Sexism in this industry is overlooked

When we picture sexism in the workplace, the journalism and media industry is often overlooked - we usually think about the manufacturing, construction, and healthcare industries. However, journalism is a massive industry and the women involved in it have to deal with a lot of sexism - and I don't think it's talked about enough.

The Cision database survey found that 70% of women feel that leadership roles in the newsroom are dominated by men, with just under 60% of men agreeing. It was found in a separate survey that 40% of journalists in the brands covered are women. This should mean that about 40% of editors are women, however, this is not the case - 21% of the 179 editors over 240 brands are women, which is substantially lower. In all markets, the majority of top editors are men, even in countries where the number of women working in the brand outnumbers the men.

I don't think I have to continue with the statistics for you to know that there is gender inequality in the media industry. And the fact that this is still the case in 2023 actually scares me. I want to be a journalist - but why would I want to work in that industry if I'm going to be held back by sexism?

Journalism is the industry that delivers the truth to people. It's supposed to be forward-thinking, inspiring, and most of all, it's supposed to get justice by giving people the facts. But some of the men writing about equality are getting paid more than the women doing the same job as them, getting a promotion faster, etc., and it is so disappointing to see.

A separate problem is the abuse that women in the media have to deal with. The majority of female journalists have suffered online violence - and it's not a one-off, out of the blue thing that doesn't happen often. Gender-based online threats are sent daily to female journalists and it is more common when they are reporting on inequality and sport. Sport, for god's sake! Why these people can't get over the fact that women work in sports is crazy to me.

So many people say that sexism and inequality are over and seem to try to ignore the obvious shouts of the women who are still victims. Something in the news industry has to change soon, or we will be at a crisis point forever.