Overt sexism does not drive women’s under-representation in the media

Like the media in general, the news is overwhelmingly dominated by men, both as correspondents and interview subjects. In new research, Gail Baitinger finds that surprisingly, the underrepresentation of women in the media is not driven by sexism. By analyzing each guest on five programs over three years, she finds that journalistic norms, not gender bias, helps determine who appears. She writes that, in an effort to show balance since 2009, high ranking party members opposite to President Obama who have more extreme voting records have been more common guests, and that most of these tend to be men.