POSITION PAPER 4

 Female Journalism in the Balkans:

How they match up against their male counterparts

    The Balkans is a region in Eastern Europe that consists of the countries Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania. This region is known for its drastic economic differences between men and women. 

BalkanInsight ​reports that, even though the majority of journalists in the region are women, there are very few females in manager positions within the media market. In all Balkan countries, women are rarely owners of media outlets or hold management positions. Although women are more equal to their male counterparts at the level of editor-in-chief, most of these females generally work in lower level positions. Throughout Balkan media, there are well-established narratives that women journalists have a lower capability of doing their job than men do. Marijana Bojanic, CEO at Vijesti in Montenegro, said, "In Montenegrin media outlets, we have women running the business, but they are not owners [of these outlets] and they do not have capital."    Bojanic also argued that women are often first on the front line of these stories when it comes to reporting, yet they are not credited with their own work.

Aside from the unequal opportunities among men and women journalists in the Balkans, these women are also experiencing gender-based discrimination and abuse. Often, these women do not feel comfortable or safe vocalizing these harassments out of fear that they may lose their jobs and reputations. Many Balkan coordinators argue that there should be proper procedures and steps for women in the media to feel safe speaking out against the abuse. Dafina Halili, a contributing editor at an online magazine in Kosovo, says, "Women journalists are often harassed in the newsroom in front of journalists who then speak in public and on live TV about sexual harassment [as phenomenon] but do not intervene in cases when their colleagues are being harassed [while they are present]." It is also not uncommon for women journalists to be accused of getting in the position they are by sleeping their way to the top. Some journalists admit that they do that, even if they really do not, to try and get the gossip to stop. However, that hardly ever stops their reputation from going downhill quickly. Women journalists are being urged by females in higher positions to speak out against this harassment, even if it is anonymous, to make it stop and to bring awareness to this issue that is constantly going on behind the scenes. 

Written journalism and positions in the media are not the only places that women are underrepresented. There is actually a large gap when it comes to gendered access and airtime. In the Western Balkans, women hardly have any of the air time that their men co-hosts have, creating the false idea that men are the cultural and media standard. Along with an underrepresentation on women professionals, the Balkans also continue to portray women as typical stereotypes. Women are typically portrayed as sex-symbols an items of objectification. In film, women are also presented as victims of violence and devoted mothers/wives/girlfriends. These portrayals only encourage the disadvantaged position of women in the media.

WOMEN PERCENTAGES: Kosovo currently has a low percentage of women journalists at 35.5% while countries like Albania, Croatia, and Serbia have over 50% female journalists. For the most part, this up-rise in female media professionals is a positive development. However, research shows that the poor position of these journalists comes from the "feminization" of the job. This includes insecurity, reduced wages, and the decline of the profession's reputation. Women in this region are often doubted from the very start and their qualifications are neglected. In fact, a study of Croatia found that females make up the majority of students at 79.2%. yet male students tend to gain more work experience throughout their studies. Like many countries, there is a major wage gap between men and women within the Balkans region. While many countries can explain the wage gab by male advantage in the labor market, the Western Balkans region cannot be explained by a male advantage. In many of those economies, women seem to have "worse" labor market characteristics than men. The women have lower education, work experience, and worse choice of occupation. It seems that men have characteristics that have higher value to employers.

Overall, women journalists in the Balkans have a long way to go in terms of equality, both in representation and economic value, with their men counterparts. There has to be a balance of these women speaking out against the abuse, harassment, and discrimination that they are facing in the media along with people in the highest positions striving to create a safe and secure place for women in their department. Truthfully, I think it may be a while before we see any huge and real difference in the way women journalists are treated and portrayed in the public media.