University lecturer and media and gender studies expert Brenda Murphy, in collaboration with other European countries, worked on a toolkit, titled Portraying Politics, to help the media reflect accurately the role of women in politics.

Although women represent 24 per cent of politicians in Europe, the Global Media Monitoring Project 2005 report found that only 10 per cent of politicians in the European news are women (compared with 12 per cent globally).

Television helps to convey and reinforce conventional stereotypes in a subtle way and these stereotypes affect the way politicians – especially female ones – are perceived by the public, explained Dr Murphy.

The 2005 Global Media Monitoring Project found that in the European media, women are twice as likely to appear as news subjects in stories on social issues rather than in stories on politics and government.

The project began with a review of gender, politics and the media in the different countries. “In conjunction with tremendous support from the Malta Broadcasting Authority, the project searched for video clips used in the local media. They were then reviewed, alongside all clips from all other partner countries. The task of selecting the final set of clips was challenging but the partners worked as a team and ultimately we think that the clips that were selected best exemplify the issues that are being raised under each category,” said Dr Murphy.

The video clips form the core of the toolkit and illustrate some of the main patterns and tendencies in television’s portrayal of women and men in politics and public life today.

Dr Murphy explained that the toolkit is a sequel to another training toolkit called Screening Gender, produced in 2000 by six European broadcasting organisations.

Margaret Gallagher was consultant to a consortium of five European broadcasters for the development of the Screening Gender (1997-2000) and was one of the main movers behind the Portraying Politics toolkit.

“She is completely committed to raising awareness about gender portrayal in the media – especially politics,” said Dr Murphy.

Previous projects have focused on northern Europe and Portraying Politics was an opportunity for southern European countries to participate.

However, Malta was the only southern European country involved in the study, added Dr Murphy.

“Northern countries are aware of the importance of gender portrayal in the media and have the expertise and commitment to keep it firmly on the agenda and incorporated into daily work practice,” she said. “Although southern countries are aware of the importance of gender balance in portrayal, they usually have less human resources and expertise to address the issues.”

In fact, she explained that compared to other countries participating in the project, Malta was the odd one out.

“In the other countries, there is an expert on diversity or gender portrayal in each media organisation but Malta’s participation in the project was through the University of Malta.”

Dr Murphy explained that in foreign news organisations, the person responsible for equality in diversity usually works in human resources or in a similar “training” role.

“If a company is committed to gender equality, or ‘diversity’ and addresses it in all levels of its organisation and work practice, then the concept of diversity and gender equality is also reflected in the media’s output,” she said.

Portraying Politics was a European Union project, and as with all EU-funded projects, the applying parties have to provide 20 per cent of the budget.

“The 20 per cent does not have to be financial, in fact it is usually a contribution in the form of time from local partners.”

Portraying Politics goes deeper than its predecessor and examines the inter-relationship between gender, media and politics.

The toolkit is split into eight modules, each of which deals with a different aspect of gender, politics and television. The modules consist of video clips from Finland, Germany, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Holland and the United Kingdom.

It provides an introduction to some of the issues involved and discussion questions that can be used to start off a debate.

The aim of Portraying Politics is intended to stimulate reflection and debate among journalists, programme-makers and media managers, she added.

“The main aim of this kit is that it is used to create more awareness and used as training for journalists, editors and anyone who is involved in the production of news or programmes on political or current affairs,” said Dr Murphy.

Traditional perceptions of gender roles are reflected in the way politics is presented in the media. Politics is still mainly constructed in typically masculine terms “as if it were a battle or a sporting match,” the Kit points out.

It goes on to say: “Women who according to the traditional stereotype are more emotionally involved, modest and cooperative are thus regarded as unfit for this political world.”

Dr Murphy pointed out that although this portrayal is not deliberate, it still takes place. “It is usually done through a lack of thought or awareness,” she said.

However, training should not be limited to either male or female journalists but to both.

The stereotyping gives different values to men and women, in a context where those values are not relevant.

For example, the media image of the politician as a “family man” is a reassuring one, suggesting stability and reliability. However, there is no equivalent image of the “family woman”.

A man who says he is leaving the office to spend more time with the family may be portrayed as human and caring. However, a woman who gives the same reason may be depicted as a failure.

Dr Murphy pointed out that a family woman has to face the challenge of juggling her family and her career – a role which is not expected of men.

“It is just as important for the mother to have the choice to continue working as it is for the father to have the choice to spend time with his children,” she said.

However, unless flexible working hours or paid paternal leave is introduced, it is very difficult for fathers to take parental leave.

“Working in the media requires working under pressure while trying to beat deadlines. To gain time and speed, journalists and programme managers use formulas,” she said “Through the awareness created by the toolkit, we are hoping that the individuals who are making the news will align themselves on a different track and consider alternative ways of portraying male and female politicians and people in public life.”

Now that the toolkit is ready, it will be sent out to all local TV and radio stations. “We do not wish it to be left on a shelf to gather dust. The University of Malta is committed to lifelong learning and is more than willing to give a helping hand to those organisations that want to carry out training sessions using the toolkit,” she said.

Portraying Politics is an EU-funded project. Partners include the European Journalism Centre (EJC), Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), ARD/Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) (NRK), the EFJ, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA), the University of Malta.

For more information contact Dr Murphy on [email protected] or visit the website www.portrayingpolitics.org.