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Communication
European Journal of
DOI: 10.1177/0267323103018001224
2003; 18; 5European Journal of Communication
Aliza Lavie and Sam Leman-Wilzig
Whose News?: Does Gender Determine the Editorial Product?
http://ejc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/1/5
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Whose News?
Does Gender Determine the Editorial Product?
᭿ Aliza Lavie and Sam Lehman-Wilzig
A B S T R A C T
᭿ The study reported in this article is a survey of 16 female and 25 male
editors in seven Israeli newspapers to examine how gender affects
professional news selection. It rated the newsworthiness of 16 different
general subject areas, 17 journalism selection criteria, and 24 ‘concrete’
headlines as a simulation. Several editors were also interviewed in-depth.
Ninety students of mass communications were surveyed as a control group.
The findings indicate an absence of significant ‘otherness’ between female
and male editors, both in newsworthiness criteria and actual practice –
similar to the control group. The article goes on to address possible reasons
for the small number of Israeli women in editorial positions as well as the
lack of gender distinctions regarding news values; personal, social
economic and news consumption factors, rather than gender-related
obstacles or organizational ethos, are implicated. ᭿
Key Words gender and news, journalistic profession, male/female
editors, news values, newsworthiness criteria
What difference has this trend made. . . . Have women and men journalists
become increasingly similar, or do they continue to differ in their social
background, experience and careers? . . . and do women and men differ in
their perceptions of the role, news priorities and ethical standards? (Weaver,
1997: 22)
Sam Lehman-Wilzig is Associate Professor and Departmental Vice Chair in
charge of the Public Communications Programme, Department of Political
Studies, Bar-Ilan University, 52900 Ramat Gan, Israel. Aliza Lavie is a senior
instructor, specializing in gender and mass media in the Public Communications
Programme [emails: wilzis@mail.biu.ac.il, laviea@mail.biu.ac.il].
European Journal of Communication Copyright © 2003 SAGE Publications
(London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) www.sagepublications.com,
Vol 18(1): 5–29. [0267–3231(200303)18:1;5–29;031224]
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Background
Louise Seals, editor of the Times-Dispatch (Richmond, VA), noted in a
conference of senior editors that many opportunities have opened up for
women in new industries. Seals, one of 35 female editors (a sixth of all the
conference participants), also added: ‘Women know that there’s an
additional place in the newsroom’ (Seals, 1998), a comment that reflects
the current global process of media feminization.
Women’s entry into journalism, and especially the accelerated and
increased nature of the process, is a relatively new phenomenon. For many
years the world of journalism and its wide range of functions remained for
all practical purposes out of bounds to women (van Zoonen, 1994;
Turner, 1993; Vivan, 1991). However, under the impact of the feminist
movement an increasingly greater number of women studied in the halls
of academe, obtaining professional training (Friedan, 1963).
Increased admission of women to US schools of journalism began in
earnest in the 1970s and later spread to other countries (van Zoonen,
1994; Beasley, 1993; Limor and Caspi, 1994; Limor and Lavie, 2002).
Nevertheless, various studies indicate a lack of appropriate representation
in senior positions in western news media (UNESCO, 1987; van Zoonen,
1988; Wilson, 1988; Beasley, 1993; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1996; Lavie,
1997). Thus, despite the significant increase in the number of women
holding journalistic positions in the media, and notwithstanding the
explosion in the number of mass media channels, senior management and
editing positions remain in the hands of men (Beasley, 1993) – similar to
what is found in teaching, social work and other professions marked by a
majority of female workers.
The situation in Israel is no different. Whereas in 1955/6 only
9.3 percent of all journalist positions in the four leading Hebrewlanguage
daily newspapers were held by women, this figure rose to 37
percent almost four decades later (Caspi and Limor, 1999). A similar rate
(37 percent) was found in a study on women journalists in Israel’s print
press, conducted in the late 1990s (Lachover, 2000). Women account for
41.3 percent of all journalists in Israel’s five leading national daily
newspapers (Limor and Lavie, 2002).
Gender and news
This picture of female underrepresentation in editorial positions is
paralleled by Tuchman’s (1973) accepted classification, which distinguishes
news items by content types: ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ news. Tuchman
identified key concepts in the news production process and conE
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ceptualized the practice based on the perspectives of professions. She
noted, inter alia,1
the distinction prevalent among professionals between
‘hard’ news and ‘soft’ news that is interesting because it concerns the lives
of people (Mott, 1952). Tuchman noted that urgency and immediacy are
additional criteria for this classification, in that ‘hard’ news is typically of
the moment and its publication cannot be delayed, while ‘soft’ news
usually does not demand immediate reportage. ‘Hard’ news primarily
concerns issues such as politics, economics, international relations, welfare
and scientific developments, while ‘soft’ news focuses primarily on human
interest stories, gossip, etc. (Tuchman, 1973). However, this could be
merely a temporary aberration, the last bastion of male dominance in the
newsroom, for if the number of women continues to increase – most with
high levels of journalism education in general and topic-specific expertise
in particular – the situation in the hard news departments could begin to
change in the near future, not only numerically but also in a possible
redefinition of what constitutes hard and soft news.
As a result, a central question which concerns researchers in western
journalism today is this: if and when women begin to enter the news
departments and the newsrooms in increasing numbers, will this affect
the classification of news items and their newsworthiness (Beasley and
Gibbons, 1993; Braden, 1996; Creedon, 1993; Weaver and Wilhoit,
1996; Weaver, 1997)?
