Obstacles to the success of female journalists in Korea

Abstract

This article focuses on the mechanisms that exclude female journalists from the news production process, and on their alienation in modern Korean society. Using a content analysis of essays by Korean female journalists, the study found exclusion mechanisms of female journalists from (1) the news gathering process, including ‘authoritative information collection’, ‘unethical compromise culture’, ‘informal communication’ and the ‘traditional view of womanhood’; (2) the newsroom, including ‘masculine bonds’, ‘distrust of female journalists’ and the ‘stereotype of female journalists’; and (3) the private area, including housework, pregnancy and childcare. The alienation of female journalists was also studied at the organizational and personal levels. At the organizational level, the result shows that female journalists are both horizontally and vertically marginalized. At the personal level, the self-alienation of female journalists was attributed to the fact that they have less access to in-depth information because of the division of work based on gender.