Media industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Media industry - Essay standard(Ross 2004). The touch is not very different in the advertising industry, as we will see in the discussion on the industry.Women in British Media Many media commentators described the 1990s as the decade of women. The (then) unprogressive government in Britain initiated affirmative action to employ women in large numbers in either sectors including the media industry. There was an apprehension that there would not be enough female graduates to fill job demand. In 1990, three women were actually appointed as editors of national newspapers. This is not to say that the atmosphere of gender favoritism has totally changed.Soft Jobs and the Fair Sex Even in the allocation of routine jobs, there is a gender divide. By convention men journalists covered news stories concerning politics, crime, finance, education and upbringing women covered human interest, consumer news, refinement and social policy. Men covered the facts, sensation and male angles while women covered the background and effects, compassion, general and female angles. The sources for men were men and women were women. The ethics behind mens room stories were detached while those of womens were based on social needs. (Carter 1998 36 - Adapted from table)Is it different in the U.S. ... spread out journalism employs 26% women as local TV news directors, 17% as local TV managers and 13% as general managers in radio stations. The silver lining of the situation according to Byerly is that more male journalists today identify with feminism and indeed, have taken their feminist colleagues side to protest discriminatory news coverage as well as to demand more egalitarian newsroom policies. (Byerly 2004 113) And Internationally The situation is not much different internationally. A survey by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), worlds largest journalists association, shows that the number of women journalists varies widely from 6% in Sri Lanka to around 50% in Finland. But at higher - decision qualification - levels like editors, department heads and media owners, the numbers are very low and account for barely 6%. The office is highest (10-20) in Cyprus, Costa Rica, Mexico and Sweden. (Byerly 2004 109-126)Social Milieu and Women in Media When we seek to analyze the levels at which women are utilise by the media industry, it is important to consider the socio-political milieu in which the industry functions and the power the industry wields. This is because media too is a product of the socio-political milieu and cannot be considered in isolation.The social power of the communication (media) industries has long been recognised as being at the heart of contemporary societies industrially, economically, politically and culturally (Marris et. al. (eds.) 1999 13). Electronic age and the advent of the cyberspace have added a new powerful thrust to traditional media, which primarily consisted of print media, radio and drift pictures and