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On India's prime time TV news debates, men outnumbered women four to one

Women depicted less as experts, more as victims in news shows

Bigger may be better for TV ratings
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Reshma Patil | IndiaSpend

On any evening, those watching primetime television news debates in India may get the impression that women rarely have opinions worth airing on any subject–politics, economy, stock market or geopolitics.

For five days starting February 5, 2018, IndiaSpend counted the number of men and women who appeared as panellists (commentators/spokespersons/newsmakers) on debates on 10 English news channels, between 8 pm and 10 pm.

Over four times more men than women–a total of 264 men as opposed to 54 women–appeared as panellists during the sample period, indicating the under-representation of