Women Journalists Working Conditions and Their Suitability in the Media

Abstract

Going through the historical accounts of the press in India, though the women entered the journalistic profession in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they did not played an important role in designing and reshaping it. Today there are several women editors, columnists and television anchors. In the last decade, more women have entered the profession, and many have equal access to all beats, blurring the ‘traditional male area’ line considerably. In this context, a study was conducted to know the working conditions and their suitability in the media. The study was conducted in Chennai. A Sample of 60 respondents was selected randomly by using purposive random samplingtechnique. The sample frame for the study includes both male and female journalists of print and electronic media. The respondents comprised of editors, sub- editors, reporters, programme executives and free lancers in both print and electronic media. The data was obtained using the questionnaire and it was analyzed using percentage analysis method. The findings reveals that women journalists are encouraged and given freedom to organize their work and do not face major discrimination in their working spot on the basis of gender and they are also given decision – making position in the media and their positions in the media is satisfactory. Regarding, importance given for women issues in the media, both men and women journalist consider women issues as one of the important issue and women issues are portrayed adequately in the media.