Preface

Summary

The debate on women and media has, over the years, become increasingly complex. Early issues of the positive or negative portrayal of women in the media have given way to questions of representation, of numbers, of the nuances of class, caste, region, religion, geography, to name only a few. With the exponential growth in all forms of media, whether print, broadcast, electronic, or those related to the Internet, to messaging and mobile telephony and so on, issues of access, of voice, of censorship and regulation, and indeed of reach have also become significant. Women are now much more visible in television programming, and in content. They are significant among the numbers of viewers and readers. They make up an important segment of the consumer market and are therefore the ones who are primarily addressed in advertising. And, increasingly, they are beginning to count among the numbers of media owners, gatekeepers and content creators.

These changes have also meant that questions relating to women and media have become more complex and troubled. Despite some seeming and some very real changes in the media, women still remain in the background in a number of ways. Media summits – increasingly popular today – mostly feature male media magnates and editors, with the occasional woman thrown in.