Sara De Vuyst

Gender as a multi-layered issue in journalism : a multi-method approach to studying barriers sustaining gender inequality in Belgian newsrooms

In feminist media studies, the growing body of research on media production has indicated that journalism remains divided along gender lines. The purpose of this study is to address the lack of relevant multi-method research on gender inequality in journalism. To assess the structural position of women in the journalistic workforce, the authors conducted a large-scale survey of journalists in Belgium. The survey results were explored in more depth by conducting qualitative interviews with 19 female journalists. The analysis confirms the existence of all traditional barriers that women journalists experience. The added value of this study is that it enumerates several additional difficulties, and offers insight into the strategies that the respondents use to deal with gender-related career obstacles. These strategies were associated with the degree of flexibility in the newsroom for journalists with children, the choice to work part-time or freelance, and the use of new communication technologies.

Is journalism gender e-qual? A study of the gendered accumulation and evaluation of digital capital in journalism

This paper examines the role of digitalisation in shaping and reproducing gender relations in journalism. It builds on the concepts of Bourdieu’s field theory and its feminist appropriations to study how journalists construct the value of digital capital in this rapidly changing professional field. The journalistic work environment has been changed dramatically by digitisation, while mechanisms of gender bias remain rather constant throughout these developments. The aim of our study is to gain insight into whether and how digital capital is gendered in journalism. The central research question focuses on the value of digital capital in the journalistic profession and how this relates to professional opportunities for female and male journalists. We conducted 24 qualitative interviews with a cross-national sample of journalists who had varying levels of digital proficiency. The results suggest that gender permeates both the evaluation and the accumulation of digital capital in journalism. There was a strong connection with other forms of capital such as gender capital and social capital. The participants also described strategies related to digital capital that could increase the status of women in the field of journalism.