Why is the Uncommitted and Incompetent Female Journalist Trope so Persistent?

Female journalists are often depicted as uncommitted and incompetent, quick to trade sex for information. 

In “House of Cards,” journalist Zoe Barnes began an affair with politician Frank Underwood to gain access to political information. In “Adaptation,” Susan Orlean slept with Charlie Kaufman, whom she worked with to adapt her article into a book, despite the two never having an intimate relationship in real life. In “Absence of Malice,” Megan Carter hooks up with her main subject, which is just the tip of the iceberg for this character who has hurt many people with the false information she reported. 

These are just a few examples of this trope, but the list goes on. 

Men, on the other hand, are often depicted as dedicated, intelligent and hardworking journalists. Those that come to mind are the based-on-a-true-story classics, such as “All the President's Men,” “Spotlight” and “The Post,” which have earned their high status because of the work these men did. Well, the fact that men are the subjects of these hard-hitting stories that shaped the landscape of our media is a completely different issue, and requires more discussion.

But even if these men are involved in relationships that interfere with their work, it’s not a defining trait or even thought about as negative. When it comes to female journalists, the inevitable sexual relationship is often a pivotal stepping stone in their storyline, if it doesn’t completely derail the story by making the journalist quit her job to pursue a love interest, as many films do. 

But this raises a thought: Yes, fictional and non-fictional journalism stories should be separated when discussing the portrayal of male and female journalists. But when dissecting journalism movies that are based on fact, why is the story misconstrued to fit this persisting stereotype of female journalists?

The most notable, and most recent blatant disregard for accuracy and effort to build this stereotype is shown in Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell,” released in 2019. 

The movie is based on real events; during the 996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, security guard Richard Jewell discovered a bomb on the premises, but the FBI later suspected he had planted it. However, the film suggests that reporter Kathy Scruggs sleeps with an FBI agent in exchange for information. 

The real Scruggs’ former employer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), said that this was false, defamatory and damaging, to imply that they would exploit their staff or condone such behavior. There is no evidence that the late Scruggs did anything of the sort, yet the “Richard Jewell” studio said their claims were baseless. 

Still, this offensive and reinforced claim is no different than many other harmful tropes that many individuals consume and enjoy daily. Stereotypical character storylines and behavior infiltrate the media constantly, but the problem with this trope is that, more often than not, it is reinforced and therefore believed. 

A study by University of Florida journalism professor T. Franklin Waddell, titled “Who Thinks that Female Journalists Have Sex with their Sources? Testing the Association Between Sexist Beliefs, Journalist Mistrust, and the Perceived Realism of Fictional Female Journalists,” dives into this paradox. 

To execute this study, Waddell created a pre-registered online survey with a sample size of 580 individuals. Originally, Waddell wanted to contrast reactions to sexist portrayals of women journalists in popular media with positive portrayals, but according to UF News, he couldn’t find any positive portrayals. 

The study found that sexist people are most likely to believe these poor portrayals of women, which doesn’t come as a surprise. On top of that, the study showed that individuals who don’t trust the news are also likely to believe these stereotypes that are reinforced. 

While neither of these findings is shocking, this raises a concern for this period of time. The trust that Americans have in the media is at an all-time low: only 28% of people have expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media regarding the news. This suggests that the increasing distrust in the news may correlate with the increasing amounts of misogyny. 

This reality, coupled with the persistent stereotype of female journalists, is something that should not be ignored. We have come so far as a society regarding misogyny, but lately, it seems as if those values are not only under-prioritized but almost forgotten. 

Not only is the trope of sexually driven female journalists threatening to the entire community of female journalists and the integrity of their careers, but their safety. According to a study, almost two-thirds of female media workers interviewed said they had been harassed or threatened online. Women aren’t just targeted because of the persisting stereotype, but also the public’s intent to drive women out of the media.

Still, with the criticism, there are a few examples in film of female journalists doing good work, as female journalists do in real life. “She Said” is a movie released in 2022 about the two New York Times journalists who published a report to expose sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, which also grew the motivation for the #MeToo movement. The work that inspired this film must continue to be done, and the film industry must continue to highlight feats such as this. 

The only way to fight this stereotype is to prove time and time again that female journalists take their work very seriously.