The perception of women journalists about their job. The gender variable in professional culture

Abstract

Introduction: There is an analysis of the differences between the perceptions about journalism as profession among men and women working as journalists in Spain, and the differences that separate empowered women journalists from empowered men of the sector. Methodology: the paper is part of the transnational comparative study Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) based on a questionnaire targeted to a representative sample of journalists from 124 media. Results: Women recognise more than men, all the pressures derived from the pursuit of business profit and feel more compelled by business decisions, censorship, politicians and groups of pressure. The least empowered women manifest more condescension towards political and economic power, while the minority who breach the glass ceiling gain autonomy (possibly due to their empowerment on digital media). They also advocate impartiality but show less interest for the function of power surveillance. Discussion and Conclusions: Both aforesaid situations could be associated to the need for «enabling conformism» and to the fact that they tend to perceive the qualitative and deontological decline of journalism the least.