What about gender equality in the media? : interviews with women experts.
Date: 2014-01-22
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: decision-making, female worker, gender equality, mass media, participation of women, position of women, workplace

that society — particularly in those areas which are most likely 
to be featured on news and current affairs — is unequal. In the 
United Kingdom, 78 % of the Cabinet and 79 % of members of 
parliament in general are male; 83 % of FTSE 100 directors are 
men  and  the  figure  is  even  higher  for  FTSE  chief  executives. 
The same imbalances are replicated in academia, journalism — 
particularly  print  —  where  only  5  %  of  newspaper  senior 
editors are women, the judiciary (only 14 % of senior judges are 
women)  and  across  most  political,  professional  and  business 
life including in the more senior levels of public office.

This  is  not  how  it  should  be  —  but  it  is  the  reality.  So  it  is 
probably unrealistic to expect an equal representation of male 
and female contributors in the short term, across genres such 
as  news  and  current  affairs  for  example.  As  well  as  recruiting 
and  growing  our  own  female  on-screen  talent,  the  BBC  (and 
wider industry) must work doubly hard to identify more female 
contributors  wherever  possible,  so  that  we  see  and  hear  a 
more balanced range of faces and voices. Half of our audience 
is female and intrinsic to our public purpose remit is the BBC’s 
commitment to reflect all society and to give a voice to those 
who are not always heard or seen as well as to the mainstream.

One initiative the BBC has recently put in place is a simple and 
practical  programme  (‘Expert  women  programme’)  which 
identifies  and  trains  expert  professional  women  to  appear  on 
screen/air  and  gives  them  exposure  to  programme  editors 

who are looking for new perspectives, voices and programme 
participants.  This  has  been  hugely  successful  in  terms  of 
diversifying  BBC  programming:  from  the  92  women  we  have 
trained  so  far,  31  have  made  97  appearances  and  several  are 
producing and writing their own series for radio whilst others 
are  in  detailed  discussions  with  TV  channel  controllers  and 
commissioners  regarding  series.  Moreover,  it  has  raised  the 
profile  —  in  wider  society  —  of  talented  women  who  are 
experts in a range of (often male-dominated) fields.

The BBC is working hard to tackle female representation both 
on-screen and at work, but we fully acknowledge that we have 
some way to go. However, this is by no means just a BBC, UK, or 
even European issue. It is a global issue. Recently at the Davos 
(World  Economic  Forum)  summit,  Christine  Lagarde  (Head  of 
the  IMF)  pointed  out  that:  ‘ensuring  that  women  are  able  to 
reach  the  highest  levels  of  leadership  and  responsibility  — 
and be seen at those levels as role models — is important for 
humanity and economics.’

The question of whether the media reflects society or society 
is influenced by the media becomes irrelevant; what matters is 
the perception — and actuality — that women are still under-
represented  and  that  needs  to  change.  I  believe  it  is  through 
supporting diversity at the top, careful monitoring and through 
taking  small  but  systematic  and  disciplined  steps  that  we  will 
change that.

EIGE’s report ‘Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by the 
EIGE’s report ‘Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organisations’ is 
available at: http://www.eige.europa.eu/content/women-and-media 
EU  Member  States:  Violence  against  Women/Victim  Support’  is  available  on  EIGE’s  
website at:  www.eige.europa.eu
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is the EU knowledge centre on gender 
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is the EU knowledge centre on gender 
equality. EIGE supports policymakers and all relevant institutions in their efforts to make 
equality between women and men a reality for all Europeans, by providing them with 
equality. EIGE supports policy makers and all relevant institutions in their efforts to make 
specific expertise and reliable information on gender equality in Europe.
equality between women and men a reality for all Europeans, by providing them with 
specific expertise and reliable information on gender equality in Europe.

