From Bylines to Headlines: Exploring Gender Bias in the News

Abstract

The comparative lack of women in newsrooms and in news coverage is a global problem, typically rooted in countries’ masculinized norms that permeate society writ large, from kitchen tables to newsrooms to halls of power. Journalistic coverage often reinforces this gendered hierarchy. The nine articles in this themed collection examine this power dynamic across seven nations, chronicling the low representation of women in newsrooms and news coverage, and identifying the persistent challenges women journalists face. Many of the articles call for action at the root level of the problem: a change in society and culture.