Author:

Keywords:

Social Sciences, Communication, news diversity, gender, youngsters, elderly, ethnicity, NEWS, TELEVISION, WOMEN, 2004 Linguistics, 4701 Communication and media studies

Abstract:

© 2015 Uitgeverij Boom. All rights reserved. This study analyzes the diversity of the Flemish news by looking at demographic diversity, ie the extent to-which gender, age and ethnicity in society are proportionally Represented in the news. In a constructed week (April-May 2012) (N = 4.800) 12.743 persons were Mentioned, each of them were assigned to age groups, man or woman, ethnic minority or ethnic majority. The results indicate That youngsters, the elderly, women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented as news sources in the Flemish news. Especially in the case of elite sources, the news was strongly dominated by adult 'white' men. Women were more or at Systematically associated with "feminine" topics zoals welfare and culture, Whereas news topics zoals sports, politics or economics were strongly dominated by male actors. Ethnic minorities were predominantly (84.2%) connected to sports, crime and justice, and human rights-including immigration.