Canadians have become a lot more familiar with women experts in the media since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant proportion of medical officers and public health officials quoted by the media are women. This increased visibility appears to be a good thing, but that's only on the surface.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Maite Taboada at Simon Fraser University breaks down the stats to show us how there's still a long way to go. Using the Gender Gap Tracker, a tool developed in partnership with Informed Opinions, has revealed quite a bit about the ways in which women show up in the news. Turns out that while more female experts are consulted by the media, they get up to two-thirds less airtime than men. And while women are interviewed more frequently in relation to the pandemic, that's because they've been disproportionately impacted by it, especially when it comes to labour and child care.

Also today:

Regards,

Nehal El-Hadi

Science + Technology Editor

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the prominence of women’s voices in the media. Minister of Agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau and Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam take part in a videoconference on July 31, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

The coronavirus pandemic increased the visibility of women in the media, but it’s not all good news

Maite Taboada, Simon Fraser University

More women are making appearances in the news media, and this is due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is not all good news: women are interviewed about the effects of the pandemic on their lives.

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