The accelerating trend of women entering the media workforce has
raised serious concerns among journalistic veterans. They are especially
worried about possible status decline of the profession that in turn would
impact self-image, salary structure and accompanying incentives. Another
worry is a possible change in traditional, male-oriented, professional news
criteria, now reinterpreted and expressed by women in the news issue
agenda and treatment of stories (Peterson, 1980; Beasley, 1993; Covert,
1981; Muramatsu, 1990; Pandian, 1999; Rakow, 1992). An alternative
school of thought believes that the complex news selection and
production organizational structure does not enable any one person –
notwithstanding seniority or position – to overly influence the final news
product. Thus, women’s massive entry into the field will not have much
influence on the news agenda. It is worth noting that most of the
aforementioned scholars dealing with agenda-setting in the 1980s and
early 1990s (Lafky, 1991; van Zoonen, 1988) focused on the individual
journalist (or teams) and not on organizational aspects or the influence of
journalistic norms in and outside the newsroom.
Little is known regarding female journalists’ professional values.
Most studies of professional news values do not distinguish between men
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and women (Kocher, 1986). As several recent theoreticians have pointed
out (Kitzinger, 1998; Carter, 1998; Skidmore, 1998; de Bruin, 2000),
even extensive studies of news, including those that deal with relevant
gender aspects, have mostly ignored the politics of gender in the news
production process and news professionalism within this context.
Academic research has mainly concentrated on men and women as
subjects of the news and not as initiators, reporters or specific job-holders
within the world of journalism (Herzog, 1941; Radway, 1985;
Press, 1991).
Nevertheless, some researchers (Covert, 1981; Limor and Caspi,
1994; van Zoonen, 1994; Rakow, 1993) have suggested the possibility
that the increasing ratio of women in key news positions may lead to a
new emphasis on values such as harmony, brotherhood, affiliation and
community, while deemphasizing dichotomous and conflict-related
values of victory/defeat. Covert (1981) and Rakow (1993) argued that
journalism is usually written in terms of triumph or failure, controversy
and dispute – an aggressive style more characteristic of males, compared
to the female approach which emphasizes coordination, harmony and
belonging to a community. Valenti (1996) summarized the conclusions of
a number of empirical studies by noting that the findings consistently
affirm gender’s impact on certain issues:
[There are] gender-based differences in ways of knowing and covering
audience responses, leadership and consumer behavior, decision making
processes and more. Men tend to look at communication as a means to
establish and maintain control or dominance whereas women (possibly have
learned to) look at communication as a means to develop and maintain
relationships. (Valenti, 1996: 42; emphasis added)
In short, throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s two schools
of thought opposed each other. One believed that if and when women
would come to ‘dominate’ the mass media as the majority (especially in
the newsroom), this would lead to changes in the way the news has been
traditionally presented, its style and even in type of content. This
approach rested on the basic assumption of gender ‘otherness’; when
women are ‘freed’ of male dominance they will be able to express their
true self in the process of selecting and writing the news (as well as other
types of media content).
The second school of thought insisted that news production, in its
very essence, is professional and non-gender specific – or to put it more
bluntly: ‘news is news and it doesn’t involve gender’. Thus, even if the
process of journalism feminization continues apace and the profession
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becomes mainly run by women, this will have little impact on the
media’s news content.
This school’s leading proponent is van Zoonen whose theoretical
criticism (van Zoonen, 1994) is based on two primary arguments:
1. Female non-universality: The basic assumption of an existing
universal female perspective should be rejected; values among
women journalists differ as much as do values among their male
counterparts. As is noted later, a diverse list of anticipated and
desired change in news product attests to the difficulty of
establishing ‘general’ female values.
2. Organizational factors: The dominant research perspective is that
team endeavour plays a more decisive role in the production of
news than individual effort. Systemic constraints and other
influential factors shape news items, beyond the worldview of the
people directly involved (Dimmick and Coit, 1982). The effect of
gender may be discerned, at best, on the lowest of the nine levels
– the individual cognitive level.
In response, several researchers do not view national ‘differences’ as
proving their point but rather as undercutting it. Werner (1994),
reviewing empirical findings of studies conducted in Norway, noted that
studies which deal with coverage of features, topics and interviews found
a positive correlation between gender of news writer and media coverage
content, including news items related to what is stereotypically called
‘the world of women’.
A study conducted in Japan by Muramatsu (1990) indicated that
female (and not male) journalists tended to identify with the underdog
position, took a more pragmatic view of everyday life, and related to
women as news subjects in ways based on other than external
appearances.
Even if one adopts the view that an increase in the number of
women in key journalism positions will lead to changes in the content of
news, an obligation exists to explore the nature of the anticipated change.
Van Zoonen (1994) summarized various studies which examined this
issue and listed possible different time- and place-dependent changes
such as fewer texts tainted by sexist stereotypes, more space afforded to
soft news and women-related issues, as well as greater representation of
women in the media (as subjects of coverage and interviewees).
In sum, it is evident from the preceding review that even the most
basic questions in the field – such as the very existence of a otherness
between men and women in their approach to news – continue to be
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debated. Moreover, even if empirical analysis of male and female news
classification indicates no practical gender-based otherness, several
researchers still claim that such significant otherness exists inherently, but
is eroded by the comprehensive organizational mechanism of news
production that obliterates the possibility of identifying it in the final
product. According to this view, only general organizational change can
lead to change in the final news product.
Notwithstanding all of this – or perhaps as a result of the theoretical
impasse in which researchers found themselves – the most recent research
studies (from the late 1990s onwards) have broadened the focus to include
other factors and questions involved in gender influence: organizational
structure, subjectivity, objectivity and identity formation. In other words,
the previous dichotomous discussion (’influence’: yes or no) has been
supplanted by a focus on other factors that might supply an answer, or at
least some substantive hints. Gender is no longer perceived as something
static but rather as being dynamic, changing over time and place.
