Statistics on Women in Today’s Media
Information obtained from
www.womensmediacenter.com
These statistics were gathered to illuminate the current status of women in today’s media. The categories include radio, film, television, and news journalism. The lack of women in top positions is widespread. The research indicates a diminished presence of women in the various forms of media surveyed.
Industry Stats
•Women hold only 3% of clout positions in the mainstream media. (Annenberg Public Policy Center, “The Glass Ceiling Persists,” 2003)
•Only one in four communications/media jobs created between 1990 and 2005 were filled by women. The only area where the share of women increased was in the newspaper industry—the lowest-paid industry in the sector, where many of the women are employed as part-time telephone sales positions.
(Institute for Women’s Policy Research. “Making the Right Call,” 2006).
•In 2007, women represented only 12.1% of the boards of directors of corporations in the information industry, and only 11.5% in the arts, entertainment and recreation corporations. In 2006, women represented 14.5% of the directors in the information industry and 14.7% in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry.
(“Census: Women Board Directors,” Catalyst 2007, and 2006).
•For full-time workers in the communications/media sector, a gender and race wage gap persists: White men are paid 29 percent more than white women and 46 percent more than women of color. (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “Making the Right Call” 2006)
•Among communications companies in the Fortune 500, women comprise just 15 percent of top executives and only 12 percent of board members.
(Annenburg Public Policy Center, “The Glass Ceiling Persists,” 2003)
•At current rate of changes, it will take women 47 years to reach parity with men as Corporate Officers of the Fortune 500 (“Corporate Officers and Top Earners,” Catalyst, 2006).
•“With few exceptions, we have not moved beyond tokenism in the number of women in top leadership positions or serving on the boards of communications companies. Men still hold the vast majority of positions. The glass ceiling is firmly in place.” former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Susan Ness (Sheila Gibbons, 2004)
•Groups such as Fox Entertainment, McGraw-Hill, and advertising firms Grey Global Group and Omnicom did not have women in any of their executive positions. (Sheila Gibbons, 2004).
•The median salary for male journalists in all news media is $46,758 and $37,731 for women. (Sources: Dates 2007, Cramer 2007, Nicholson 2007, Media Management Center 2006, 2001. From Fact Sheet #2 in “Women and News” Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, November 2007)
