Click microphone icon to listen to archived free! Radio webcast of this event. Real Audio/Real Player required, minimum 28.8 Internet connection recommended. Runs 1 hour, 40 minutes. Network news expert: Sound bites almost always white, male
10.20.98
Click microphone icon to listen to archived free! Radio webcast of this event. Real Audio/Real Player required, minimum 28.8 Internet connection recommended. Runs 1 hour, 40 minutes.
NEW YORK — When the three main broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — give experts the opportunity to speak on their early evening newscasts, the speakers are almost exclusively white and male, according to the 10th annual Women, Men and Media Study, conducted by ADT Research in conjunction with The Freedom Forum. By contrast, comments solicited by the networks from "real people" were far more representative of the American population as a whole.
"Individuals of either sex, any age and all races can be heard from on the network news, as long as they are not wielding power or offering expertise. The networks' 'golden rolodexes' of expert consultants are badly in need of updating," said Andrew Tyndall, director of the study, titled Who Speaks For America? Sex, Age and Race on the Network News.
During the first six months of 1998, nearly nine of 10 "expert" sound bites (87%) on the network newscasts were provided by men, and more than nine in 10 (92%) were provided by whites. Women accounted for 13% of expert sound bites and people of color just 6% (in 2% of the sound bites, the speaker's racial/ethnic status was unclear).
When the networks turned to "real people" for sound bites in news stories, the diversity of America was far more in evidence. Four in 10 (41%) sound bites provided by "real people" came from women and 14% from people of color. Nationally, women represent 51% of the total U.S. population and nonwhites 28%, according to August 1998 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Young people (under 30) and seniors (65 and over) were also more likely to be represented in "real people" soundbites than in "expert" sound bites. People under 30 accounted for 19% of real-people sound bites vs. just 1% of expert sound bites, while seniors accounted for 11% of real-people sound bites vs. 3% of expert sound bites.
Baby boomers (ages 30 to 49) were by far the networks' favorite quote-producers, whether they were playing the role of expert or "person on the street." Fully two-thirds of expert sound bites (68%) were uttered by baby boomers, while half (50%) of "real people" sound bites came from this age group. In the general public, baby boomers make up 31% of the total population.
A third class of people called upon by the network newscasts to provide sound bites — politicians — were overwhelmingly old, white and male, reflecting the realities of political power in the U.S. People over the age of fifty accounted for three-quarters (74%) of the sound bites given by politicians. People of color uttered 13% of political soundbites, while women accounted for 9%.
For all their seeming ubiquitousness on the network newscasts, politicians accounted for just one in five (18%) sound bites during the first half of 1998. Experts accounted for two in five (40%) sound bites, as did real people (39%).
Facts about sound bites on the network newscasts (January through June 1998):
With respect to newscast staffing, the visibility of female correspondents increased on ABC and NBC, but diminished on CBS. During the first half of 1998, nearly a third (32%) of all reports on "ABC World News Tonight" were filed by women, up from 25% in 1996. On "NBC Nightly News," one in four (24%) reports were filed by women, up from 17% in 1996. At CBS, just one in nine (11%) reports were filed by women, down from 15% in 1996.
Overall, 22% of all reports on the network newscasts were filed by women, up from 19% in 1996 and 14% 10 years ago (1988).
Women, Men and Media is a research and outreach project examining diversity issues in the media industry. The organization, chaired by author Betty Friedan, was born in 1987 from a growing awareness among journalists of the imbalance and distortion in the coverage and representation of men and women and of new evidence of workplace discrimination.
The current Women, Men and Media Study was conducted for The Freedom Forum's Free Press/Fair Press project. Launched this year, Free Press/Fair Press is a multimillion-dollar project that documents and analyzes public concerns about the way journalists do their jobs, while also seeking a better understanding of the role and responsibilities of a free and fair press.
For a copy of the full report, contact: Sheila Owens, Media Studies Center, 212-317-6517