Such research approaches attempt to examine the existence of
gendered substructures involved in the practice of news production. Some
choose to start from the influence of the dominant male culture (and
professional ethos) deeply rooted in the newsroom – thereby explaining
the feeling that women journalists have that women’s or feminist issues
are not appropriate for a true professional (Skidmore, 1998: 207). Others
emphasize the fact of women’s lack of progress in the newsroom as a
function of the ruling male attitude that journalism and femininity are
not consonant values. This research approach, in effect, challenges the
reigning professional norms and values in the newsroom, arguing that the
‘news’ is informed by gender politics, strengthened through such criteria
as ‘objectivity’ and ‘ways of knowing’ (Allan, 1998; Kitzinger, 1998).
An example of conceptual change, openness and theoretical development
based on mediating factors that enlarge the discussion can be
discerned in van Zoonen. As we have seen, she argued in 1988 that the
complex organizational structure of news selection, production and
publication is not under the influence of any one individual, senior as he
might be. Ten years later van Zoonen maintained that the organization’s
identity is a product of structural exigencies (budgets, work routine,
professional demands, market needs, etc.) as well as professional values on
the one hand, and subjective discourse (including gender and ethnic
identity) on the other (van Zoonen, 1998a): ‘The concept [“organizational
identities”] in journalism . . . intends to show that the journalist as an
organizational person or a “team-player” is the primary actor in
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journalism, rather than the subjective individual constrained (or not) by
structural factors’ (van Zoonen, 1998b: 137).
In other words, she is now claiming that organizational identity is
an ever-dynamic combination of beliefs, values and feelings poured into
organizational needs. Within such active processes that structure organizational
culture, gender too finds a place. The overall result, therefore, is
that gender identity is one of several components of organizational
identity (much like professional identity) – all absorbed together into the
organization’s general character.
Where does one go from here? It is our contention that the serious
differences of opinion, theoretical approaches and findings in previous
studies stem at least in part from incomplete methodology. First, few if
any previous research studies have used an ‘untainted’ (value-biased), nonprofessional
control group to discern whether news organization factors
distort male/female news values. Second, other than Weaver and Wilhoit
(1996), the preponderance of previous studies did not include male
editors in their research sample. Third, interview or survey questions have
generally been directed at all women within the media and not
specifically at those involved in news production. Moreover, these studies
usually combined women from different media; however, as sundry media
have different characteristics of news production, such cross-media
analysis can be misleading. Finally, and perhaps of greatest importance,
no previous study has put the journalists/editors through an actual news
title selection simulation process, in order to determine whether their
stated news selection criteria are actually carried out in practice. The
present research study, then, uses Israel as a case study not merely to add
another country to the research list but more important as the first study
to attempt to comprehensively, systematically and simultaneously attack
the general question from several different perspectives.
Research hypotheses
The present study’s basic hypothesis is that no gender otherness will be
found regarding news production and the editorial product. The
following are the three subhypotheses detailing the overall hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Female and male editors will evince the same
preferences regarding the relative importance of news topic areas.
Hypothesis 2: The stated professional criteria used in determining the
relative newsworthiness (importance) of an item will be the same for both
male and female editors.
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Hypothesis 3: Actual news items (headlines) chosen by female editors
as ‘newsworthy’ (of greater importance) will be similar to the items
selected by male editors.
If an absence of gender otherness is found, a further question
concerns the source of this lack of otherness: does it rest on a non-gender
basis, operated by each female/male editor independent of external
influences, or is the source rather a continued internalization of ‘male’
values by the few female editors involved in the production of news?
Hypothesis 4: There exists a prior non-gender-related newsworthiness
scale, i.e. the lack of otherness does not stem from value internalization
resulting from continued involvement in a field dominated by a male
ethos.
This fourth hypothesis was tested by examining gender-based, news
production similarities/differences among female and male (entering)
undergraduate students of mass communications – a group which hadn’t
yet entered the professional world of news production and therefore had
no opportunity to internalize the reigning criteria/values through actual
news work. As opposed to previous research that tested journalism
students in the middle or at the end of their studies (e.g. van Zoonen,
1989), we ensured that they would not be ‘tainted’ by their lecturers’
news values through the conscious choice of questioning only first-year
students at the start of the academic year.
Method
Population sample and tools
The population sample of the present study comprised 25 men and 16
women holding senior editorial positions in the Israeli press as well as 52
female and 38 male undergraduate students studying mass communications
in three Israeli universities. These students were included not as a
subject of study in and of themselves, but rather as a control group for
purposes of comparison, neutralizing the possible influence of the news
organization on news value formation. Again, we chose only first-year
students at the start of the academic year in order to avoid the possibility
of their also having being ‘influenced’ by their journalism teachers who
come from the field. Among these students, although response rates were
high (86.6 percent; 130 of 150 questionnaires were completed), a
significant number were returned incomplete (mostly because of lack of
time and the questionnaire’s length), so that 90 questionnaires remained
for analysis.2
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Distribution of the questionnaire was carried out in two stages: first,
questionnaires were given to acquaintances of the researchers within the
newspapers, for them to pass on to news desk editors with whom they
worked; 60 percent of these questionnaires were completed in their
entirety. Second, questionnaires were then personally distributed by one
of this study’s researchers to news editors in the course of their late night
editing. Overall, of 60 questionnaires distributed, 41 were fully
completed. It must be emphasized that the editors participating in this
study work exclusively in the hard news sections, rather than in other
areas where women editors have a more significant presence. It should
also be noted that given the preponderance of male editors in Israel, an
extra effort was made to reach as many female editors as possible. In the
event, we estimate that the 16 in our ‘sample’ comprise virtually the
entire female population of (hard news) editors.
