An under-representation of women on-screen reflecting today´s society

The French Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) and the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC), have both released a report focused on gender equality issues during the Covid-19 outbreak. Based essentially on the analysis of news and special Covid-19 programmes broadcast in March (for the CAC) and from March to May (for the French CSA), both reports show that while the pandemic has not significantly impacted the representation of women in media, they remain under-represented as health experts.

The reports highlight:

• An under-representation of women in high roles such as expert or management post in the health sphere;

• Conversely, an over-representation of women in media with regard to topics related to family, education and care of the elderly;

• Women are well-represented when it comes to report on hospital staff such as nurses and healthcare assistants for instance;

• Despite increased risks caused by the exceptional circumstances of the lockdown, the issue of violence against women did not generate more extensive media coverage than usual.

As was emphasised by the CSA, the reports reflect a general tendency of society to favour men in high-management fields.

As a result, the French regulator recommends that broadcasters increase the proportion of women in their ‘experts’ catalogues and raise the awareness about violence against women.

• Etude du CSA: La représentation des femmes dans les médias audiovisuels pendant l'épidémie de Covid-19, Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, juin 2020 (FR)
• CAC's report: Analysis of the prevalence of women in reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, Catalan Audiovisual Council, 30 July 2020 (EN)

Further information on gender equality and Covid-19: in a recent report on the Covid-19 coverage on TV and radio in Morocco, Moroccan regulator HACA also identified a very low representation of women among panellists invited by broadcasters to comment on the pandemic (13%).

Further information on gender equality and audiovisual media: based on the findings of one of its sub-groups, on 15 July 2020, ERGA published a report on gender equality (off-screen and on-screen) emphasising the fact that the 'audiovisual industry is becoming increasingly sensitive to gender diversity'.