Is Journalism Gender E-Qual?

This paper examines the role of digitalisation in shaping and reproducing gender relations in journalism. It builds on the concepts of Bourdieu’s field theory and its feminist appropriations to study how journalists construct the value of digital capital in this rapidly changing professional field. The journalistic work environment has been changed dramatically by digitisation, while mechanisms of gender bias remain rather constant throughout these developments. The aim of our study is to gain insight into whether and how digital capital is gendered in journalism. The central research question focuses on the value of digital capital in the journalistic profession and how this relates to professional opportunities for female and male journalists. We conducted 24 qualitative interviews with a cross-national sample of journalists who had varying levels of digital proficiency. The results suggest that gender permeates both the evaluation and the accumulation of digital capital in journalism. There was a strong connection with other forms of capital such as gender capital and social capital. The participants also described strategies related to digital capital that could increase the status of women in the field of journalism.