facebook.com/eige.europa.eu
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 European Institute for Gender Equality
 European Institute for Gender Equality
 Gedimino p. 16 LT-01103 Vilnius, LITHUANIA
 Švitrigailos g. 11M, LT-03228 Vilnius, Lithuania
 E-mail: eige.sec@eige.europa.eu
 E-mail: eige.sec@eige.europa.eu

ISBN 978-92-9218-316-5
ISBN: 978-92-9218-316-5
doi:10.2839/17699
doi:10.2839/34996
MH-03-13-430-EN-C
MH-31-12-167-EN-C

What about gender equality in the media?
Interviews with women experts 

Interview with Maria Edström

Dr  Maria  Edström 
is  a  senior 
lecturer 
in  journalism  at  the 
University  of  Gothen-
burg,  Sweden,  and  a 
scientific  coordinator 
at  Nordicom,  a  Nor-
dic resource centre for 
media and communi-
cation research.

There have been encouraging signs in recent years with 
large  numbers  of  women  becoming  involved  in  media-
related  education  and  careers.  Why  is  it  important  to 
have more women in media organisations?
There  are  several  reasons:  one  of  them  is  the  business 
argument  that  the  industry  is  losing  out  on  potential  and 
competence if half of the population is excluded from certain 
positions.  The  other  argument  is  that  if  the  media  is  to  play 
a  credible  role  in  any  democratic  society  it  needs  diversity 
both in the media organisations themselves and in the media 
communication  outputs.  Women  do  not  per  se  mean  a 
different news agenda, but with more diversity in the media 
houses they are more likely to cover stories that are important 
for both men and women.

Despite improvements, women still do not occupy many 
of  the  top  influential  decision-making  posts  of  media 
organisations. Why is that, do you think?
In  many  organisations,  men  have  a  tendency  to  recruit 
people  who  are  similar  to  themselves,  and  this  is  also  true 
for  the  media  industry.  With  more  knowledge  and  courage, 
this  situation  can  change.  Another  factor  is  the  ‘journalistic 
culture’ itself, which is very strong, both among women and 
men,  and  within  that  culture  you  tend  to  think  of  news  as 
news,  not  that  there  could  be  a  gender  dimension  to  the 
choices  made  in  a  newsroom.  News  is  always  a  matter  of 
choices;  when  women  are  not  present  in  the  news  that  is 
because  of  editorial  decisions,  often  in  combination  with  a 
lack  of  gender  awareness.  It  is  also  important  to  recognise 

that  today,  despite  the  fact  that  there  are  many  women  in 
high editorial positions, the financial decisions within media 
houses are more likely to be taken by men.

Although  the  EU  Member  States  are  concerned  about 
women’s  participation  in  decision-making,  this  issue 
has  never  been  addressed  with  respect  to  the  media. 
What is the reason for that?
Self-regulation  has  been  the  main  strategy  for  the  media 
industry. Many politicians have been reluctant to take action 
concerning  gender  equality  in  the  media  because  there 
is  a  risk  that  it  could  be  seen  as  a  form  of  censorship  or  a 
way of limiting freedom of expression, if the media industry 
becomes more regulated. On the other hand, it is time to ask 
ourselves  whose  freedom  of  expression  is  being  protected 
or  hampered.  It  is  only  since  recently  that  news  agendas 
have been made mostly about men for men. That is why in 
2006 Agnes Callamard from the NGO ‘Article 19’ coined the 
expression  ‘gender-based  censorship’  to  describe  how  the 
news  media  logic  fails  to  include  women  in  the  news.  But 
it  is  not  only  in  journalism  that  you  have  gender  equality 
problems;  it  is  present  in  the  video  games,  film  production 
and  advertising  industry,  which  are  all  part  of  the  media 
industry  and  as  such  need  to  be  closely  monitored  or,  at 
least,  have  a  mechanism  of  self-monitoring  in  place.  A 
systematic, transparent self-monitoring could be a first step 
in  addressing  the  lack  of  gender  sensitivity  of  the  media 
industry.

