Is There a Nordic Way? A Swedish Perspective on Achievements and Problems With Gender Equality in Newsrooms

Abstract

Over the last decades several achievements have emerged in Nordic state societies concerning gender equality, particularly with regard to political representation, salaries, and shared parental leave. In most newsrooms one may find a near equal distribution of women and men working alongside one another. Additionally, in the larger newsrooms of Sweden, there is a gender balance at the managerial level. Yet in terms of news content, women remain a minority. By using qualitative and quantitative data from two projects, The Global Media Monitoring Project and The Global Status of Women in the News Media, this article assesses some of the challenges and best practice solutions for gender equality in Scandinavian newsrooms. The major gender discrepancies between newsrooms can often be explained by the level of gender awareness at the societal-level. Further, capable leadership, policies, and gender monitoring seem to benefit a gender balance in the news. National legislation on parental leave and discrimination, additionally, appear to play a key role in creating gender equality in the newsroom.