Belgian television does not mirror the diversity of its society. This is the conclusion reached by a study carried out by the CSA (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel), according to which the elderly, women, the disabled and foreign people are too little present in TV both in leading roles (presenters, anchormen/anchorwomen, etc.) and as spectators (audience, witnesses, etc.). For instance, only 31.4% of all people “on the air” are women. And this occurs not only in sports programmes, which are traditionally a “man’s world”, but also in entertainment and news broadcasts. The over 65s and the differently-abled are also victims of this media under-representation, being almost totally absent from television with a presence of 2.68% and 0.33% respectively. The elderly, the disabled and foreign people are also victims of a ghettoization with regard to subjects: indeed, they are invited only to talk about issues that concern them directly, such as old age, health, handicap, immigration and discrimination.
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