Have more Women Become Involved as Decision Makers in Media Industries?

Have more Women Become Involved as Decision Makers in Media Industries?

            As it is in the case with many other aspects of economic, cultural, and social life in the modern society, the occupation of women in decision-making positions in the media sector remains relatively lower, especially when compared to the labor force sector. According to the EIGE (2013), in the private media firms, women hold about 12 percent of the strategic decision-making posts and only 22 percent in the public media. In this debate, I am more persuaded to disagree with the statement that more women are involved in the decision-making positions in the media sector. Drawing from the existing statistics, there is no doubt that women have been left out in strategic decision-making. I support the push to have more women involved in strategic decision-making in the media industries on two critical grounds. First, it will improve media content, and secondly, it would bring innovative decisions, better utilization of talents, and social justice.

Professor Martha Lauzen carries out surveys every year to establish the women’s roles in prime-time television at San Diego State University and the Center for the Study of Women in Television. The surveys focused on two broad segments – the behind-the-scenes positions and on-screen positions (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). In the annual report showing the results from the surveys, Lauzen revealed that women continue to be underrepresented in creative and executive jobs in prime-television. The report indicated that between 2014 and 2015, women compromised 40 percent of the total characters on Netflix, cable, and broadcast programs, and in broadcast television programs, the female players incorporated only 42 percent of all speaking-characters (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). Moreover, behind the scenes, only 27 percent of executive producers, writers, creators, directors of photography, and editors were women (Alexander & Hanson, 2016).

The broadcast programs that did not have a female executive producer, the women who acted in the position of significant characters comprised only 37 percent of all characters, while 6 percent were writers (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). However, the broadcast programs that included at least one female executive producer had about 32 percent as women writers (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). When the 2014-15 survey results were compared with the 1997-98 findings, a less significant increase in the number of women incorporated in critical positions in the media industry was evident (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). An increase of 3 percent was realized in the number of major characters and speaking characters between the two identified periods. From 2013 to 2015, the number of women in the identified positions remained almost the same, revealing that there was no change.

Alexander and Hanson (2016) are concerned that the trend of underrepresentation of women in strategic media positions leads to other forms of discrimination. From Lauzen’s survey findings, female characters continue to be depicted as younger in media platforms compared to their male counterparts. Whereas most of the males (55%) were in their 40s, most of the women (60%) were in their 20s, based on the 2014-15 survey report (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). Another form of discrimination cultivated by the trend is prejudice employment. Women continue to be marginalized in the job sector, especially in the media industry. Gender has been used to create a barrier for entry by women in the media sector. Breaking the barrier continues to be a serious problem in American society. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 reflected on the good intentions to bridge the gender gap in employment by scrapping off the discrepancies in women’s pay and men’s pay, especially when they work in the field (Alexander & Hanson, 2016). However, the gender gap still persists both in employment and pay.

My support for more women to be incorporated in strategic decision-making positions in the media sector is informed by the potential benefits. More women in critical decision-making positions will influence other sectors to employ women as employees and capitalize on their innovative ideas. Effective utilization of the women’s talents will not only foster diversity but also enhance the media content. Women can represent the diverse interests of the wider populations who form the audience. More importantly, having more women in the strategic decision-making positions in the media will spearhead the movement championing gender equality. The move will not only portray the media industry as more inclusive but also increase the likelihood of men and women sharing equal pay, enjoy the same opportunities, and feel equally represented.

However, while I might feel that women are underrepresented in executive positions and other decision-making portfolios in the media sector, I believe that they are still presented with numerous opportunities to exhibit their leadership talents. The creative series which are aired in the Web platforms provide women with the opportunities to write, direct, produce, and star in programs that reach a wider audience Ross, K. (2014). In this respect, I would like to think that the underrepresented groups in decision-making capacities in the media include the LGBT, transgender, bisexual, and people with disabilities rather than women. Web platforms open women to choices and creativity. However, I emphasize the need to incorporate more women in traditional media executive positions instead of limiting their growth of leadership skills to the Web.

References

Alexander, A. & Hanson, J. (2016). Have more women become involved as decision-makers in media industries? Issue.

Ross, K. (2014). Women in decision-making structures in media. Media and Gender: A scholarly Agenda for the Global Alliance on Media and Gender, 44-48.

EIGE. (2013). Women under-represented in decision-making in media organizations. European Institute for Gender Equality. Retrieved from https://eige.europa.eu/news/women-under-represented-decision-making-media-organisations. March 19, 2020.