On the first day of winter, Women in Media, together with the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council and with the support of the Council of Europe, presented the Gender Profile of the Ukrainian Media. This is already the third study aimed at analyzing the state of the media sector, finding its most sensitive areas, and highlighting progress achieved.
By now, sharing analytical findings and reflecting on changes over the year has become a good tradition at the end of each year. Zoya Krasovska, Women in Media analyst, noted that regular annual surveys make it possible to track market trends, note key differences, and see what remains unchanged.
This year’s survey showed that, for the first time, women outnumbered men in most areas of the media sector. But does this mean that gender equality has been achieved? Of course not. It is important to look not only at quantitative but also at qualitative indicators. While women dominate in creative roles, with heavy workloads and lower pay, management positions are divided almost fifty-fifty. This may indicate that men are more likely to be promoted.
Moreover, women are more likely than men to combine several roles at once, working simultaneously as editors, accountants, and project managers. The older the age group, the lower the representation of women within it. In contrast, men prevail in technical professions.
“Women are more proactive in terms of personal development and achievements. This leads to women investing more in themselves, engaging more actively in their professional growth, working more, and taking on greater responsibility,” says Zoya Krasovska.
Equality practices
Tetiana Rudenko, a representative of the National Council, emphasized that media outlets, through their activities, should promote balanced and non-stereotypical portrayals of women and men and help remove barriers to achieving gender equality. This should be reflected both in media content and in internal workplace practices.
“Issues of equality, including gender equality, are a test of a society’s democratic maturity,” Tetiana Rudenko stated.
Liza Kuzmenko, Head of the Women in Media, stressed that the discussion should not focus solely on equality between women and men, but also on equality among different social groups.
Representatives of national media management shared examples of best practices.
Editor-in-Chief of Hromadske Radio, Viktoria Yermolayeva, noted that for the past year, their newsroom has employed a blind news editor, Volodymyr Pyrih. He independently writes texts, selects images, and publishes materials on the website. In terms of speed and quality, his work is on par with that of his colleagues.
“Hromadske Radio consistently implements initiatives aimed at achieving gender equality, combating discrimination, and promoting inclusion. All of this is reflected in several internal policies, the editorial charter, and the code of ethics. The newsroom is currently working on a separate document under the working title Policies on Equality and Inclusion,” Viktoria said.
Anastasiia Hudyma, Director of the Department for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunities at Suspilne, shared how their Diversity and Inclusion Concept works. The document is available on Suspilne’s website, and other editorial teams can use it as a model and integrate similar approaches into their own work.
Anastasiia noted that they monitor the representation of women and men in content and strive to reach a 50/50 balance. Now, men still prevail numerically, as they more often comment on topics related to the war and the economy.
“It is easier for journalists, both women and men, to bring men into live broadcasts than women, because women usually require more preparation for live coverage. A man can literally join a broadcast straight from bed and talk for ten minutes on any topic,” Anastasiiа said.
However, this practice can be changed by involving more women experts in live broadcasts and by addressing existing biases.
Tymur Levchuk, Head of Diversity and Inclusion and Director of International Partnerships Development at Starlight Media, stressed that effective work in this area requires the support of top management. Without it, grassroots initiatives will inevitably face bureaucratic obstacles.
Zoya Krasovska added that during the survey, when asked whether media outlets provide support to colleagues affected by the war, veterans and internally displaced persons, most responses were negative. In most cases, such support is lacking due to the absence of formal requests and limited resources.
In the majority of newsrooms, parental leave is provided for women but not for men.
“If editorial teams offered equal opportunities for women and men to take care of family members, it would create far more opportunities overall,” Krasovska noted.
Tymur Levchuk emphasized that it is critically important to agree on forms of support with the target audience and to ask people directly what they actually need.
“Once again, I would like to remind the principle: nothing for us without us. Even the timing of an event can influence whether people are willing and able to participate,” Tymur remarked.
Online violence
This year, the survey questionnaire was expanded to include a section on countering gender-based online violence. Ninety per cent of the surveyed newsrooms responded that they had not encountered online violence. However, another study conducted by Women in Media showed the opposite.
The researchers suggest that there is a lack of trust within editorial teams, as well as a shortage of tools for identifying different forms of violence.
“The fact that a newsroom claims it is unaware of something does not mean that it does not exist,” emphasized Liza Kuzmenko, Head of Women in Media.
Olena Demchenko, a representative of the Council of Europe Office, pointed out that practices aimed at obstructing journalists’ work have become more sophisticated over recent decades. Cases of online violence against journalists, especially women journalists, destabilize their professional activity and have a negative impact on their overall well-being.
“The Council of Europe standard provides that its member states must take measures not only against physical violence, but also against threats, intimidation, and other forms of pressure, including online,” Demchenko noted.
Summing up, Liza Kuzmenko stressed that even small steps matter. Even the introduction of feminine forms of professional titles at the editorial level already constitutes progress. It is important not to stop and to continue moving toward gender equality, no matter how long it takes. The next gender profile will demonstrate what has changed over the year.
“For us, this is a priority project, and we will certainly continue it. I hope that next year we will meet again and share new results,” Liza Kuzmenko concluded.
The Gender Profile can be downloaded via the link.
This work was made possible with the financial support of the Council of Europe project “Safeguarding Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in Ukraine – Phase II” (SFEM-UA), implemented by the CoE Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine titled “Resilience, Recovery, and Reconstruction” for 2023–2026.