The Women Journalists Association (WJA) of Pakistan and civil society organisation Freedom Network have launched a gender audit of Pakistani media organisations to assess the existing level of gender diversity and gender equality in the news media.
The research provides an evaluation of the status of gender equality at 15 Pakistani news media organisations that are operating head offices or bureaus in the federal capital, Islamabad. The sample included 6 TV channels, 4 newspapers, 3 news agencies, and 2 news websites. A survey was used to collect data from the news organisations in September 2023 which collected information on representation, policies, anti-harassment measures, working conditions, and wages.
Based on the data, the gender audit shows that:
- The average share of women journalists at the 15 news outlets is only 11% of the total journalists.
- In at least four out of every 10 news outlets, the share of female journalists is fewer than 10% of the editorial staff.
- At nine out of every 10 news organisations, the overall share of female employees is fewer than 20% of the total employees, including journalists and other workers.
- Around 75% of the audited media outlets have no woman journalist in a senior leadership role.
- Only two out of the 15 news organisations have set up an anti-harassment inquiry committee, despite a federal law making it mandatory for employers.
- At least 10 of the 15 media outlets do not have maternity or paternity leave provisions despite federal law mandating 180 days paid maternity leave and 30 days paternity leave.
- Majority of the news organisations do not have documented policies regarding employee conduct, salaries, and promotions.
- At nearly half of the organisations, salaries are paid late, and the wages of female journalists are lower than male counterparts at a quarter of the organisations.
The audited organisations were also rated on the IMS gender sensitivity criteria to determine their overall gender rating. Around 75% of the news organisations were found to be “gender blind”, which means their organisational policies and practices do not identify or address specific gender-based issues that can affect men, women, and other gender minorities differently at the workplace.
The gender audit reveals that the Pakistani media industry is facing a state of “gender emergency” that includes the under-representation of women in newsrooms and the violation of labour laws and other federal regulations by media organisations that leaves journalists, especially women, vulnerable to workplace harassment and arbitrary administrative decisions with little or no legal cover. Additionally, the working conditions at news offices frequently fail to address issues that affect men and women differently.
Urgent actions are required to address this gender emergency. The gender audit provides detailed suggestions addressed to four stakeholder groups in the Recommendations chapter to improve the gender sensitivity and diversity of media organisations. In brief, the recommendations are:
- Gender audits: Gender support groups and media development organisations should conduct periodic – annual or biennial (once every two years) – gender audits of media organisations (print, electronic and digital media) to measure and track gender affirmative levels in compliance with legal, social and professional gender equity targets, goals and indicators.
- Gender strategies: News organisations and news managers should develop organisational gender strategies, enforce equitable recruitment and promotions policies, comply with gender-related laws and regulations, and develop actions plans in consultation with female employees to make the workplace gender sensitive.
- Gender sensitization: Civil society groups and media development organisations should raise awareness among media houses about the moral and business cases for gender diversity, share a model gender equality policy with news media organisations, and offer gender sensitivity training sessions for journalists.
- Gender friendly: Journalists and their representative trade unions and associations should demand transparency in contracts and wage structures as well as fair mechanisms for professional career development. They should seek legal help where news organisations violate gender-related laws and regulations and make their own forums gender inclusive by listening to and addressing the concerns raised by women journalists.
- Gender equality: Policymakers should get media regulators to implement gender equality measures at news organisations, launch equal employment opportunity awareness programmes, and strengthen mechanisms to curb the workplace harassment and safety threats faced by women journalists.
WJA has noticed with concern the current levels of women’s representation at news organisations and the structural inequalities resulting from policies and practices that discourage women’s participation in the news industry.
WJA and Freedom Network hope that other media stakeholders will also contribute to the implementation of the recommendations. The gender bias and gender gap in the news industry can only be overcome through collective action.