The “big five” Sunday public affairs shows continue to feature far more men than women, the latest example of the media’s “do as I say, not as I do” approach to their audience.
And, according to the latest analysis from the Women’s Media Center, backed by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, no show is harder for women to get on than female-hosted CBS show Face The Nation.
The show, hosted by Margaret Brennan, featured men more often than women by an 83%-17% margin in 2020.
Women made up over 30% of the guests on the other shows: ABC’s This Week, CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet the Press. George Stephanopoulos’s This Week featured women guests the most, at 38%.
Face the Nation also featured the fewest black guests, male or female.
“White men dominated guest appearances on the five Sunday shows in 2020 at a proportion greater than their representation in the U.S. population,” said the study shared with Secrets.
And, the study added, “Nearly three-quarters (73%) of all guest appearances were by white people.”
Addressing Brennan’s show, the report went out of its way to give the host a pass for not helping women get on air.
The report quoted a Howard University professor who said, “Seeing a woman or a person of color on a screen as a spokesperson, whether they are an anchor or guest, we might assume that they have some control over the content, including who is a guest on the show. Those are typically false assumptions. Producers and directors determine who the guests are. The anchor may have some input, but the script for the show is determined by other people, and they are typically men. There is a layered and consistent institutionalization of male superiority in the news business.”
But in a general analysis of the shows, virtually all of which are hosted by men, the Center was a bit more critical.
“We found that at this pivotal moment, just as movements for racial and gender justice are pushing powerfully and visibly for change, inclusion of women and people of color came up short on these influential marquee shows. With white men dominating these major Sunday news shows, it is white male perspectives that shape the culture by telling us who we are, what our roles in society are, and what we can be,” said Julie Burton, president and CEO of the Women’s Media Center.
“This marginalizes women and people of color. It also results in the news media missing major stories and an expanded audience. Both the industry and the public are ill-served by the underrepresentation of women and people of color,” she added.
As for the guests with the most appearances, No. 1 was related to the coronavirus crisis, but it wasn’t Dr. Anthony Fauci. Instead, it was former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
The top 10 guests according to the report:
- 42 appearances: Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
- 32 appearances: Chris Christie, adviser to President Trump and former governor of New Jersey
- 31 appearances: Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago
- 19 appearances: Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- 18 appearances: Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
- 17 appearances: Juan Williams, Fox News political analyst
- 16 appearances: Bernie Sanders, candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination and U.S. senator from Vermont
- 16 appearances: Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan
- 16 appearances: Anthony Salvanto, election and surveys director at CBS
- 15 appearances: Pete Buttigieg, primary candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination and mayor of South Bend, Indiana
