Inequality in the Newsroom

At first glance, one may see numbers of female correspondents and news anchors on public television, read letters from female editors of fashion magazines, or read columns in newspapers written by famous female faces. If one looks farther, however, at statistics and studies, we find that women are not represented equally in the field of journalism at all. In a world that consists half of women, ratios in the workplace should reflect the gender percentages, especially in the media. In the United States, while women comprise about half of the professional workforce, only 33% of journalists are of the latter sex. Although their numbers are steadily increasing, women in the field of journalism are under represented (Jurkowitz). Any writer 's role is to inform. Journalists must bring knowledge to societies of a broad range of subjects, channeling every group and each gender. In some circumstances, women are better represents of subjects because of their natural persona. A woman could hypothetically do a much better job of remaining sensitive and understanding in interviewing a rape victim about the crime, and then in writing about her findings, for example. Women are needed in the newsroom to represent their sex and to bring to the table things men cannot (Sullivan). In a census gathered by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, statistics proved that the number of white women in the field of journalism declined in the last year by almost 1,100. A similar survey showed gender inequality in the newsroom. Almost half of the women polled planned to change jobs by relocating with another newspaper company or leaving the industry, while only one third of males at the same level said the same. The women also said they enjoyed their duties and responsibilities less than their male counterparts (Jurkowitz). At newspapers of top rated universities, only ten to twenty percent of columnists were women writers (Sullivan). In Bangladesh, only four percent of women

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