Media Concentration Hurts Women

Today’s concentration of media ownership in the hands of a small number of powerful corporations has negative consequences for women.  Media concentration allows men to hold most of the positions of influence in the media industry and excludes women from decision making.  Media concentration in the hands of influential men results in media content that misrepresents and excludes women.  Media empires are interested in profits, rather than serving the needs of society, and if the interests of women are to be represented in the media, concentration of ownership must be curtailed.

The Trend Towards Media Concentration

A smaller number of firms own more and more of our communications networks, including telephone, cable, radio stations, cellular telephone companies, Internet news and print media. Deregulation of the communications industry, a lessening of controls on media acquisitions and mergers, and fewer restrictions on foreign ownership has lead to a rapid increase in media conglomeration since the 1990’s.  The current neoliberal economic climate has promoted the notion that a free market and the pursuit of profit must be permitted in all aspects of the communications industry.

Canada has one of the most concentrated media systems in the world.  Media ownership is concentrated in the hands of 4 large corporations: BCE Inc., Rogers Communication, Shaw Communications, and Quebecor.  Horizontal concentration, defined as one company owning different types of media operations, has rapidly been overtaken by vertical concentration, with companies owning many different aspects of an industry.  For example, in television broadcasting, one firm may control production and content creation, distribution, and programming.

Globally, media concentration is pervasive as well.  Five major media corporations dominate the global media market: Comcast Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, News Corporation, TimeWarner Inc., and Vivendi SA.   These mammoth companies create massive profits and are increasingly influential in economic, political and cultural spheres.

Media Corporations are Overwhelmingly Controlled by Men

Within these tightly controlled media empires, power is concentrated in the hands of top management, who are predominantly men.  Women are under represented in the decision-making process of major media organizations.  According to a study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center titled No Room at the Top?, women make up only 13 percent of the top executives, and only 9 percent of boards of directors across media, telecommunications and electronic commerce industries in the United States.   Women make up only 25 percent of TV news directors, 17 percent of TV general managers, and only 13 percent of radio general managers.

  

Women fare only slightly better in Europe, where a recent study of 99 major media organizations, found that only 30 percent of senior decision-making positions are held by women.

Media concentration that is dominated by men in top positions has negative consequences for women.  Men who hold key positions of power in media corporations have almost unfettered political, economic and cultural influence.  Women, on the other hand, are excluded from key decision-making positions within the media.  If women had positions of influence, they could advocate for increasing the number of women who are hired.  Women in positions of influence could also advocate for more gender-balanced media content.  Without greater access to decision-making positions in media outlets, women do not have an equal opportunity to communicate publicly and present women’s point of views.

Concentrated, Male-dominated Ownership leads to Male-Dominated Media Content

Male dominated media structures and the exclusion of women result in media content that marginalizes women through stereotypes and the exclusion of women’s opinions.  According to research by San Diego State University communications professor Martha Lauzen, the presence of women working in decision making positions in the media have a definite impact on the ways that women are portrayed on the screen and in print.  Because women are excluded from media structures, women are more likely to be stereotyped and their views are likely to be missing.

Research has confirmed that women are generally stereotyped in the media.  A study by Gallagher and Fejes found that women are much more likely to be portrayed as passive, emotional and dependent, whereas men were more likely to be stereotyped as authoritative, powerful and independent.  Women in the news media are more likely to be described as “victims”, and are more likely to be featured in stories domestic violence or natural disasters.  Men, on the other hand, are more likely to be described as “experts” and featured in stories about their professional abilities or expertise.

Female politicians are singled out as targets for media stereotyping.  The media focuses on their looks or fashion rather than their ability to lead.  When Condoleezza Rice wore black leather boots, the Washington Post described her as a “dominatrix”.  On the day she was chosen as America’s first African-American female national security adviser, a front page New York Times story reported that “her dress size is between a 6 and an 8” and she has “a girlish laugh” and “can be utterly captivating”.  Stereotyping of female politicians can also be extremely negative.  When Hillary Clinton was First Lady, she was referred to as a “witch” or “witchlike” over 50 times in the press.

In addition to stereotyping, there is a lack of women’s opinions in the news media.  In television news for example, women represent only 13 percent of all guests appearing on Sunday political talk shows, and when they do appear, they get 10 percent less airtime.

Women are also under-represented in the op-ed pages of major print newspapers.  At eight major syndicates in the US, women make up only 24.4 percent of the columnists, a number that has barely changed from 1999, when it was 23.7 percent.  The women who are available at syndicates are picked up less than their male counterparts.  The top five women columnists appear in 1,200 papers, while the top five men appear in 1,750 papers.

Female columnists offer balanced perspectives on gender issues.  Women columnists are more likely to write about reproductive rights, the struggles of working mothers, and women’s rights around the world.  More than a third of the New York Times op-eds written by women were about women or gender issues compared to only 8 percent of the male-authored pieces.

Conclusion

The establishment of powerful media empires hurts women and prevents the media from fulfilling its social responsibility of serving the interests of all groups in society.  Media ownership is controlled by a few powerful men, and women are cut out of positions of influence within the media.  Concentration of ownership in the hands of men has lead to misrepresentation of women and a lack of women’s perspective.

The media is able to influence public opinion, which ultimately is able to influence policy makers and politicians.  Women are shut out of a tightly controlled media system that excludes and marginalizes them.  The power to communicate publicly through the media and to have one’s identity accurately represented in the media should be available to all, not just a select few who control the reigns of power.  The responsibility to decide who gets represented in the media should not belong to one dominant group or select elite.

Media corporations have acquired far too much power and it is an unhealthy situation not only for women but for all marginalized groups.  Democratic governments should strive towards reducing the power of media corporations and encourage a plurality of voices in the media, especially the voices of women. Media conglomerations exist to make profits and they cannot be trusted to protect the interests of society.   Governments must curtail the harm caused by corporate media empires.  Access to a balanced media is a public right, and should be protected from the greed and self-interest of profit-seeking media empires.

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