In order to understand better newsroom social phenomena anchored
in local tradition, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight of the
surveyed female and male senior editors, following the first data
collection stage. These interviewees were afforded the opportunity at
their own initiative to raise issues that they considered relevant to the
present study – thus enabling us to gain greater insight into their
perceptual world. However, in order to receive their full cooperation we
had to implement special precautions to preserve confidentiality. This is
why no direct quotes are offered in what follows but rather only general
impressions from these ‘for background only’ interviews.
Finally, in light of the complex nature of the newsroom, on-site
observations were also undertaken and unstructured ‘off-the-record’
interviews conducted over the course of a number of nights of editing to
better understand the de facto news selection process.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire, comprising four separate sections, was designed to
elicit information on the actual professional practice of the subjects as
well as their general perceptual-cultural world and professional values.
The students’ questionnaire comprised most of the same questions,
constituting the basis for evaluating Hypothesis 4.
A. Personal data3
B. Professional attributes4
C. Prioritizing topics and news criteria – this section of the questionnaire
provided information regarding the dependent variable of
determining Israel’s news agenda. First, in order to test
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Hypothesis 1 the respondents were requested to rate 17 subject
areas (listed in Hebrew alphabetical order) on a scale of 1 (low)
to 5 (high).5
For Hypothesis 2 they were then given 17 news
criteria – taken from Galtung and Ruge (1965) and LehmanWilzig
(1994) – which enable an ‘item’ to become ‘newsworthy’,
and scored them as well on the same sliding scale.6
D. Simulation – for Hypothesis 3, the subjects were presented with
a list of 24 news headlines to be rated by newsworthiness. Each
respondent was asked to list the top 10 headlines in order of
importance. This list was based on the topics specified in Section
C and was a realistic representation of current events. It is
important to emphasize that the specific headlines were not ‘real’
but they were reflective of Israeli reality. However, in order to
neutralize two major non-substantive criteria, all 24 headlines
had a negative slant and almost all were associated with famous
people or institutions.7
Statistical techniques
The findings were analysed separately for the group of editors and the
group of students. Findings relating to the questionnaire were analysed
separately regarding continuous and dichotomous variables. Due to the
large proportion of missing values, a number of uni-variable tests were
conducted (e.g. t-test and analysis of variance) to test for significant
differences between averages of continuous variables; chi-square was used
to test for significant dependence between gender and other dichotomous
variables. A regression analysis was also carried out.
Findings
Demographic variables
Socioeconomic analysis of the population sample indicates that both
female and male editors have a similar age range (25–54; male editors
were slightly older), family status (most are married) and country of
origin (approximately 70 percent are native Israelis of parents who
immigrated from Europe/America or second-generation Israeli born). The
general level of education of the entire group is an academic degree, with
many holding advanced degrees, but female editors on average had a
higher level than their male counterparts. Gender differences were also
found in terms of number of children, which was significantly higher for
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male editors (three, almost precisely the national average for Jewish
Israelis) compared to their female counterparts (only one). Again, one of
the more notable group differences lay in the gender variable itself – only
16 female editors compared to 25 male editors, despite our best efforts to
track down every one of the former. In sum, the general sociocultural
background of the female and male editors is quite similar. In theory, this
should enable us to attribute any differences in attitude between both
groups to the gender variable rather than to any other demographic
variable.
News topics and newsworthiness criteria
Regarding all but one topic on the list of news areas presented to the
subjects, no significant otherness was found between female and male
editors in their attribution of importance. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was
validated. The only general area where a significant difference was found
was international news (including world economics). The average rating
of this topic by female editors was 4, while the average rating of male
editors was 3.24 (α = .0206). Notably, this topic which is stereotypically
perceived as hard news was rated higher by female editors! Clearly, then,
both female and male editors had similar evaluations of the importance of
the listed topics in their totality. Moreover, in general no major difference
was found between the female and male communication students’ scores.
The only topic indicating any significant difference was sports (3.08 and
3.66, average ratings by female and male students, respectively;
α = .0126). Overall, then, there is no real evidence here supporting the
preference (or rejection) of soft news by female editors and hard news by
male editors, nor of starting communications students; both genders in
both groups view news subjects in much the same light.
An even stronger result was found regarding the 17 newsworthiness
criteria. No otherness whatsoever was found between female and male
editors – nor among the communications students. Hypothesis 2 was
validated in the strongest fashion possible.
These findings (news topics and criteria) are both in line with
Shachar’s (1987: 249) analysis of the news production process in Israel:
Those who take part in the production of news in Israel, i.e., the news
people, think of their occupation as a commitment to the news first and
foremost, while their organizational-institutional involvement, their
position and status are attributed by them secondary (and sometimes
marginal) importance compared to their primary obligation to the field to
which they are affiliated – the production of news in Israel.
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Simulated headline selection
As noted, the subjects were presented with a list of 24 headlines, each of
which they scored for degree of importance (’newsworthiness’). This was
intended to elicit information about the decision-making process of news
agenda-setters and the rules accompanying actual implementation. The
responses to this section of the questionnaire provided a measurable index
for comparing their stated newsworthiness criteria with actual practice.
