Here is your sample essay on Print Media

Today’s newspapers have women’s columns or weekly women’s page written by one contributor or a variety of contributors.

These columns or pages do not have a radical perspective but they include certain amount of feminist writing and usual topics considered to be of women’s interests such as beauty tips, cookery, clothing, furnishing, family relations, etc.

News reporting concentrates on violence against women, mostly from a sensational point of view. Women are found to be in the news when they are involved in party politics, are raped, murdered, burned to death, or when they commit suicide, or fight a battle for alimony under a traditional and unjust law.

Leading newspapers give catchy titles and flashy headlines to the main events related to women and these news reports turn into sensational events. There is always an element of exaggeration in reporting such events. It gives the impression that women’s issues are not taken seriously.

The utility of the women’s pages in dailies depends on the content of these pages. Mostly, these pages opt for writing traditional features like cookery, beauty aids, marital relations and child care.

But, now many male editors are coming around to the view that a women’s page should be a judicious blend of serious writing and ‘traditional’ writing.

Studies of the print media have focused on the reporting of rape cases in the press (as merely spicy news stories), the presentation of women in women’s sections of newspapers, general interest magazines and women’s magazines.

A study conducted by Pathak (Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group) to analyze the portrayal of women in print media revealed that Gujarati dailies hardly denoted any articles to a serious discussion of women’s problems.

Today women’s magazines like Savvy, Flair, Femina, try to include both traditional and feminist features. They highlight the activities taken up by women’s groups. Whereas, current affair magazines like India Today publish serious topical reports on women’s issues.

During eighties, women’s issues became audible in national and international forums. Governments and UN agencies announced schemes for women, and policies in areas like health, education and employment.

Social science reports analyzing women’s conditions got published. Activist women’s groups staged protests and launched campaigns. These became the news and got reported in the news columns, commented upon in editorials and analyzed in feature articles.

Newsletters and magazines brought out by progressive activist groups have been meaningfully highlighting the women’s dimension in a variety of radical causes.

Manushi is one such feminist journal published in English from New Delhi. It is the only major magazine of its kind with a national readership.

In India, many progressive males supported feminist movement, but by and large women only have written about women’s issues. There may be reportage, editorials, TV or book reviews and an occasional academic writing from male writers but rarely any detailed analytical writing, sympathetically examining the women’s question.

Regional language print media have also been conservative, traditional and hostile to progressive or feminist ideas.

Women journalist tries to increase coverage of women’s issues and towards changing sexist images in print media. For many it becomes a lonely battle and they have to face hostility and indifference from editorial hierarchies and management.

There is also the hazard of getting ‘branded’ which can be professionally counterproductive for them.

The portrayal of women in print media is not adequate and not without its set of cultural biases. In spite of the efforts of women journalists, much remains to be achieved. However, it is not a depressing scenario any more.

Women journalist tries to increase coverage of women’s issues and towards changing sexist images in print media. For many it becomes a lonely battle and they have to face hostility and indifference from editorial and hierarchies and management.

There is also the hazard of getting ‘branded’ which can be professionally counterproductive to them.

The portrayal of women in print media is not adequate and not without its set of cultural biases. In spite of the efforts of women journalists, much remains to be achieved. However, it is not a depressing scenario any more.