What  can  be  done  to  encourage  positive  changes  in 
relation to the low representation of women in decision-
making roles in media organisations?
It  is  important  to  collect  comparative  data  as  EIGE  has  done 
on  the  EU  level  and,  similarly,  as  the  IWMF,  the  International 
Women´s  Media  Foundation,  has  done  on  a  global  level. 
The  information  revealed  by  these  data  needs  also  to  be 
discussed  within  newsrooms.  I  also  think  it  is  important  that 
society in general demands that media companies are more 
transparent  in  how  they  work  with  gender  and  diversity 
issues,  both  within  their  organisations  and  in  their  media 
content. The media needs to be accountable for these issues. 
Sharing  good  practices  is  also  important.  Every  country  and 
company  has  its  own  distinct  culture  and  history,  but  it  is 
possible to benchmark with others for examples or for good 
practices to follow.

You  have  been  working 
in  the  Nordic  countries, 
specifically  in  Sweden,  in  the  area  of  mass  media  and 
gender equality. Is there anything particular or specific 
to the Nordic countries that you consider interesting or 
relevant  for  other  EU  Member  States  to  implement  in 
this area?
Every  country  needs  to  find  its  own  path,  but  I  don’t  think 
that  you  should  underestimate  structural  gender  equality 
measures,  such  as  parental  leave  and  equal  pay.  The  legal 
gender  equality  structure  in  the  Nordic  societies  affects  all 
industries,  even  the  media.  But  it  is  also  important  to  note 
that usually all measures in the media industry, such as gender 
equality  plans,  etc.,  have  been  taken  after  the  legislative 
processes, not before.

It is also clear that the media companies which work with these 
issues on a regular basis are more likely to be gender equal in 
their organisational structures and in their outputs.

Last  but  not  least,  it  is  important  to  understand  that  the 
gender  dimension  permeates  all  areas  of  discrimination  such 
as ethnicity, age and sexuality. And it is up to both women and 
men to engage in gender equality issues.

You  can  read  more  about  women  and  the  mass  media  in 
some of Maria Edström’s recent publications (in English):
1.   Edström,  M.  (in  press),  ‘Women  reach  parity  but  gender   
trouble persists’, Palgrave international handbook on women 
and journalism (Carolyn M. Byerly (Ed.))

2.   Edström, M., Ladendorf, M., ‘Freelance journalists as a flex-
ible  workforce  in  media  industries’,  Journalism  Practice, 
Vol. 6, Nos 5–6, Routledge, 2012, pp. 711–721.

3.   Edström, M., ‘Is There a Nordic Way? A Swedish perspec-
tive on achievements and problems with gender equal-
ity  in  newsrooms’,  Medijske  Studije/Media  Studies,  Vol.  2, 
Nos 3–4, University of Zagreb and the Croatian Commu-
nication Association, 2011, pp. 64–75 (http://hrcak.srce.hr/
index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=130755).

Interview with Amanda Rice

Amanda Rice joined 
the BBC in 2007, and 
in 2009 was appoint-
ed  Head  of  Diversity 
Department  at  the 
BBC.  Her  brief  is  to 
support  and  advise 
the BBC Executive to 
develop  and  deliver 
a  coherent  equalities 
and  diver sity  strat-
egy  in  relation  to  employment,  audiences,  pro-
gramme  content  and  portrayal  and  corporate 
strategy. Throughout 2011 and 2012, she also co-
ordinated the work of the Creative Diversity Net-
work  (CDN),  a  network  of  UK  broadcasters  and 
other  industry  bodies  who  work  in  partnership 
to promote diversity on and off screen, whilst the 
BBC acted as CDN chair.