As noted, the headlines paralleled the list of subject areas, although they
were not taken from actual reports in order to maintain ‘freshness’ and a
measure of neutrality.
This time, editors’ otherness was found in four (out of a possible 24)
cases. Among the students, which we do not elaborate upon here,
significant otherness was found in only two headlines, one of which is
listed in the Notes section – ‘d’.8
Using logistic regression analysis, we found that gender as an
independent variable (among the editors) was a significant factor in only
two headlines (‘b’ and ‘c’), explaining two-thirds of the variance between
male and female editors. Thus, there exists scant evidence of widespread
gender influence on actual news selection overall. Hypothesis 3 too was
validated.
Finally, the close similarity – as noted earlier in each of the three
elements tested (topics, criteria and selection) – between the students’
and editors’ scores, validates Hypothesis 4. In sum, the general finding of
the present study is that, in Israel at least, ‘news is news’; it has no gender
for those already working – as well as those planning to work – in
journalism.
Discussion
The findings of the present study unequivocally support the claim that no
significant otherness exists among news editors in their professed news
values (topics or criteria) nor in their news selection in practice. The
single headline which could possibly be used to conclude that gender
‘otherness’ exists was item ‘a’ (Professor Shalvi claiming that women earn
45 percent less than men for the same work). Here we did find significant
gender-based variability (F = 7.06 and M = 5.56). Nevertheless, it is
our contention (further elaborated later) that this variability stems from
the content of the headline, which addresses gender compensation
discrimination rather than being reflective of a general context of
women’s rights and equality. We reach this conclusion on the basis of the
fact that in all other feminist-related items presented in the headline
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simulation, none elicited higher rankings from female editors compared
to their male counterparts.
Moreover, the survey results from the female and male mass
communications students clearly show that among this ‘pre-professional’
control group no gender otherness was in evidence regarding topic
preferences, newsworthiness criteria and actual news selection. Rather
than a process of ‘internalization’ of dominant (male) values by women
involved in the production of news, the evidence points to a lack of
otherness in gender-based values; there is no reasonable possibility of
attributing the similar scores of early first-year students and seasoned
professionals to the influence of traditional organizational factors on
newswomen.
Obviously, our overall conclusion that there is no important
difference in the classification of a news item by female or male decisionmakers
in news production undercuts the accepted belief that a future
increase in the proportion of female journalists and editors will inevitably
lead to changes in the priorities and the content of news itself. This is not
merely of academic interest, for this belief guides many researchers in the
western world (such as Beasley, 1993), as well as constituting the basis for
a not insignificant number of operational programmes implemented in
the EU and Scandinavia, aimed at correcting distortions through
affirmative action.
On the other hand, the results of the present study are consistent
with the somewhat revolutionary approach of van Zoonen, who claimed
that no change in newsworthiness ratings could be identified as gender
related. Nevertheless, despite our agreement with her conclusion, we do
not accept the specific emphases in the constellation of arguments and
causes in which her general conclusion is grounded (van Zoonen, 1994,
1998a, 1998b). In her more recent work, she puts maximum emphasis on
organizational and group factors which shape the news item and its level
of newsworthiness, and which for all practical purposes erase (in her view)
any personal influence grounded in the editor’s gender. In contrast, it is
our opinion that such an all-inclusive assumption ascribing complete
negation of individual influence to the cogs of the organizational
mechanism is unjustified. Instead, we suggest quite a different
approach.
Alternative explanations
It is our contention that a non-gender newsworthiness scale exists as an
inherent reference point for all editors (male and female). Such a nonL
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gender newsworthiness scale has evolved through the continuous,
prolonged and arduous effort of entire editing teams over decades – with
the primary aim of reflecting the taste of the average reader.
In Israel as in Europe, the American model of a commercial, nonideological
press has taken root, aiming to reach the largest audience
possible. In addition to a balanced presentation of issues which are the
subject of public controversy and debated values, this model requires
the construction and ranking of a mix of news topics which appeals to the
average reader, male and female alike. This latter clause is an important
one, for it may well be that many decades ago ‘male values’ did indeed
predominate for the simple reason that the vast majority of newspaper
purchasers and readers were themselves male. However, once the number
of women roughly equalled men among the readership, marketing
criteria took over from whatever exclusively ‘male’ editorial values may
have existed.
The Israeli press of the 1990s (at least those newspapers in the
present study) is similar to the western print press in its commercial and
basically non-ideological nature. A primary standard by which one
measures the success of a commercial newspaper is obviously its audience
share. Such an exogenous factor obligates editors to continually examine
public taste in an incessant attempt to identify the issues which attract
the public. In light of this, the findings of the present study are clear and
attest to the existence of a non-gender scale of newsworthiness, reflecting
the common denominator of the newspapers’ heterogeneous readership.
Of course, this approach does not purport to claim a single nongender
newsworthiness scale for the entire news industry. On the
contrary, the approach presented here is based on the principle of ‘facing
the reader’, i.e. recognizing reader segmentation. Thus, we might well
find various newsworthiness scales among papers (or groups of newspapers)
of a different nature. For example, we can assume that the
newsworthiness scale guiding tabloids is different from that used by elite
newspapers. If such a difference in news criteria between newspaper types
is discovered, this would reinforce our argument of the existence of a nongender
scale of newsworthiness directed at the ‘average reader’.
There is an irony in the preceding explanation. If newsworthiness
values are indeed a function of audience interest, then any wider cultural
change such as increased influence of women in society as a whole – rather
than a change in the gender of the average editor – will inevitably lead
to greater salience being given to ‘female’ topics and values (if such really
do exist). In other words, in the case of extensive society-wide cultural
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change, an adjustment in the scale of newsworthiness will occur even if
newsrooms remain the exclusive providence of men!
