Why Do We Need More Women In Journalism?

How many women journalists are you aware of? A handful of them? The irony is that the field that's known for triggering change gives very little space to women.

According to a survey conducted, it was found that foreign newspapers like The Daily Mirror had the lowest count of female front page bylines in June-July 2017, with only 10% of stories written by women.

Only 10% of Daily Mirror, 15% of Evening Standard & Sun front page lead stories written by women, our research shows https://t.co/SxuZMcPddd pic.twitter.com/zD09lt5zJf

— Women in Journalism (@WIJ_UK) September 26, 2017

The Evening Standard and The Sun have 15% of front page stories written by women while the Daily Express has 16% front page stories by women.

The report also says that fields like business, politics and sport sections are still overwhelmingly dominated by men. Similar is the situation in India where men make up most of the higher positions in the field

Also: 25 years of women in journalism with Sagarika Ghose

SheThePeople.Tv spoke to some female students studying journalism about the need to have more women in this sector across the world.

Bring different perspective

Sreelakhsmi M, a student of Lady Shri Ram College studying Journalism, calls out the biases prevalent with regard to women in journalism. She points out that society perceives journalism to be a field where men are preferred because it requires you to stay out of your home for odd hours.

She, however, feels that women can do a world of good to the field of journalism. "Women bring different perspective and a personal touch to stories. Besides that, they are important to represent women properly."

Bring in more equality to the profession

Reshma, pursuing journalism from the same college, opines that women are talented and so more of them must be journalists. She also mentioned that they are more rational than men and can bring in more equality to this profession.

Have alternative opinions

Sanchali, a 3rd year Journalism student of the same college, says, "It is good to have more women in journalism to bring in alternative opinions and stories that were earlier written or narrated from the male perspective. Also, they will highlight the women's issues in a better way.

Read Also: Gender does not matter in investigative journalism, says Rana Ayyub