 1). Women are never portrayed as role models as in the patriarchal society they are considered frail and not as strong as men. The opinions and stands never matched with the men of the society. The media is a focal point of how women are perceived in society. The documentary film known as the “Miss representation” released in the year of 2011 by Jennifer Siebel Newsom described about the representation of women’s disempowerment (Hadi and Saputri 1). In the film, it was described that women nowadays are portrayed as the main characters on the television mainly in the movie and on the news however this was not a notion in the past. The visibility of women in the media increased in the span of 12 years. Women now have achieved equality, in contrast, this is achieved due to the battles between the strong journalists and women. As before the women had only seventeen per cent of the elected officials in Congress and the only seven per cent were working as directors of the featured movie (French 1). In the movie, the obstacles and the struggles faced by the stereotype of the society and working in the media is highlighted with the help of interview with popular political figures such as Nancy Pelosi and Condeleeza Rice. The movie explores the boundaries that many women associated with the industry struggle to break and the double standards which are applied to women in terms of personality and appearance.
In the article ‘It’s a silent epidemic’: Mental health in newsrooms needs more attention” describes that most women associated with this profession face mental health issues with symptoms such as nightmares, anxiety, insomnia and even post-traumatic stress disorder (Davies 1). This is making the profession more heinous for women. For safeguarding the women, it is necessary the implement rules and regulations in the workplace and as well making sure that their voices are heard properly. The safety of the women journalists needs to be minutely checked and allow them to raise their voices for the betterment of the profession,
According to Robert frisk “It’s a journalist’s job to be a witness to history. We’re not there to worry about ourselves. We’re there to try and get as near as we can, in an imperfect world, to the truth and get the truth out.”
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that Gender discrimination is still deeply ingrained in today’s society. This stereotype has been passed from the previous generation. In the modern times, more females are becoming associated with this profession making this profession free from gender bias. Women are never portrayed as role models as in the patriarchal society they are considered frail and not as strong as men. The perception of people about a woman becoming a journalist is changing because of some strong and influential journalists such as Veronica Guerin, Samantha Bee, Christina Freeland and Jane Jacobs. However, despite of the effort of these wonderful women promoting equal rights, still, female journalists face tremendous sexual violence and as well face risks of sexism. The women also face online harassment which requires assistance from the legal and technological media for reducing the damage to their identity and reputation.
Adams, Catherine. ““They Go for Gender First” The nature and effect of sexist abuse of female technology journalists.” Journalism Practice 12.7 (2018): 850-869. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1350115
Calleja, Thomas. “The assassinations of investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Veronica Guerin and the male-to-female birth ratio.” Early Human Development 141 (2020): 104950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104950
Coulling, Ryan, and Matthew S. Johnston. “The criminal justice system on trial: Shaming, outrage, and gendered tensions in public responses to the Jian Ghomeshi verdict.” Crime, Media, Culture 14.2 (2018): 311-331. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1741659017715059
Davies, Jessica. “‘It’S A Silent Epidemic’: Mental Health In Newsrooms Needs More Attention | Worklife.” WorkLife. N.p., 2022. Web. 20 Apr. 2022.
Ferrier, Michelle, and Nisha Garud-Patkar. “TrollBusters: Fighting online harassment of women journalists.” Mediating misogyny. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 311-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2017.1350115
French, Lisa. “Women documentary filmmakers as transnational “advocate change agents”.” Inter disciplina 7.17 (2019): 15-29. https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S2448-57052019000100003&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en
Hadi, Irfan, and Nia Liska Saputri. “Representation of Social Criticism in the Documentary Film Netflix: Miss Americana.” International Journal of Education, Information Technology, and Others 3.3 (2020): 567-573. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4314354
Hillstrom, Laurie Collier. The# metoo movement. ABC-CLIO, 2018.
Hunter, Nan D. “In Search of Equality for Women: From Suffrage to Civil Rights.” Duq. L. Rev. 59 (2021): 125. https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3408&context=facpub
Mabrook, Radwa, and Jane B. Singer. “Virtual reality, 360 video, and journalism studies: conceptual approaches to immersive technologies.” Journalism studies 20.14 (2019): 2096-2112. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1568203
Pew Research Center. “Problems Faced By Female Journalists.” Pew Research Center. N.p., 2022. Web. 20 Apr. 2022.
Rao, Shakuntala, and Ylva Rodny-Gumede. “Gazing past the glass ceiling: Indian and South African female journalists’ perceptions of their role and power in the newsroom.” Global Media and Communication 16.1 (2020): 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1742766519899116
Richard, Vickie. “Expressions of Belief in the Jian Ghomeshi Case.” (2019). https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5ab4656a-9ad6-4de7-9de645a5d5f8b6d4/view/6307335a-8221-454c-bcbf cc3169bac8c0/Richard_Vickie_201810_MA.pdf
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