© ReutersThe Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton were two of the women most likely to be pictured on newspaper front pages.
Study reveals 78% of front-page articles are written by men, and 84% of those quoted or mentioned are maleSexist stereotypes, humiliating photographs of women and male bylines dominate the front pages of British
newspapers, according to research carried out by the industry body Women in Journalism (WiJ).
Male journalists wrote 78% of all front-page articles and men accounted for 84% of those mentioned or quoted in lead pieces, according to analysis of nine
national newspapers, Monday to Saturday, over the course of four weeks.
The only females to be regularly pictured in the period were the Duchess of Cambridge; her sister, Pippa Middleton, and the crime victim Madeleine McCann. The three males most likely to be photographed were Simon Cowell, whose biography was published that month; Nicolas Sarkozy, who was fighting an election, and Prince William.
Women's groups, which complained about sexist stereotypes in the media in a presentation to the Leveson inquiry into media ethics, welcomed the research. Anna van Heeswijk, chief executive of Object, said: "With newspapers so male-dominated, is it any surprise that women are portrayed the way they are? Changing the number of female writers and the ways in which women are portrayed in the media is crucial if we are serious about wanting a socially responsible press."
Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour party, who has long campaigned against sexism, said: "The media is supposed to reflect the views of everybody. How much is it really reflecting the views of women in this country? In parliament, with men in the media reporting on men in parliament, there is a double whammy."