Women Still Underrepresented in Japanese News Industry
Tokyo, March 16 (Jiji Press)--Women remain underrepresented in the Japanese news media industry, where tough employees willing to work long hours have traditionally been valued as news can break anytime, anywhere.
But taking that for granted has tended to hinder reforms of working styles and corporate organizations while reducing career opportunities for female journalists, who are still more likely to bear the main burden of child care.
Correcting the gender gap is an urgent issue in the industry. Such a change is expected to bring the perspectives of women to newsrooms, leading to more diverse viewpoints in news production.
A reporter in her 30s working for a local newspaper remembers how she nearly wept when she saw her senior colleague apologizing in an internal meeting, saying, "I'm sorry I got pregnant."
The reporter has always felt uncomfortable that senior female reporters she trusted were automatically removed from their beats and reassigned to desk jobs once they had children.
According to a 2024 survey of 240 media outlets in 12 markets by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the United States had the highest proportion of women in top editorial positions at 43 pct, followed by Britain at 40 pct.
In Japan, none of the surveyed news outlets had a female top editor.
Although attention should be paid to the very small number of survey samples, which can lead to volatile fluctuations, the rate in Japan was generally low, standing at zero pct in the five years through 2024 excluding 9 pct in 2022 and 17 pct in 2023.
According to another survey, female executives account for over 10 pct of all executives at listed companies in Japan, while the share was only 5.7 pct at national and local newspapers in 2024 and 3.0 pct at commercial television stations nationwide in 2022.
Regarding the reason for the underrepresentation of women, journalist Keiko Hamada, who has expertise in gender issues, points to "the preconception that reporting is a special profession."
The notion has made working styles and personnel evaluations rigid in the industry, leading to a lack of diversity in personnel who play active roles, she said.
Homogeneous organizations in terms of gender, age and experience are insensitive to changes in the external environment, Hamada also said. "Their thinking about what constitutes good content for news consumers has not changed."
A commercial TV station employee in her 40s proposed taking up the issue of children on day care waiting lists, based on her experience of not being able to find a nursery school when she returned to work from child care leave more than 10 years ago.
However, a male boss dismissed it, saying, "Isn't that a problem for only some people?" She still thinks that if they had shared an awareness of the problem, they would have been able to report about it as a social problem earlier than many other media outlets.
Harassment is also a big problem that may unjustly disrupt women's careers. A national newspaper reporter in her 30s received a large number of emails daily from a new source, who even followed her to her home.
Her male boss told her, "The person is an important news source, so do your best as long as you don't strain yourself." She was mentally cornered.
The local newspaper reporter who shared the story about her pregnant colleague had to take a leave of absence due to stress she repeatedly underwent partly because she had been forced to attend drinking sessions with news sources of her boss.
Efforts toward change have begun.
Mariko Shibatani, 54, head of the media center at Kansai Television Co., prioritized her career based on her preconception that "if I give birth, I will lose my seat."
However, she now hopes that her younger colleagues will not have any similar experience. She is striving to create an atmosphere allowing all employees to work comfortably. "I want both men and women to choose the life they want," she said.
After assuming her current post last summer, Shibatani asked female employees dispatched to cover the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake whether they had any concerns or problems during the assignments.
Shibatani learned they suffered physically and mentally due to pain, stains and smell during menstruation and the risk of cystitis in an environment where they had to sleep in vehicles. She worked for expansion of supplies and equipment and an improvement in awareness of such problems within the company.
She thinks that the presence of female reporters in disaster-affected areas is meaningful because they can better pick up on problems unique to women, such as privacy during menstruation and breastfeeding.
"Having editorial and news bureaus with diverse perspectives makes it easier to sincerely address various social problems," said Yoshihiro Oto, professor in media studies at Sophia University.
Kazue Yonamine, 60, who served as editor-in-chief at the Okinawa Times newspaper years ago, explained the importance of having diversity in the newsroom, based on her experience in newspaper content reform.
When she was at the post, the atmosphere of editorial meetings began to change from around the time when the share of female participants reached 30 pct, leading to increases in discussions on news related to women and life, Yonamine said.
"Readers are interested in many things," she said. "Newspaper companies also have many workers with diverse interests, and if these are reflected in the output, I think the persuasive power of news stories will increase."
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