Women should represent women in media
-
0:01 - 0:04Like most journalists, I'm an idealist.
-
0:04 - 0:08I love unearthing good stories,
especially untold stories. -
0:09 - 0:12I just didn't think that in 2011,
-
0:12 - 0:14women would still be in that category.
-
0:15 - 0:19I'm the President of the Journalism
and Women Symposium -- JAWS. -
0:19 - 0:20That's Sharky.
-
0:20 - 0:21(Laughter)
-
0:21 - 0:24I joined 10 years ago
because I wanted female role models, -
0:24 - 0:28and I was frustrated by the lagging status
of women in our profession -
0:28 - 0:31and what that meant
for our image in the media. -
0:32 - 0:34We make up half
the population of the world, -
0:34 - 0:37but we're just 24 percent
of the news subjects -
0:37 - 0:38quoted in news stories.
-
0:39 - 0:42And we're just 20 percent
of the experts quoted in stories. -
0:42 - 0:45And now, with today's technology,
-
0:45 - 0:48it's possible to remove women
from the picture completely. -
0:49 - 0:52This is a picture of President
Barack Obama and his advisors, -
0:52 - 0:55tracking the killing of Osama bin Laden.
-
0:55 - 0:57You can see Hillary Clinton on the right.
-
0:57 - 0:59Let's see how the photo ran
-
0:59 - 1:01in an Orthodox Jewish
newspaper based in Brooklyn. -
1:02 - 1:04Hillary's completely gone.
-
1:04 - 1:07(Laughter)
-
1:07 - 1:10The paper apologized,
but said it never runs photos of women; -
1:10 - 1:12they might be sexually provocative.
-
1:12 - 1:14(Laughter)
-
1:14 - 1:16This is an extreme case, yes.
-
1:16 - 1:17But the fact is,
-
1:17 - 1:21women are only 19 percent
of the sources in stories on politics, -
1:22 - 1:25and only 20 percent
in stories on the economy. -
1:26 - 1:28The news continues to give us a picture
-
1:28 - 1:30where men outnumber women
-
1:30 - 1:32in nearly all occupational
categories, except two: -
1:32 - 1:35students and homemakers.
-
1:35 - 1:36(Laughter)
-
1:36 - 1:39So we all get a very
distorted picture of reality. -
1:40 - 1:44The problem is, of course,
there aren't enough women in newsrooms. -
1:44 - 1:47They report at just 37 percent of stories
in print, TV and radio. -
1:48 - 1:51Even in stories on gender-based violence,
-
1:51 - 1:55men get an overwhelming majority
of print space and airtime. -
1:55 - 1:56Case in point:
-
1:57 - 2:00This March, the New York Times
ran a story by James McKinley -
2:00 - 2:02about a gang rape of a young girl,
-
2:02 - 2:0411 years old, in a small Texas town.
-
2:05 - 2:08McKinley writes that
the community is wondering, -
2:08 - 2:10"How could their boys
have been drawn into this?" -
2:11 - 2:13"Drawn into this" --
-
2:13 - 2:16like they were seduced
into committing an act of violence. -
2:16 - 2:18And the first person he quotes says,
-
2:18 - 2:21"These boys will have to live
with this the rest of their lives." -
2:21 - 2:23(Groans, laughter)
-
2:24 - 2:27You don't hear much
about the 11-year-old victim, -
2:27 - 2:30except that she wore clothes
that were a little old for her -
2:30 - 2:31and she wore makeup.
-
2:32 - 2:35The Times was deluged with criticism.
-
2:35 - 2:37Initially, it defended itself,
-
2:37 - 2:39and said, "These aren't our views.
-
2:39 - 2:41This is what we found in our reporting."
-
2:41 - 2:43Now, here's a secret
you probably know already: -
2:43 - 2:45Your stories are constructed.
-
2:45 - 2:48As reporters, we research, we interview.
-
2:48 - 2:51We try to give a good picture of reality.
-
2:51 - 2:54We also have our own unconscious biases.
-
2:54 - 2:57But The Times makes it sound like anyone
would have reported this story -
2:57 - 2:59the same way.
-
2:59 - 3:01I disagree with that.
-
3:01 - 3:03So three weeks later,
-
3:03 - 3:04The Times revisits the story.
-
3:04 - 3:08This time, it adds another byline
to it with McKinley's: -
3:08 - 3:10Erica Goode.
-
3:10 - 3:13What emerges is a truly sad, horrific tale
-
3:13 - 3:16of a young girl and her family
trapped in poverty. -
3:16 - 3:18She was raped numerous times by many men.
-
3:19 - 3:21She had been a bright, easygoing girl.
-
3:21 - 3:24She was maturing quickly, physically,
-
3:24 - 3:27but her bed was still covered
with stuffed animals. -
3:27 - 3:28It's a very different picture.
