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Women: International
Deshabhimani, Malayalam newspaper office. Photo courtesy of The Hindu, India.
orities and preoccupations during
the past decade due to a number of
developments, especially within the
economy, that have affected many
aspects of society, including the
media. Influential sections of the
media today seem obsessed with
the lives of the bold and the beautiful,
the rich and the famous, the
pampered and the powerful, and
consequently less receptive to the
interests and concerns of those who
do not belong to this charmed circle.
In this altered media environment,
there is less time and space for indepth
coverage of serious issues,
including many relating to gender.
Like the media everywhere, the Indian
press, too, has a predilection for
events, especially dramatic ones that
involve or threaten violence or conflict.
As a result, the gender-related
issues that routinely receive the most
media attention are those that fit into
dominant perceptions of what constitutes
news. Among these are violent
atrocities such as rape and dowry-related
murder and political hot potatoes,
like the recent threat by a militant
organization in Kashmir to disfigure or
kill girls and women who ignore its
edict on the wearing of the burka (an
alien garment for Kashmiri women,
including Muslims). Even here, the notoriously
brief attention span of the
media—a familiar global problem—
militates against sustained, consistent
coverage. For instance, a spurt in prominent
reporting about “dowry deaths”—
often spurred by a particularly sensational
case, a public demonstration, a
court judgment, and/or release of new
research findings—is usually followed
by a fallow period when the same kind
of news reverts to being treated as a
routine event and is relegated to its
usual obscure place within the paper.
…it is difficult to state categorically that the
presence and rise of women in the Indian
media have had a perceptible, positive impact
on mainstream journalism and media coverage
as a whole.
The media’s tendency to focus on
events rather than processes often results
in the neglect of many important
issues concerning women—for example,
the combination of chronic malnutrition
and overwork that threatens
the health of millions of women and
the initiation into public life of thousands
of rural women elected to institutions
of local governance from the
mid-1990’s onwards. When such issues
do get covered, it is because of the
efforts of women—inside and outside
the media—more often than not. However,
there are signs of hope in what
can appear a bleak scenario. Certain
kinds of gender-related issues now
seem to be accepted by both men and
women in the media as legitimate subjects
for mainstream media coverage.
At least one journalism school offers an
elective course on gender amid reports
that others might soon do so.
Meanwhile, awareness and concern
about gender-related issues are very
much alive and kicking among a cross
section of media women today, including
young professionals. According to
one young female journalist, this is not
just because they are women but because
such issues are inherently important
and involve a section of the
citizenry that does not easily find a
voice in the media. “Our generation
has little idealism left,” says another.
“But the little that remains seems to be
with the women.” ■
Ammu Joseph is a freelance journalist
and author based in Bangalore,
India. She has written two books,
“Whose News? The Media and
Women’s Issues,” co-authored/edited
with Kalpana Sharma (Sage Publications,
Delhi, 1994), and “Women in
Journalism: Making News” (The
Media Foundation/Konark Publishers,
Delhi, 2000). She is on the visiting
faculty of the Asian College of
Journalism, Chennai, where she
teaches a course on covering gender.
She writes mainly on issues relating
to women, children, human development,
and the media.
rheas@vsnl.com
Nieman Reports / Winter 2001 87