Iqra Ikhlaq and Mohsin Farooq
There was a time when women were not encouraged to take part in practical activities. They were forced to stay bound in the house. Circumstances were so bad that even they were not legally allowed to cast vote during elections.
But then circumstances tend to change. Not only they could cast vote but also allowed to work in organizations and corporate sector. Same revolutionary development was observed in media industry. Today, women are not only holding the position of low and middle level managers but also top-level managers. This proves they have potential of doing exceptional work.
Statistics
When talking about statistics of women comprising digital media it is not a delightful figure. According to the research of International Women’s Media Foundation that was carried out in 2011, only one third of total work force in media industry comprised of women.
Another study that was done by Canadian researchers Gertrude Robinson and Armande Saint Jean shows that 28 per cent of newspaper editors are female.
According to study that was done by communication professor Martha Lauzen in San Diego State University, shows women comprises 18 per cent of the directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers and editors on the 250 top-grossing films of 2011.
Role in digital media
When talking about the role of women in digital media it cannot be easily ignored. A woman has a God-gifted ability of maintaining discipline, analyzing circumstances in-depth, making plans, showing transparency and to be more empathetic as compared to their male counterparts. Use and implementation of these abilities of women can also seem to be applied in digital media.
Their role can be better demonstrated with the help of the survey conducted by Sandip University. According to the survey conducted by Sandip University in India, Women are more competent than men and 28% more productivity can be seen in organization where women are working along with men. The top-level management is of opinion that women maintain discipline and unambiguous workflow process in the organization. Women are good in looking at every aspect and making plans before initiating a project. Women are more empathetic when it comes to involve junior colleagues in decision making. This inclusiveness factor drives creative thinking and a better solution to a specific problem.
Besides this, Sincerity and straightforwardness is another trait of the women working in digital media that cannot be ignored. When talking about this trait, death of Maltese journalist, writer and anti-corruption activist Daphne Galizia cannot be ignored who show transparency when publishing her investigation report on corruption, one-sidedness for relatives, favouritism, money laundering, connection between Malta’s online gambling industry and organized crime and payments from government of Azerbaijan.
Despite of threats and lawsuits, she denied giving up on her investigation report for many years. She was also arrested by Malta Police Force on two occasions. On October 16, 2017, Daphne Galizia died in car bomb attack when she was close to her home. This incident attracted the attention of lot of local and international journalists. On 17 April 2018, an association of 45 journalists from 18 organizations including The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde and the Times of Malta published “The Daphne Project” in which collective effort was done by them to complete Daphne Galizia’s investigative work.
This precedent shows us that when there is need to show transparency and facts, a woman will never become afraid and stay behind even she has to sacrifice her life. This precedent also shows that a woman has a full fledge caliber to fulfill duty.
Conclusion:
All these traits and precedent shows that women have the caliber of proving themselves. Their role in Digital Media cannot be ignored. However, statistics showing their incorporation in Digital Media are not such delightful. They should be given more power and position to not only portray the difficulties of women in society but also of rest of the world.
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