Media for Development

Giving women politicians the exposure they deserve

 
"Broadcasters and journalists need to rethink their attitudes on how they see the role of women in politics" said Aidan White, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). White spoke at the launch of "Portraying Politics", a video toolkit on gender and television - in Bled, Slovenia.

Fairer representation of women in politics
The first kit was presented to Mr. Janez Drnovsek, president of Slovenia. "Media play a key role in shaping people's perception of political life and we need fairer representation of women in the political process both on the news agenda and what we see on screen," according to White.

Media failure
The initiative is in response to growing evidence of media failure to reflect accurately the role of women on the political scene. Although women represent 24% of politicians in Europe, research shows that only 10% of politicians in the European news are women (compared with 12% globally).


Rethink the gender perspective

"These results stress the need for broadcasters and journalists to address gender portrayal from a different angle and to take specific account of the lack of women's representation in the news," according to White. "We are convinced this toolkit will encourage media professionals to rethink the gender perspective in their work. The result will be higher quality journalism."

Toolkit
Portraying Politics was an EU funded project. Partners included the European Journalism Center (EJC), RNTC, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenberg (RBB), Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK), EFJ, the BBC, the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) and the University of Malta.
The toolkit was produced by RNTC and consists of a DVD and a text book that raises issues and questions for journalists, trainers and programme makers. Eight selected modules - compiling video clips from European broadcasters - address gender portrayal in politics from different perspectives.