INTERVIEW
Women, on the front line during the coronavirus crisis, were underrepresented in the media (television, radio, print media) during this period, concludes the pre-report of MP LREM Céline Calvez delivered a week ago to Minister of Culture Franck Riester and the Secretary of State responsible for equality between women and men, Marlène Schiappa. Céline Calvez unveils the results and the tracks envisaged to improve the situation in Culture Médias on Monday.
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Women invisible in the radio mornings in March
Prime Minister Édouard Philippe entrusted this mission to Céline Calvez on April 24, shortly after the front page of the Parisian judged to be sexist showing four men to tell the world about. "It created excitement, fueled by the fact that on sets, we witness the absence of women," said the MP.
To establish this pre-report, Céline Calvez and her team worked from the studies of the CSA and the INA and from interviews with 150 people involved in the media, from associations fighting for a more important place of women in the media, researchers and sociologists in France and abroad.
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By analyzing the key interviews of the eight most listened to radio morning shows between March and May, Céline Calvez and her team noted that in March "the women were completely invisible". "Where they usually represent 30 to 40%, we could fall to 14 to 20%," reveals the MP. Figures that went up in the following weeks.
80% of the experts contacted were men
And by studying the televised newspapers during the crisis, the CSA established that "if the place of the women journalists remains always the same one, from the point of view of the experts one is not there", notes the deputy. 80% of the experts contacted were men. "It is not only the responsibility of the media," said Céline Calvez. "We are facing an unprecedented crisis in which the scientific word is really consecrated. However, the voice of women in science is not yet up to what they can bring and what they bring", notes she.
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Another inequality: the share of women among the witnesses. While 55% of the witnesses were women, especially among healthcare professionals, only 27% of the doctors heard in the media were women. "We heard from doctors because the media will seek out those with hierarchical power. And scientific institutions preferred to send men than women," said the MP.
The INA analyzed for the first time the inlay bands accompanying the speaking of women. "It is a way of measuring the legitimacy that we are going to give to women," explains Céline Calvez. And the observation is clear: "If men were presented as having power of authority at 77%, we were less than 50% for women."
"Encourage the meeting between the media and the experts"
For Céline Calvez, it was important to do this work during the coronavirus crisis because "in times of crisis, under cover of emergency, we pay less attention to what is important", she explains. "We as women should be able to recognize ourselves in the media. The idea was to call for vigilance so that it does not get worse."
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In order to improve the situation, Céline Calvez believes that "the two sides [women and the media] must understand each other better, that the experts understand the value of the opportunity that gave them when they are invited to speak. And that the media understand to what extent it is necessary to work more upstream this link with the experts. " According to the member, it is therefore necessary "to encourage meetings between the media and the experts". If initiatives already exist, Céline Calvez believes that "we must go even further" and that this work must start in journalism schools and also involves the development of "oral expression in school, both with boys than girls. "
Count, set goals, and set quotas
According to her, it is also necessary to count women in the media "to promote awareness", and to set goals "of the order of the incentive or of the order of the constraint". Céline Calvez also says she is in favor of the establishment of quotas and sanctions in the event of non-compliance with the established quota while remaining vigilant so that these quotas are not "counterproductive". "You have to find the right level and give everyone the means to reach the goal."
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The conclusions of the final report are due in late August. But the question of the place of women in the media asking for "almost daily vigilance", Céline Calvez considered it necessary to establish a pre-report in order to "encourage everyone's vigilance".