Reham Khan has lamented the manner in which her recent divorce was treated by the media. With journalists scrambling to reveal all the ‘skeletons in her closet’ for primetime slots and snide judgements being disguised as breaking news, one can certainly see her point.

Was the media guilty of a gender bias?

Let’s imagine the following scenario. There is a public figure, perhaps a politician/philanthropist, who has a strong, overly ambitious personality, and a penchant for living life on his/her own terms. The person has led a turbulent personal life, having been divorced twice, with children from one of the failed marriages. Is this person more likely to be portrayed as an attention-seeking gold-digger if a woman, but just your average politician if a man? I leave that to your discretion.

Hypotheticals aside, we now have concrete data that describes the extent of disparity in the representation of men and women in the news media. A just-released report by the Global Media Monitoring Project has revealed that media sexism is a serious, global problem. GMMP is the world’s largest and longest-running research and advocacy initiative for gender equality in and through the news media, a project of the communications advocacy agency WACC, with support from UN Women.

Male-dominated newsrooms indulge in noisy commentary that can often perpetuate discriminatory attitudes towards women.

The report, which gathered data from 114 countries, finds that women make up only 24pc of the persons heard, read about or seen in newspaper, television and radio news, exactly the same level found in the 2010 report, showing that progress towards gender parity in the news has “ground to a halt”.

Male reporters dominate the news world, with only 37pc of stories in newspapers, television and radio newscasts reported by women. This global glass ceiling on women reporters seems to have an impact on not only the number of stories that focus on women, but also the extent to which gender inequality issues are raised in the media and gender stereotypes perpetuated through the media.

For example, only 9pc of stories highlight gender inequality concerns. Moreover, the journalistic lens in source selection is not only male-centric, but also focuses on a certain type of masculinity while selecting interviewees. In other words, male reporters tend to prefer male sources, and politicians are the most sought after category of interviewees, for everything from personal testimonies to expert opinion.

Women interviewees, on the other hand, tend to be ordinary residents, homemakers, students, villagers, or survivors of domestic violence. Such stereotypical representation barely reflects the reality of the scope of women’s contribution towards society. While women comprise approximately 40pc of the employment in the formal labour force, their economic contribution is reflected in only 20pc of news reports.

Media sexism has “endured across decades and geographical boundaries, adapting to emerging media forms and thriving in all spaces in which news content is produced and shared”, according to Dr Sarah Macharia, GMMP global coordinator.

In the context of Pakistan, the data reveals severe gender disparity. Only 16pc of print/broadcast reporters are women, and the number is even lower in print media alone. Interestingly, the scenario changes with regards to television presenters, a majority of whom are women (86pc). This figure, however, largely represents the younger age bracket, with severe under-representation of women TV presenters in the 50-64 year age group.

There is reason for optimism, however, when it comes to online news media. While online media shows persistent gender bias globally, in Pakistan, the data reveals gender parity, both in terms of women who make the news, and online reporters who are women. “Newsmakers of online media may be leading the nation into a gender-equal news coverage,” said Dr Glory Dharmaraj, GMMP US coordinator.

For better or for worse, the media is a powerful tool that shapes our perception of the world, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Pakistan. News and news media contribute to how people act — at home, school, work — to the political choices they may make, as Rev Dr Karin Achtelstetter, WACC general secretary said.

The severe gender disparity that the GMMP report has revealed in traditional media in Pakistan does seem to have an impact on the portrayal of women. Male-dominated newsrooms indulge in noisy commentary that can often perpetuate discriminatory attitudes towards women, with Reham Khan being the starkest example. What then, will it take to end media sexism? An immediate step that media houses can take as suggested by the report is to hire more female reporters and establish gender quotas for senior positions. Women reporters tend to focus on women’s issues more than their male counterparts.

As long as women remain consumers of news and not shapers of news media, the problem of gender inequality will continue, Dr Dharmaraj pointed out. At the same time, she suggests a ‘ground-up’ approach at the grass-roots level as well as a ‘top-down’ approach at the policymaking level. The civil society should hold the media accountable for shaping public opinion in gender-related issues, while the government should make provisions for empowering women in media and communication policies, she said.

As observed in Latin America, a vibrant civil society and human rights movement as well as an increase in the number of female heads of state seems to have helped reduce the gender gap in people in the news.

Fortunately, the online news world has allowed women in Pakistan to bypass the barriers of traditional media. This raises the hope that gender stereotypes will be challenged more than ever before, as both men and women become equal partners in the online arena to build momentum towards the advancement of women’s rights in the broader society.

The writer is a freelance journalist and media consultant for UN Women. The views expressed here are her own.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015