Sunday, May 3, 2020

Sexism on the News

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Australian newscaster Karl Stefanovic was fed up with how his female coworker, Lisa Wilkinson was being treated by viewers. They would often criticize her clothing and offer unsolicited fashion advice. Stefanovic responded by conducting his own experiment. He wore the same suit every day for an entire year to show how men are judged by their merits in the industry whereas women are judged on their appearance.
One study found that 87.5% of female journalists interviewed received viewer criticism over their appearance, with 58% of all journalists receiving negative comments about appearance over Facebook (Finneman & Jenkins, 2018).

The response to the criticism has varied. Many journalists heed the advice "suggesting that they may see the sexist nature of these remarks but also recognize the need to seek opportunities within existing patriarchal newsroom structures" (Finneman & Jenkins, 2018). Researchers suggest the responsibility should be on the TV news stations to impact the culture. They should also provide training for newscasters on how to respond to the criticism (2018).

For further reading, here is another article about the broadcast news industry and women.

References

Finneman, T., & Jenkins, J. (2018). Sexism on the Set: Gendered Expectations of TV Broadcasters in a Social Media World. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 62(3), 479–494. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1080/08838151.2018.1484292

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