The gender balance of newspapers in Kazakhstan: a critical content analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26577/HJ.2024.v73.i3.3Keywords:
gender, popular press, newspapers, genre groups, media, journalism in Kazakhstan.Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the current problem of gender equality in Kazakhstan’s print media. Given the need to pay attention to the public opinion formation, a diagnosis of dominating me- dia agenda and journalists’ messages to the audience was carried out in order to achieve the 5th goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality. The purpose of the study is to approve and outline further work to consolidate the commitment of Kazakhstan to implement international conven- tions that ensure women’s rights.
The balance of gender information in media study, a quantitative assessment of gender balance of journalists, as well as determining the volume of materials with gender characteristics is a priority for UN, UNESCO, UN Women, UNICEF, which pay close attention to the issue of gender coverage in the media, as well as the status and economic nature of men and women in journalism. To achieve the study objectives, according to the specified methodology, 13 of the largest printed media in Kazakhstan (245 issues), with an audience coverage of more than 400,000 people, were reviewed using the criteria of gender balance by genre breakdowns of material, visual content, as well as materials generated by women.
The information genres content dominance over analytical ones was revealed during the study of journalistic materials balance in traditional media. At the same time, problems in women image forma- tion were identified: the role of women in society is mostly represented in business and entertainment, but not through analytical and journalistic materials. In addition, disproportions in visual accompani- ment of the content were found.
The study was conducted in Kazakhstan for the first time. As a result, it turned out that the pre- ponderance in media discourse is not on the side of women – the difference is 23 percent. This fact indicates a problematic link in the information policy of media. The significance of research findings is demonstrated by specific problematic data, while the identification makes possible to adjust and detail the areas of work to ensure equality both in print media policy and in the information/communication area as a whole.
