Australia’s largest media study tracking gender bias in news reporting reveals a mixed report card for newsrooms.

The report by the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA) shows business news continues to be dominated by male reporters and experts, but the gender balance in political reporting has improved since the last study in 2021.

Led by La Trobe University Professor of Political Communication Andrea Carson, the sixth edition in the Women for Media series, An Unfinished Story: Understanding Gender Bias in Australian Newsrooms, analysed more than 200,000 articles to track the gender of bylines and expert sources across key news topics and major media outlets.

Professor Carson said 12 years on from the first Women for Media report, gender parity in media representation was moving slowly.

“While we found almost equal numbers of male and female journalists in Australia, women still disproportionately cover soft news stories, while men write the hard news topic areas,” Professor Carson said.

“Male journalists are more prevalent on the front-page stories and receive ‘exclusive’ taglines more than twice as often as women, while women remain underrepresented in newspapers’ premium pages and the opinion and commentary sections.

“However, we found that The Herald Sun and The Canberra Times have similar numbers of men and women writing front-page stories and opinion articles.”

Professor Carson said the gender divide was most prevalent in the opinion pages, with men taking up more than 70 per cent of the opinion bylines, a steady creep of 6 per cent since 2021.

The study also uncovered a disproportionate number of male experts quoted in news articles.

“While men account for 80 per cent of expert opinions, we found women journalists are better at quoting women sources than men do,” Professor Carson said.

“Women have made gains in the high-status area of political reporting, but a long shadow of gender bias exists within topics such as business and economic reporting.

“Gender equality is vital in the news media for democracy and civic engagement.

“Everyone should have the same opportunity to participate in public life, free from any form of discrimination, but there are still significant gaps in gender representation across society, including our democratic institutions like government, the judiciary, and, as this report highlights, the media.”

Professor Carson said media leaders and organisations could reduce the divide by encouraging and supporting women to take on roles in traditionally male-dominated reporting areas. They could also introduce newsroom policies and practices that ensured a more balanced distribution of story topics to both men and women journalists.

“They can increase the representation of women in high-visibility pages such as the front page and opinion and commentary sections, and in traditional male topic areas such as sports, business, economics and international affairs,” Professor Carson said.

“Male journalists should be aware of their tendency to choose male sources and to make conscious choices to include women experts in their reporting.”

WLIA Chair and prominent businesswoman Carol Schwartz AO emphasised the importance of continually prioritising diverse voices in news coverage.

“The stories we see, the voices we consider authoritative and the narratives we embrace all determine the future we build,” Carol said.

“We need to shift the norms of who we see and hear as leaders and experts – and that starts with bringing more diverse voices into public commentary.

“Both in terms of who produces the news and who features in it.

“This is about more than just gender; it’s about creating a more inclusive, responsive and collaborative society. Shared power and decision-making between men and women leads to better outcomes for all Australians.

About the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia: Women’s Leadership Institute Australia is focused on growing the critical mass of diverse women leaders – because we’re firm believers that shared power and decision-making between men and women leads to better outcomes for all Australians. Website link.

About Carol Schwartz AO: Carol is one of Australia’s most dynamic business and community leaders with a diverse career across property, the arts, finance, investment, entrepreneurship, government and health. Website link.

About Women for Media series: To read previous reports in the Women for Media series click here.