edia
      is
      still
      an
      all
      man’s
      land
     
    
   
   
    
     
      By
      Sarah
      O'Donnell
     
     
      (CUP)
     
     
      Newspapers,
      magazines
      and
      television
     
     
      gramming
      continue
      to
      carry
      negative
      and
     
    
   
   
    
     
      SSSSSS
     
     
      y
      I
      ofes
     
    
   
   
    
     
      efototesue
     
    
   
   
    
     
      en
      non-existentcoverage
      of
      women.
     
    

    
     
      ”’The
      main
      problems
      with
      the
      media’s
     
     
      ‘erage
      of
      women
      are
      under-representation,
     
     
      arrow
      range
      of
      representation
      and
      misrep-
     
     
      entation,’’
      said
      Lynn
      Hissey,
      a
      professor
      of
     
     
      men’
      sstudies
      and
      communications
      at
      Simon
     
     
      ser
      University.
     
    

    
     
      Women
      make
      up
      52
      per
      cent
      of
      North
     
     
      herica’s
      population,
      but
      only
      about
      one-
     
    
   
   
    
     
        
       
     
    
   
   
    
     
      SASSO
     
    
   
   
    
     
       
     
     
        
       
     
    
   
   
    
     
      @
      THE
      MEDIA.
      CaN’
     
     
      I
      HAVE
      A
     
    
   
   
    
     
      third
      of
      characters
      on
      television
      carry
      the
      dou-
     
     
      ble
      X
      chromosome.
      During
      prime
      time,
      the
     
     
      number
      of
      major
      femalecharacters
      shrinks
      to
     
    
   
   
    
     
      ofotes
     
     
      Oc
      ofes
     
    
   
   
    
     
      The
      inaccurate
      representation
      of
      women
     
     
      on
      television
      is
      compounded
      by
      the
      narrow
     
     
      range
      of
      women
      who
      are
      portrayed.
     
    

    
     
      *’Virtually
      all
      women
      on
      television
      are
     
     
      white,
      and
      this
      would
      be
      truce
      of
      film
      as
      well,”
     
     
      said
      Hissey.
      She
      also
      noted
      that
      the
      women
     
     
      portrayed
      on
      TV
      seem
      to
      be
      well-off,
      consum-
     
     
      ing
      fairly
      heavily,conventionally
      attractive,
     
     
      slim,
      relatively
      tall,
      able-bodied
      and
      hetero-
     
    
   
   
    
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     
      Seo
      THIS
      15
      :
     
    
   
   
    
     
      -
      Jos
      Guy$
      ?
     
    
   
   
    
     
        
       
     
    
   
   
    
     
      sexual.
     
    

    
     
      Hissey
      cited
      Roseanne
      and
      Murphy
     
     
      Brown
      as
      excellent
      examples
      of
      current
      TV
     
     
      programming
      because
      of
      the
      way
      they
      deal
     
     
      with
      real
      gender
      issues
      and
      women’s
      con-
     
     
      cerns.
      Both
      of
      these
      shows
      were
      created
      and
     
     
      produced
      by
      women.
     
    

    
     
      To
      achieve
      more
      programs
      of
      this
      cali-
     
     
      bre,
      Hissey
      said
      it
      is
      necessary
      to
      get
      more
     
     
      feminists
      working
      in
      the
      various
      media.
     
    

    
     
      Encouraging
      independent
      produc-
     
     
      tions
      [by
      women]
      is
      also
      important
      so
      that
     
     
      shows
      aren’t
      so
      reliant
      upon
      advertisers
      and
     
     
      their
      pressures.
      Advertisers
      are
      enormously
     
     
      powerful
      in
      regards
      to
      what
      kind
      of
      images
     
     
      we’
      re
      getting
      and
      what
      we’
      re
      seeing,’’
      Hissey
     
     
      said.
     
    

    
     
      Television
      is
      not
      the
      only
      culprit
      re-
     
     
      sponsible
      for
      the
      mis
      representation
      of
      women.
     
    

    
     
      Media
      Watch,
      a
      national
      group
      which
     
     
      analyzes
      media
      content,
      found
      only
      28
      per
      cent
     
     
      of
      the
      bylines
      in
      newspapers
      were
      women’
      sin
     
     
      a
      1992
      study
      of
      the
      Canadian
      newspaper
     
     
      industry.
     
    

    
     
      ”’We
      know
      that
      graduates
      from
      jour-
     
     
      nalism
      programs
      right
      now
      areabout
      50-50,”’
     
    
   
   
    
     
      said
      Media
      Watch
      volunteer
      Josey
      Mills,
      but
     
     
      the
      number
      of
      women’s
      bylines
      ‘“doesn’t
      re-
     
     
      flect
      the
      number
      of
      journalism
      graduates
      or
      the
     
     
      population.”
     
    

    
     
      Under-representation
      is
      particularly
     
     
      obvious
      in
      certain
      facets
      of
      news
      coverage.
      For
     
     
      example,
      ‘‘authoritative
      sources
      whoare
      quoted
     
     
      are
      usually
      90
      per
      cent
      men,”’
      said
      Hissey.
     
    

    
     
      In
      the
      hopes
      of
      eliminating
      these
      imbal-
     
     
      ances,
      groups
      such
      as
      Media
      Watch
      are
      trying
     
     
      to
      encourage
      news
      sources
      to
      quote
      more
      women
     
     
      experts
      in
      their
      stories.
     
    

    
     
      Many
      magazines
      also
      lacka
      significant
     
     
      amount
      of
      women-centered
      content.
      Most
      of
     
     
      the
      staff
      at-Canada’s
      national
      magazine,
     
     
      Maclean’s,
      ‘‘felt
      that
      Maclean’s
      has
      a
      lack
      of
     
     
      sensitivity
      in
      its
      portrayal
      of
      women,”’
      accord-
     
     
      ing
      to
      a
      1992
      staff
      survey.
     
    

    
     
      According
      to
      Mills,
      these
      trends
      have
     
     
      not
      been
      improving
      in
      recent
      years.’
      It’s
      pretty
     
     
      frightening,
      the
      trends
      don’t
      change,’’
      she
     
     
      said.
      ‘‘There
      are
      no
      significant
      yearly
      changes
     
     
      when
      we
      do
      the
      content
      analysis.”
     
    

    
     
      (Source:
      The
      Ubyssey,
      University
      of
      British
     
     
      Columbia)