![]() If there is one, we’d be surprised,” Clark says. Magid Associates, says weather is the top reason given 80% to 90% of the time when viewers are asked why they tune into local news. Local news typically generates 30% to 40% of a station’s revenue, and weather is the key ratings-and therefore, revenue-driver. Weather’s importance at a TV station cannot be overstated. While it’s difficult to quantify, TV station consultants and talent agents estimate that just 10% to 12% of the chief meteorologists at U.S. “ just not a strong area for women.”įemales at the chief meteorologist level-the skipper of a station’s crew and point person when severe weather approaches-have even poorer representation. “You could make the argument that women are making more headway in sports than they’ve made in weather,” says Bob Papper, RTDNA survey director and Hofstra University professor of journalism. The RTDNA says just shy of 19% of the sports reporters at TV stations are female-and women in sports appears to be on the rise. In fact, women just barely have a larger presence in weather news than they do in the traditionally male-dominated segment of sports. The latter represents a negligible uptick from the 21% female representation in local TV weather found in 2005, and the 19% identified in 1999. The gender percentages in local weather vary slightly, from the 18.5% reported in a 2010 George Mason University/University of Texas study on climate change, to the 21.6% from an RTDNA newsroom survey in 2008. station workforce is female, according to a 2010 Radio Television Digital News Association/Hofstra University study-they remain woefully underrepresented when it comes to the most vital component of local news. “Whoever came up with that term really jinxed us these last few decades.”ĭespite the significant strides women have made on television-40% of the U.S. “You’re constantly fighting the ‘weather girl’ stigma,” Kent says. Despite impeccable weather credentials, including a master’s degree in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State and official seals of approval from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Weather Association, Kent has found that weather-airhead stereotypes die hard. Kent is a member of a faction that’s just a little more common than a snowstorm in her South Carolina market-a female chief meteorologist at a TV station in America. Yet WHNS Greenville’s Kendra Kent persists. Get the forecast wrong, and you’re just another “weather bunny” who has been put on the air for her winsome appearance, not for her grasp of complicated meteorological conditions and ability to present them in a way that clicks with viewers. It’s even tougher for those who happen to be female. ![]() ![]() Forecasting the weather in a market prone to extreme events-including lethal hurricanes, fickle patterns floating in off the mountains and the occasional ice storm-isn’t for those lacking in backbone. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |