Experts say mass-media displays an unequal image of men and women

Mass-media doesn’t offer a well-balanced image of men and women, as well as their involvement and contribution to the public and private life. This is one of the conclusions of the “Gender and mass-media” research, presented Monday, September 10, at a press conference. The study, conducted by the “Partnership for Development” Centre (CPD), presents a conceptual, legal and institutional framework in the field of ensuring the public officials with gender and chance equality. The study also includes gender analysis of the media production on the general local elections in 2003 and 2007, as well as practical suggestions. Daniela Terzi-Barbarosie, executive director of CPD, supported the necessity of this research with the argument that until now no concrete research has been done concerning media coverage of male and female competitors, as well as the way the press promotes this kind of stereotypes. According to her, the mass-media often presents a degrading and negative image of women, leading to prejudices within the society. Loretta Handrabura, the author of the study, spoke about the women candidates at the local elections in 2003 and 2007 who were less reflected in the press compared to men. Thus, after analyzing 7 newspapers issued during the election campaign in 2003, it was ascertained that in 3.8% of the electoral materials presented only women, while 14.6% overtook a mixed aspect. This year, the researched materials represented 10 newspapers. It was found that the presence of women in electoral materials reached 2.7%, while mixed materials constituted a quarter of the total. The largest information on women was published in “Moldavskie vedomosti” – about 13%, in “Moldova Suverana” – 8% and in “Argumenty i Fakty” – 5.6%. The authors of the study advise the press to promote a well-balanced and non-stereotyped image of women, since they are traditionally associated more with the private life. Meanwhile, they suggest another presentation of men, who usually are associated particularly with the public life. The authors also advocate avoiding sexism and linguistic conservatism. The “Gender and mass-media” study was conducted as part of the project “Equal Chances for Men and Women in local elections in 2007”, financed by the Open Society Institute and Soros Foundation.