The Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) voted today to adopt amendments to the Broadcasters' Code of Conduct in a move to ensure a balanced representation of women and men in broadcasts.

 

BCC member Mariana Onceanu-Hadirca said a monitoring of how the recent campaign was covered showed that women were heavily underrepresented in political debates and programs on radio and television. “Journalists prefer to ask the opinion of men and less of women. So we decided to take action. Rather than by doing it through sanctions or restrictions, we decided to guide those in charge of editorial policies to give increased consideration to such matters and invite women, too”, said Mariana Onceanu-Hadirca.

 

Broadcasters are urged to promote a stereotype-free representation of the role of men and women and avoid broadcasting sexist messages or content that would otherwise discriminate against women. 

 

Also today, the BCC called on broadcasters to sign the “Commitment of Media Institutions to Promoting Gender Equality in Journalistic Materials”.