The Gender Gap: Women Are Still Missing as Sources for Journalists
The findings may strike some observers as ironic given the efforts of many news outlets to increase their audience by reaching out to women?and particularly to younger women, a group that generally is under represented as news consumers.
Among the findings:
* In every topic category, the majority of stories cited at least one male source.
* In contrast, the only topic category where women crossed the 50% threshold was lifestyle stories.
* The subject women were least likely to be cited on was foreign affairs.
* Newspapers were the most likely of the media studied to cite at least one female source in a story (41% of stories). Cable news, despite all the time it has to fill, was the least likely medium to cite a female source (19% of stories), and this held true across all three major cable channels.
* On network TV, the morning news programs, which often cover lighter fare, relied more on female sources. The evening newscasts were somewhat less likely, but still did so more than cable.
* The sports section of the newspaper stood out in particular as a male bastion. A mere 14% of stories on the front page of the sports section cited a woman, versus 86% that contained at least one male source.