Some support for this view can already be found in the finding that
hard news does not always receive a higher score among male editors. For
example, in our headline simulation, ‘hard’ news items such as those
reporting collaboration with Japan or a lack of sufficient training areas for
the army are rated somewhat lower (by male editors) than ‘soft’ news
items such as a famous performer’s arrest on charges of alleged domestic
violence. This may indicate that the scale of newsworthiness has already
begun to change as a result of the increasing influence of women in Israeli
society (and by extension as newspaper readers and advert consumers)
over the past few decades.
Beyond this, one can also point to a different, even broader, cultural
change. There is firm ground for the claim that the incipient transformation
of the newsworthiness scale constitutes an additional facet of
postmodernism. The basic argument of postmodernism is that the ‘great
theories’ have disappeared, leaving the relativity of truth as the highest
value. Traditional criteria of importance have disappeared as a relativist
approach spreads and brings to the top of the newsworthiness scale many
issues which were previously excluded. Thus, it would not be surprising
to find ‘female’ issues (‘soft news items’) rising to the fore of the
newsworthiness scale and being considered high priority news.
Nevertheless, we must emphasize that these hypothetical explanations
are not based on extensive empirical evidence; a thorough
examination is required through a specific research effort aimed precisely
at (un)changing scales of newsworthiness over time, and comparatively
between types of newspapers and their audiences.
An additional theoretical possibility, which also requires further
study in order to provide sufficient evidence, lies in a phenomenon
relatively unique to Israel: the country’s extreme security problems. The
physical security of the individual and the community will always be at
the top of the newsworthiness scale as long as these continue to be salient
in daily life. This explanation follows Maslow’s (1954) scale of motivation
which sets security as one of the main, dominant motivational factors.
Only after satisfying their security needs do individuals direct their
attention to other elements of life, e.g. social intercourse, self-respect,
etc.
Therefore, as a result of Israel’s decades-long existential danger
together with ongoing security threats in various guises (Fedayeen, War
of Attrition, civilian terror, Intifada, Scud attacks, uprisings in the West
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Bank/Gaza, Southern Lebanon attacks, etc.), a relatively rigid newsworthiness
scale has evolved which accords any security issue the highest
priority. Furthermore, the continuous presence of a clear and immediate
danger to the state and society may also influence the entire newsworthiness
scale in such a manner that many ‘extraneous’ items will be
evaluated in light of their potential to harm or benefit ‘us’. Thus, for
example, the election of an anti-Semitic president in any country abroad,
however far away and lacking influence, would be an item rated higher
than a political victory in a major country with no Jewish/Israeli
implications or even than a story with more immediate, local, nonsecurity
ramifications.
In short, it might well be that the absence of gender otherness
between female and male editors stems from the fact that the uncertainty
underlying Israel’s very existence drives and controls the newsworthiness
scale and leaves no room for any genuine expression of gender-based
preferences. Furthermore, were newspaper readership surveys to be
conducted, we would most probably find similar results to those
presented herein among the editors due to newsworthiness values which
have been internalized by the entire community, with hard reality –
rather than any specific organizational imperative – operating as the
compelling force.
Indeed, this might explain the communications students’ results –
almost identical to the editors’. As citizens of Israel, they are influenced
by the general politico-strategic environment in the same measure as
their civic counterparts (whether professionally interested in the news or
far from the journalistic profession). In any case, the students’ results
clearly indicate that whatever factors exist underlying news values/criteria
they are most probably not gender related and certainly not influenced by
any news organization socialization process.
Why are women editors still a minority?
If we have found that there does not exist significant editorial otherness
between men and women, there remains the question – that so many
previous researchers have grappled with – as to why Israeli female editors,
and by extension, their counterparts in other western countries (Stone,
1988; Cramer, 1993), remain a distinct minority in the newsroom,
especially in the more prominent area of hard news. While the present
study did not originally intend to examine sociological aspects of this
phenomenon, one aspect of the findings (especially from the in-depth
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interviews) is highly suggestive, as well as indirectly shedding light on
our central research questions.
In the student control group, a significantly lower proportion of
female communications students expressed interest in working in news
journalism, compared to male students. One should note that female
preference for the fields of advertising, public relations, spokespersonship,
etc., instead of journalism, is not a phenomenon unique to Israel but
characterizes other western countries as well. Surveys clearly show that
students of mass communications, especially women, have turned their
backs on news gathering and editing, which figured prominently in past
curricula, preferring advertising and public relations. Peterson has
concluded that women more than men are attracted to the nontraditional
categories of ‘journalism’ (Peterson, 1980, cited in Beasley,
1993).
Undoubtedly, several diverse considerations are at the root of female
students’ preference for advertising and public relations over news, such
as heightened consumer awareness regarding the role of advertising and
PR; increasing willingness of the business sector to employ professionals
in communications; innovative technologies which enable telecommuting
and part-time employment; low starting salaries in journalism; and
perhaps others. Still, most of these trends could be said to impact both
females and males. The fact that more women than men turn to non-news
job categories requires an investigation of the issue from the perspective
of gender otherness.
One crucial finding of our study is that there is a wide gap regarding
the average number of children between male editors (three, on average)
and female editors (one). This finding, supplemented by in-depth
interviews with a number of female editors, affords us a more wellrounded
picture.
