Sustaining the “Pink Ghetto”? The identity negotiations of Chinese women journalists in the field of digital journalism

ABSTRACT

Feminist studies of the media have shown different degrees of gender inequality in journalism organizations. Drawing on the notions of field and gendered habitus, the authors of this study conducted in-depth interviews with 30 Chinese women journalists to explore their experiences of digital journalism production, their survival logic in the field, the associated gender power relationships, and the reconstruction of ‘Pink Ghetto’ in the digital news field. The research shows that women journalists with more opportunities for work and career development while generating various gender-related challenges related to blurred boundaries between work and family life, deviations from career paths, and the risks of using digital platforms. The study explains how women journalists’ identities negotiate between the gendered habitus and the professional identity. Those journalists construct multiple identities by adopting four strategies, namely ‘strong gender’, ‘weak gender’, ‘de-gendering’, and ‘trans-gender’, which proposed a framework of identity negotiation. The study thus offers a broad perspective in feminist media research in developing countries.

KEYWORDS:

• women journalists
• journalistic field
• digital journalism
• gendered habitus
• identity negotiation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the “Startup Fund for Young Faculty at SJTU [22X010500272]”.

Notes on contributors

Yingfei He

Yingfei He (PhD, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2021) is an Assistant Researcher at the School of Media and Communication in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research focuses on sociology of journalism.

Yurong Yan

Yurong Yan (PhD, Communication University of China, 2020) is a Lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication in Northwest University of Political Science and Law. Her research focuses on media psychology.

Guoliang Zhang

Guoliang Zhang (PhD, Fudan University, 1991) is a Professor at the School of Media and Communication in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research focuses on communication theory.