-
3:29 - 3:32Perhaps the addition of Ms. Goode
is what made this story more complete. -
3:33 - 3:37The Global Media Monitoring Project
has found that stories by female reporters -
3:37 - 3:41are more likely to challenge stereotypes
than those by male reporters. -
3:41 - 3:42At KUNM here in Albuquerque,
-
3:42 - 3:44Elaine Baumgartel
did some graduate research -
3:44 - 3:47on the coverage of violence against women.
-
3:47 - 3:50What she found was many of these
stories tend to blame victims -
3:50 - 3:52and devalue their lives.
-
3:52 - 3:55They tend to sensationalize,
and they lack context. -
3:55 - 3:57So for her graduate work,
-
3:57 - 4:00she did a three-part series
on the murder of 11 women, -
4:00 - 4:02found buried on Albuquerque's West Mesa.
-
4:02 - 4:06She tried to challenge those patterns
and stereotypes in her work -
4:06 - 4:08and she tried to show
the challenges that journalists face -
4:08 - 4:12from external sources,
their own internal biases -
4:12 - 4:13and cultural norms.
-
4:14 - 4:16And she worked with an editor
at National Public Radio -
4:16 - 4:19to try to get a story aired nationally.
-
4:19 - 4:23She's not sure that would have happened
if the editor had not been a female. -
4:23 - 4:25Stories in the news
-
4:25 - 4:29are more than twice as likely
to present women as victims than men, -
4:29 - 4:33and women are more likely to be defined
by their body parts. -
4:34 - 4:36Wired magazine, November 2010.
-
4:36 - 4:40Yes, the issue was about
breast-tissue engineering. -
4:41 - 4:43Now I know you're all distracted,
so I'll take that off. -
4:43 - 4:44(Laughter)
-
4:44 - 4:46Eyes up here.
-
4:46 - 4:49(Laughter)
-
4:49 - 4:50So --
-
4:50 - 4:54(Applause)
-
4:54 - 4:55Here's the thing:
-
4:56 - 4:58Wired almost never puts
women on its cover. -
4:58 - 5:00Oh, there have been some gimmicky ones --
-
5:00 - 5:02Pam from "The Office,"
-
5:02 - 5:04manga girls,
-
5:04 - 5:07a voluptuous model
covered in synthetic diamonds. -
5:08 - 5:11Texas State University professor
Cindy Royal wondered in her blog -
5:11 - 5:15how are young women like her students
supposed to feel about their roles -
5:15 - 5:17in technology, reading Wired.
-
5:17 - 5:20Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired,
defended his choice -
5:20 - 5:23and said there aren't enough women,
prominent women -
5:23 - 5:26in technology to sell a cover,
to sell an issue. -
5:27 - 5:28Part of that is true,
-
5:28 - 5:30there aren't as many
prominent women in technology. -
5:30 - 5:32Here's my problem with that argument:
-
5:33 - 5:35Media tells us every day what's important,
-
5:35 - 5:38by the stories they choose
and where they place them; -
5:38 - 5:39it's called agenda setting.
-
5:40 - 5:43How many people knew
the founders of Facebook and Google -
5:43 - 5:45before their faces
were on a magazine cover? -
5:45 - 5:48Putting them there
made them more recognizable. -
5:48 - 5:51Now, Fast Company Magazine
embraces that idea. -
5:51 - 5:54This is its cover from November 15, 2010.
-
5:54 - 5:58The issue is about the most prominent
and influential women in technology. -
5:59 - 6:01Editor Robert Safian
told the Poynter Institute, -
6:01 - 6:04"Silicon Valley is very white
and very male. -
6:04 - 6:07But that's not what Fast Company thinks
-
6:07 - 6:09the business world
will look like in the future, -
6:09 - 6:13so it tries to give a picture
of where the globalized world is moving." -
6:13 - 6:16By the way, apparently,
Wired took all this to heart. -
6:16 - 6:18This was its issue in April.
-
6:18 - 6:20(Laughter)
-
6:20 - 6:23That's Limor Fried, the founder
of Adafruit Industries, -
6:23 - 6:24in the Rosie the Riveter pose.
-
6:26 - 6:29It would help to have more women
in positions of leadership in media. -
6:29 - 6:30A recent global survey
-
6:30 - 6:33found that 73 percent
of the top media-management jobs -
6:33 - 6:35are still held by men.
-
6:35 - 6:38But this is also about something
far more complex: -
6:38 - 6:41our own unconscious
biases and blind spots. -
6:42 - 6:43Shankar Vedantam is the author
-
6:43 - 6:47of "The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious
Minds Elect Presidents, -
6:47 - 6:49Control Markets, Wage Wars,
and Save Our Lives." -
6:50 - 6:53He told the former ombudsman
at National Public Radio, -
6:53 - 6:57who was doing a report
on how women fare in NPR coverage, -
6:57 - 7:00unconscious bias flows
throughout most of our lives. -
7:00 - 7:03It's really difficult
to disentangle those strands. -
7:03 - 7:05But he did have one suggestion.