The news profession is considered an inherent ‘work around the
clock’ job (at least up to the most senior positions), necessitating
engagement on the part of the professional at all times. The fundamental
requirement of the news journalist is total dedication and commitment to
‘immediate’ demands (breaking stories, etc.). This deters many women,
most of whom are interested in granting their professional life an
important but not exclusive status in the complicated mosaic of home–
family–work. These women, acutely aware at an early age of what each
profession demands, tend therefore to avoid the field of news journalism
on the assumption/certainty that such work will almost surely upset the
desired balance between the various important elements in their lives.
Such considerations are absent from the minds of most men who perceive
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the superiority of professional demands over all others as something
‘natural’.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that women who enter the field of
news, despite all these dissuading factors, have markedly fewer children
than their male editor counterparts (given that there are few male spouses
willing to take over most parental duties). Our in-depth interviews
indicate that these women editors have abandoned the traditional value
system which prioritizes children over professional advancement. They
create a familial-social support network that enables them to continue
working full-time without being overly worried about the possible
adverse affects of family obligations on work (and vice versa). However, it
is apparent that many of the women who are aware of the difficulties
inherent in choosing the hard news field as a career tend to avoid it from
the start, preferring other areas of journalism (soft news) or communications
(PR, advertising) instead.
If this is correct (perhaps universally among western countries),
could it be that the lack of gender-based, news value/criteria otherness
that we found is actually an artefact of professional self-selection, i.e.
women harbouring ‘female’ values avoid the profession of journalism
consciously, leaving those with a more ‘male’ value system to work in
news production? On the face of it, this might seem to be a reasonable
conclusion; however, when we return to the communications students
(one professional stage prior) we find that such a conclusion is probably
unwarranted. As we have seen, these students, who are representative of
all mass communication workers (many of whom will work in PR,
advertising, as spokespersons, etc.), do not express or evince any gender
otherness in news values. Using the students as a control group, therefore,
enables us to provisionally discount an explanation not heretofore raised
in the research literature: female journalists, while perhaps placing
greater emphasis on professional work than on maternal goals (compared
to other female communication workers), do not necessarily have different
newsworthiness values than their PR and advertising female counterparts.
In order to definitively determine that this is indeed the case, it would be
worthwhile in a future study to compare newsworthiness values/criteria
between female journalists and their counterparts who work in PR,
advertising, as spokespersons, etc.
Conclusion
This study ends on an ironic note. On the one hand, we have found
unequivocal evidence that Israeli female and male editors view news
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selection in almost identical terms. On the other hand, the professional
situation of women journalists and editors does not seem to be aided by
this in finding work and later during the promotion process. The
conclusion based on the evidence here is that journalistic values and
modes of practice are not the root cause of gender inequality in the
newsroom; rather, such factors are sociological and organizational.
The common denominator of both findings is that ‘extrajournalistic’,
economic and societal forces are the prime movers underlying
Israeli women journalists’ situation. Their news values (almost
identical to those of male editors and students) are a function of market
demands and national exigencies – audience share (van Zoonen, 1998a)
and security problems. The professional obstacles they face are also in
large part based on economic and social considerations – legislative
‘benefits’ and ‘personal family values/demands’.
To be sure, the two aforementioned explanations regarding news
selection need to be corroborated by additional studies in Israel and
elsewhere. Regarding the economic factor, we suggest a longitudinal
study to examine changes over time regarding newsworthiness in the
context of a growing commercial-marketing orientation among the press
in the recent past. This is especially germane given Underwood’s (1993)
argument that increasingly newspapers are hiring MBAs as heads of news
desks, as opposed to the traditional system of hiring only experienced
journalists. Another type of study could empirically examine newsworthiness
scales among diverse newspaper types, classified by their
different readership. If the marketing factor is found to be the dominant
consideration, different scales of newsworthiness would appear for diverse
types of newspapers (each with a specific type of audience).
With regard to the national security explanation, here too additional
studies are in order. These would focus on a comparative analysis between
countries with different levels of external threat, regarding their editors’
perception of newsworthiness criteria. Indeed, one could even perform
such a study longitudinally on any one country as it moves through
different levels of security crises and periods of peace.
Finally, while we have added communications students as a control
group, enabling us to discount organizational factors as decisive in news
value formation, there still exists the possibility that news consumption
has a strong socializing influence. In other words, both journalists and
communications students are most probably heavier news consumers than
others, and over time they may internalize the ‘accepted’ news values/
criteria emanating from the press (even if they were not heavier
consumers, such news socialization would take place, albeit less quickly
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or profoundly). Thus, we suggest that a further study might usefully
continue this control group approach by moving one more step down the
age group ladder: examining news values/criteria of middle/high school
students who are very light hard-news consumers, if at all, i.e. before they
have been ‘contaminated’ by the dominant news system’s way of
presenting and framing the news. Indeed, such a study might even show
that news value formation – for men and women alike – is more a
function of internalizing news norms through personal news consumption
than any professional factor, e.g. news organization or journalism
education.
In summary, at least regarding the print press, various factors lead
us to believe that there exists only a small probability of a female
majority in senior positions in the foreseeable future. However, even if
newsrooms were to be transformed into a female bastion, no significant
changes in editorial practice should be anticipated. If we ask in the title
of this article ‘whose news?’ is it, our answer is that whether or not
women journalists will produce the news in growing numbers, in the end
the news belongs to – and is a reflection of – the common concerns and
interests of both sexes among the readership. Thus, the growing
empowerment of women may indeed change the news, but more from the
bottom up (women as audience) than from the top down (women as
editors).
