Breaking the Stereotype.

Journalism. A profession so influential, so powerful. Capable of making or breaking companies worth billion dollars, a medium so patronizing, and powerful, it can bring about changes unimaginable. But who runs this profession? Is a question to ask.

When it comes to reporting of the news, there is a huge difference. On one hand where pretty female reporters are hired to deliver the daily 9’o clock news, male reporters are given consideration when live news are to be reported from right in between wars.

Why this gender bias in a field as powerful and open as journalism? One might talk about the vulnerability of female reporters in such unsafe lands. True! No doubt women are unsafe in strange lands, but does that justify  the deprivation of  opportunities form passionate female reporters who have worked all their lives for such opportunities? Is the arrangement of a few male sub reporters accompanying, besides working as a team also ensuring her security difficult?  The whole argument of male reporters being more safe in conflict situations than women has been proven false in the past few years with the world seeing even male reporters being equally assaulted and sexually harassed as women.  And in the first place everyone in a conflict situation equally face the chaos, the gender differences are nullified, whether male or female, the repercussions of the conflicts are faced equally.

There has never been a doubt on the ability of women reporters, In fact a recent study showed that women have a better access to intricate news in small villages, where the females reporters are not posed as a threat by the tribal people to them, compared to male reporters who are not so welcomed. This helps in understanding the life of women in these small and difficultly accessible areas, and gives us a better insight to their lives and economies and cultures. And not only small and inaccessible areas but also in war lands as severe as Iraq, where several women are raped, and are victims of the war, It’s the female reporters who are able to cover these sensitive stories.

In the field of journalism along with the oration and the fluency with which one delivers the news, it’s the courage that counts more, the courage to willingly be in between conflicts and to face its consequences and it isn’t something that varies in degrees in different genders. Male reporters also exceed in some areas of reporting than women when it comes to reporting from harsh climatic or physical conditions.

 Therefore plainly generalizing of certain notions would be plain stupidity.  Both male and female reporters have their roles to play in all genres of news reporting hence should be given equal opportunities in any form of news.

Better forms and quality of news reporting would be possible and  a wide range of the small yet crucial real life stories would be covered that are generally left out. And that’s possible only if these ancient stereotypes are broken.