Rizwan Syed, MA International Journalism student, City University
The report surveyed the top 28 national newspapers by circulation volume. The findings illumine that just 4 per cent of sports journalists are women, while the topics news, financial and politics contained disproportionate numbers of men.
The editorial findings painted a bleaker picture. Of the 26 newspapers surveyed, women filled 30 per cent of the editorial roles, with men filling 70 per cent. The Independent on Sunday was found to be the most progressive – 47 per cent of their editors are women.
This raises an interesting set of questions when you look at academic statistics. The disproportionality is clear: in 2010, it was found that 51 per cent of university students in the UK were women. Even back in 2000, more women received 2.1 degrees than men, according to this piece in the Guardian.
But it seems that this trend of superior female academic performance is not being translated into the news industry.
City University is a clear example of this trend. Cited as one of the best journalism schools in the world and the "passport to journalism" (before anyone asks, the author of that article went to the University of Oxford – not City), women outnumber men by a long-shot.
An email sent by Professor George Brock to myself and the other fresh-faced postgraduates prior to the start of term stated that 71 per cent of the journalism class of 2011/2 is female, while 29 per cent is male.
In addition, Cardiff University's MA class which graduated earlier this year was 79 per cent female, according to the programme director.
Echo Research interviewed established female journalists in an attempt to clarify the reasons behind this nonsensical disproportionality. One of the starkest reasons identified by the report was that "their [women's] scarcity in senior roles leaves young female journalists at a significant disadvantage".
This problem is self-perpetuating.
One anonymous source in the research stated that: "women are underrepresented in finance, politics and sports…it perpetuates the perception that those are male areas, by seeing them and reporting them through a predominately male lens".
Another anonymous source claimed that the first step needed was to "recognise and acknowledge that there is a problem".
Looking at the figures for the International Journalism course at City alone, 76 per cent of students are female, compared to 24 per cent male. The majority of female students on the course will be specialising in conflict reporting, international investigation and human-rights coverage – hard topics which the Echo Research survey found to be lacking in women.
With City University's School of Journalism being the leading centre for journalism training in Europe, there can be no doubt that the male-to-female ratio is a prophecy for the industry.
If the big-shot editors sitting on their desks in the nationals continue to ignore the trend exemplified by my course make-up, they will pour a huge bucket of skilled talent down the drain. This approach would be detrimental to the industry as a whole.
It is time for these editors to recognise change – and adapt quickly.
Rizwan Syed is an MA International Journalism student at City University. He blogs for the Independent and Tweets from @riz205.
Senior Desk Editor - International News Desk