-
7:05 - 7:08He used to work for two editors
-
7:08 - 7:11who said every story had to have
at least one female source. -
7:12 - 7:14He balked at first,
-
7:14 - 7:17but said he eventually followed
the directive happily, -
7:17 - 7:18because his stories got better
-
7:18 - 7:20and his job got easier.
-
7:20 - 7:23Now, I don't know if one
of the editors was a woman, -
7:23 - 7:25but that can make the biggest difference.
-
7:25 - 7:29The Dallas Morning News
won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 -
7:29 - 7:32for a series it did on women
around the world, -
7:32 - 7:33but one of the reporters told me
-
7:33 - 7:36she's convinced
it never would have happened -
7:36 - 7:39if they had not had
a female assistant foreign editor, -
7:39 - 7:42and they would not have gotten
some of those stories -
7:42 - 7:44without female reporters
and editors on the ground, -
7:44 - 7:47particularly one
on female genital mutilation -- -
7:47 - 7:50men would just not be allowed
into those situations. -
7:50 - 7:52This is an important point to consider,
-
7:52 - 7:56because much of our foreign policy
now revolves around countries -
7:56 - 7:58where the treatment of women is an issue,
-
7:58 - 8:00such as Afghanistan.
-
8:02 - 8:06What we're told in terms of arguments
against leaving this country -
8:06 - 8:09is that the fate of the women is primary.
-
8:10 - 8:13Now, I'm sure a male reporter in Kabul
can find women to interview. -
8:14 - 8:18Not so sure about rural,
traditional areas, -
8:18 - 8:20where I'm guessing
women can't talk to strange men. -
8:21 - 8:24It's important to keep talking about this,
in light of Lara Logan. -
8:25 - 8:27She was the CBS News correspondent
-
8:27 - 8:30who was brutally sexually assaulted
in Egypt's Tahrir Square, -
8:30 - 8:32right after this photo was taken.
-
8:32 - 8:35Almost immediately, pundits weighed in,
-
8:35 - 8:38blaming her and saying things like,
-
8:38 - 8:42"You know, maybe women shouldn't
be sent to cover those stories." -
8:42 - 8:45I never heard anyone say this
about Anderson Cooper and his crew, -
8:45 - 8:47who were attacked covering the same story.
-
8:48 - 8:50One way to get more women into leadership
-
8:50 - 8:52is to have other women mentor them.
-
8:53 - 8:56One of my board members is an editor
at a major global media company, -
8:56 - 8:59but she never thought
about this as a career path, -
8:59 - 9:01until she met female role models at JAWS.
-
9:02 - 9:05But this is not just a job
for super-journalists -
9:05 - 9:06or my organization.
-
9:06 - 9:09You all have a stake
in a strong, vibrant media. -
9:10 - 9:11Analyze your news.
-
9:11 - 9:14And speak up when there are gaps
missing in coverage, -
9:14 - 9:16like people at The New York Times did.
-
9:16 - 9:19Suggest female sources
to reporters and editors. -
9:19 - 9:23Remember -- a complete picture of reality
may depend upon it. -
9:23 - 9:25And I'll leave you with a video clip
-
9:25 - 9:29that I first saw in [1987]
when I was a student in London. -
9:29 - 9:31It's for The Guardian newspaper.
-
9:31 - 9:34It's actually long before I ever thought
about becoming a journalist, -
9:34 - 9:37but I was very interested
in how we learn to perceive our world. -
9:39 - 9:43Narrator: An event seen from one
point of view gives one impression. -
9:49 - 9:50Seen from another point of view,
-
9:50 - 9:53it gives quite a different impression.
-
9:55 - 9:57But it's only when you get
the whole picture, -
9:57 - 10:00you can fully understand what's going on.
-
10:04 - 10:06[The Guardian]
-
10:06 - 10:08Megan Kamerick: I think you'll all agree
-
10:08 - 10:11that we'd be better off
if we all had the whole picture.
- Title:
- Women should represent women in media
- Speaker:
- Megan Kamerick
- Description:
-
How do you tell women’s stories? Ask women to tell them. At TEDxABQ, Megan Kamerick shows how the news media underrepresents women as reporters and news sources, and because of that tells an incomplete story. (Filmed at TEDxABQ.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 10:31
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Morton Bast commented on English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Women should represent women in media | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Women should represent women in media |
Morton Bast
Correction: At 9:23, the year should be 1987, not 2007.
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 1/12/2016.