And how does the newest medium, online, do when it comes to gender? According to this study, at least, the websites of traditional news outlets surpass broadcast and cable and are only slightly behind newspapers.
The 20-day sample examined the lead 5-7 stories each day of eight news sites: ABC News (www.ABCNEWS.com), AOL (news section front page), Bloomington Pantagraph (www.pantagraph.com), CBS 11 TV – Dallas (www.cbs11tv.com), CNN (www.cnn.com), Fox News (www.foxnews.com), MSNBC (www.msnbc.com), Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com), Yahoo! (http:dailynews.yahoo.com). (Please see the methodology for selection criteria)
The reporting here most closely resembled that of newspaper stories—more sourcing overall and more female sources. Still, female voices trail far behind men’s voices. Just over a third, of online stories 36% contained a female source while 89% cited at least one male voice.