Do  you  think  it  is  important  to  explicitly  introduce 
measures  in  your  organisation  that  encourage  women 
into  top  decision-making  positions?  What  have  been 
the effects or benefits of any practical measures the BBC 
has  implemented  to  promote  more  women  at  higher 
levels?
First  and  foremost,  it  is  important  to  find  ways  —  including 
using interventions — to encourage people (men and women) 
from  diverse  backgrounds  into  decision-making  positions  in 
any organisation. Naturally there should be a particular focus on 
women because they are still under-represented in the higher 
levels of management, whilst women from minority ethnic or 
more  socially  diverse  backgrounds,  are  even  more  so.  Greater 
diversity at senior and strategic decision-making levels will help 
develop a greater culture of inclusiveness, trust and respect for 
different perspectives and help dismantle the ‘group-think’ that 
can lead to faulty or risky decision-making.

At  the  BBC,  the  numbers  of  women  in  senior  positions  in 
different  work  areas  does  vary  considerably.  In  our  television 
division,  for  example,  we  have  around  50  %  women  in  senior 
management  roles  and  have  just  appointed  a  second  female 
channel controller for BBC One (two out of three filled controller 
positions)  —  a  very  senior  and  editorially  influential  role.  In 
other areas the picture is different and we have focused in the 
last  18  months  on  those  areas  where  we  know  we  have  far 
fewer female senior managers: in technology and engineering 
in particular.

This year we set gender targets specifically to focus efforts on 
the recruitment and progression of women within these work 
areas.  One  of  our  female  senior  managers  was  nominated  for 
a  Leader  of  the  Year  award  (2012  Everywoman  in  Technology 
Awards) for her work in acting as a role model and encouraging 
and  supporting  other  women  to  enter  and  progress  their 
technology/engineering  careers.  We  have  run  a  series  of 
women in technology and women in engineering events and 
initiatives to encourage more women to progress.

The  BBC  also  works  in  partnership  with  other  organisations. 
We  support  two  mentoring  schemes  specifically  for  women 
who are hoping to further develop their careers and progress 
to  more  senior  levels  within  the  industry.  One  focuses  on 
women in radio (‘Sound women’ mentoring scheme) and one 
on  women  in  television  (‘Women  in  film  and  TV’  mentoring 
scheme).  This  year  we  are  also  working  with  Directors  UK  to 
understand  why  there  are  fewer  female  directors  working 
across  the  industry.  The  reasons  are  fairly  complex  but,  once 
we  have  a  better  understanding  of  those  reasons,  we  aim  to 
develop  some  practical  actions  that  the  BBC  at  least  can  take 
to help change the balance.

In  addition  to  our  own  internal  areas  of  focus  and  schemes,  I 
believe that building and maintaining collaborative relationships 
across  the  industry  —  where  freelance  and  casual  working 
patterns  increasingly  dominate  —  is  critical.  It  is  through 
providing  practical  hands-on  support  and  delivering  concrete 
and  sustainable  initiatives  to  promote,  nurture  and  support 
women  that  we  will  make  a  difference  to  the  wider  industry. 
Then we will begin to see more changes at the top. 

What  do  you  think  is  the  impact  on  media  content  of 
having  more  women  in  decision-making  positions  in 
media organisations?
It is now well evidenced that women in senior decision-making 
positions  in  any  organisation  can  improve  efficiency  and  I 
believe  it  is  critical  to  have  a  gender  (and  broader  diversity) 
mix  at  this  level,  to  help  break  down  ‘group-think’  which  will 
enhance  creativity  and  innovation  and  help  to  make  better 
organisational decisions that are informed by a wide range of 
perspectives. For the media sector, diverse decision-makers — 
particularly in influential editorial positions — are more likely to 
help  us  connect  with  and  reflect  a  wider  range  of  audiences, 
so clearly a good gender balance here is important too.

We  know  that  across  the  wider  industry  —  and  that  does 
include  the  BBC  —  the  ratio  of  women  to  men  on  screen 
remains at around 2:1. It is higher in some areas — continuing 
drama  and  entertainments  for  example  —  but  remains 
stubbornly  static  in  the  more  serious  areas  such  as  news  and 
current affairs. 

That  said,  in  terms  of  direct  impact  on  the  representation  of 
women  in  specific  content  areas,  we  cannot  ignore  the  fact