Launched in 2019 by Simon Fraser University’s Research Computing Group, the continuously updating Gender Gap Tracker (Informed Opinions, 2021) clearly shows that major news organisations in Canada feature women as sources in stories far less than men – one-third less, in fact (Figures 6 and 7 make the disparity clear).
Figure 6. Female Representation in Canadian News Media (Gender Gap Tracker 2020).
Figure 7. Female Representation by News Organization in Canadian News Media (Gender Gap Tracker 2020).
Several news media workers stressed the importance of trying to do stories highlighting women. Furthermore, several journalists and newsroom leaders discussed how they continuously tried to incorporate more female voices and opinions in their reportage. Much of this thinking and discussions about these concerns also happened in story or editorial meetings. Some newsroom leaders and journalists mentioned efforts to informally track the number of female sources, with the intention of increasing the number of women featured in news and current affairs. There was no discussion in our interviews about the extent of newsroom rules, codes, or guidelines aimed at gender-sensitive coverage of gender-based violence.
