Germany: Women journos demand 30% quota

By Team FI

Hundreds of women journalists in Germany have launched a nationwide campaign for a 30% quota in senior editorial positions in the German media.

In a letter sent to about 250 editors and publishers across the country, close to 350 women journalists argued that top positions in the media industry are ‘almost exclusively’ filled by men.

At present, only 2% of the editors-in chief at the 360 German daily and weekly publications are women. There are only three women among the heads of 12 public TV and radio stations.

The campaigners have launched a website to garner wide support. “Who determines what’s in the paper? What’s on radio and on television? Almost always men. In the boardrooms of German publications, women editors are a rarity. We journalists are now calling for a quota,” says the website.

The demand for quota has found support among many top women journalists, including Maria Gresz of Spiegel TV, top chat show host Anne Will, Ines Pohl who is the editor of the Berlin-based leftist daily Die Tageszeitung, and talk show host and author Sandra Maischberger.

Maria Gresz , Ines Pohl and Anne Will - from top left to right. Photo courtesy: pro-quote.de

“Don’t be afraid of a quota. I am a quota woman,” wrote Ines Pohl on the website.  According to Anne Will, the fact that there are very few women in top editorial jobs demonstrates ‘a catastrophic failure’. Without a quota, nothing will change, she wrote while expressing support for the campaign.

In Germany, the gender quota question has been debated widely for the last couple of years. The demand for reservations got wider reach last year after Germany’s labour minister Ursula von der Leyen called for quotas for women in all company boards.

In 2011, Handelsblatt, a well-established financial daily, introduced a 30% quota for women in the publication. In 2010, Deutsche Telekom became the first listed company in Germany to introduce a 30% quota for women.

Women in the media: why the call for a quota in Germany is vital; Read here