For caution’s sake, however, two caveats must be added here. First,
as already hinted at earlier in this article, what is probably true in general
for the print newsroom may not necessarily be valid for other media
news-rooms. Organizational constraints might be different; with remote
control in hand, television news audiences (not to mention Internet
surfers!) can more easily change channels than print news readers tend to
change their paper; and so on. Second and more specifically, it might well
be that non-commercial media (public broadcasting, party newspapers)
have a different gender dynamic – internally as well as with their
audience – than commercial venues. Thus, our suppositions must be seen
as tentative and at this stage not necessarily generally valid. Only further
research in sundry directions can determine whether and to what extent
the present study’s conclusions are universally applicable.
Notes
The authors would like to thank Liesbet van Zoonen for her helpful comments
in assisting us shape the final version of this article.
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1. Tuchman (1973) identified, defined and positioned several key concepts in the
field of news production: spot news, developing news, continuing news, prescheduled
news, unscheduled news, breaking stories and non-scheduled
news.
2. The editors were chosen from seven Israeli newspapers: the four leading
Hebrew-language dailies (Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv, Ha’aretz and Globes), and
three municipal weeklies (Jerusalem’s Kol Ha’ir, Haifa’s Kol Bo and Netanya’s
Ha’shavua be’Netanya), in order to ensure editorial diversity.
3. Sex, age, education, country of origin, family status, number of children, as
well as length of tenure in an editing position, weekly frequency of editing
news pages, pay schedule, type of newspaper, etc.
4. Work habits, opinions, perceived professional status, daily media consumption
of news, satisfaction with place of employment, continuity of
journalistic work, previous employment and promotion history. This section
elicited a description of the subject’s job history and opinions on news
journalism in the subject’s own words.
5. Fashion and design; environment; national security; culture and entertainment;
religion; societal concerns (education, health, poverty and minorities);
international news (including world economy); foreign policy; economics;
science and technology; sports; Israeli politics (political parties, etc.);
law and order; local government; the peace process; transportation and
communications.
6. Elite members and local heroes; size and intensity of the event; wide-ranging
scope; continuity (from previous days); surprise; editorial mix (with other
news items); degree of predictability; reference to people involved; cultural
identity; editor’s personal preference; (occurred in a) leading country;
significance; conflict; matches paper’s ideological stance; geographical
proximity; negativity; frequency of occurrence.
7. The fabricated (albeit realistic) headlines were: (1) The former mayor of [small
town] Beit Shemesh was exonerated of bribery charge: ‘I plan to sue the
Attorney General’s office for false accusation’; (2) Japanese Foreign Minister:
‘Cooperation will cease if the peace process stops’; (3) [Environment] Minister
Yossi Sarid: ‘The plan to move the [country’s largest] garbage dump from the
centre of the country will be delayed for quite some time’; (4) Leah Gottlieb,
owner of Gottex [world renowned Israeli swimsuit company], and a young
designer for the Shenkar [Fashion Institute], are the two finalists in the World
Golden Pin competition: ‘The time has come to appreciate MTV fashion’, the
young designer declared; (5) Central Bank chairman to announce interest rate
increase of 2 percent; (6) Famous singer arrested on suspicion of wife and
child beating; (7) Zubin Mehta will not conduct the [Israel] Philharmonic
Orchestra during the coming year; (8) Professor Alice Shalvi: ‘In Israel,
women earn 45 percent less than men for the same work’; (9) Administrators
of the Israeli Science Fund do not recognize the Hebrew language – all
proposals must be submitted in English; (10) [Commercial television]
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Channel 2 licensees: ‘Don’t permit commercial advertising on the Russian
and ultra-Orthodox cable stations’; (11) Only three months’ actual time in
jail for a teacher in the southern part of the country who raped his pupil; (12)
Britain announces its intention to leave the European Union; (13) Apple
Computers lost $500 million during the last six months, losing market share
in Israel; (14) [Israeli basketball superstar] Doron Sheffer breaks leg and won’t
play in NBA next year; (15) MK Deri: ‘Despite opposition from the
Immigrant Party and Zomet [a secular party], [ultra-Orthodox party] SHAS
will concentrate on anchoring the religious status quo in a Constitutional
Amendment’; (16) Saudi Arabia refuses to allow El Al planes to traverse its
air space; (17) [Israeli] Soldier killed by missile fired from Southern Lebanon;
(18) MK Blumenthal: ‘70 percent of third graders in [small town] Or Akiva
cannot read or write’; (19) [Popular Israeli singer] Ofra Haza: ‘I will not
appear in the Territories for security reasons’; (20) Israeli Basketball National
Team loses in the European Championship Finals; (21) Chairman of Clalit
[Israel’s largest health provider]: ‘Prescriptions will not be honoured in
private pharmacies’; (22) Ehud Barak: ‘Israeli Air Force pilots don’t have
enough air space for training’; (23) Wheat prices up 20 percent following
drought in US; (24) Microsoft spokesperson: ‘We have failed to transcribe
Hebrew into our Internet browser’.
8. a. Professor Alice Shalvi: ‘In Israel, women earn 45 percent less than men for
the same work.’
F = 7.06 (SD = 1.84); M = 5.56 (SD = 2.09)
b. MK Blumenthal: ‘70 percent of third graders in [small town] Or Akiva
cannot read or write.’
F = 7.88 (SD = 2.09); M = 5.24 (SD = 2.44)
c. [Popular Israeli singer] Ofra Haza: ‘I will not appear in the Territories for
security reasons.’
F = 4.25 (SD = 2.29); M = 5.76 (SD = 2.24)
d. Wheat prices up 20 percent following drought in US.
F = 7.56 (SD = 1.21); M = 6.08 (SD = 2.54)
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