Only 14% of expert opinions in the news of Kherson online media belong to women, while 86% of experts are men. At the same time, among the heroes and heroines of the materials women make up 27%, and men — 73%. Also, in the news we recorded only one female servicemember who acted as an expert, and four female servicemembers as heroines.
These are the results of another gender monitoring of regional media conducted in February 2026 by the Institute of Mass Information. During the monitoring, mentions of experts (male and female) as well as heroes and heroines of materials were recorded; separately we recorded the number of women-servicemembers who acted as experts or heroines of news, with distribution by thematic groups. The study analyzed 250 news items from the online outlets MOST*, Vhoru, Khersononline, Rayon.Kherson and Hryvna.
In total, 86 expert comments were recorded during the study period: 74 belonged to men and 12 to women. In percentage terms, the share of female experts was about 14%. Thus, despite a gradual increase in the visibility of women in the media, men still significantly dominate as commentators. The situation is somewhat different among the heroes of the news. A total of 175 mentions as heroes and heroines of materials were recorded: 127 men and 48 women, or every fourth person mentioned in the news.
It should be noted that a similar monitoring a year ago showed better results for women’s presence in the news. In February 2025 we recorded 22% female experts and 32% heroines in Kherson media materials.
News topics and gender balance
Most news traditionally concerned the war and its consequences. In the topic “social consequences of the war” 27 expert comments were recorded, of which only three, or 11%, belonged to women. Among the heroes in this topic — 68 people, of whom 21 were women, or 31%. In news directly about combat operations the ratio also remained unequal: women made up about 33% among the heroes of the materials, mostly as heroines of civilian stories, while all 16 expert assessments in the analyzed materials on this topic were provided by men.
The topic of temporarily occupied territories deserves special attention. In news from or about the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Kherson region, 33%, or three out of nine, of expert comments were from women. Among heroes and heroines there were only 20%, or 6 out of 30, mentions of women. In materials about occupation and its consequences women more often appear as participants in events than as experts.
The situation is the same in political news. Here 20% were women experts: only one comment out of five belonged to a female expert. Among the heroes and heroines of political materials only one woman was recorded, which makes up 14% of the total number of heroes and heroines in this topic. Thus, despite the growing role of women in local self-government and military administrations, their expert presence in the media remains limited.
In the health and medicine theme the share of female experts was 50%. However, the total number of such materials was small, as was the number of experts and expertesses: one each in the theme. In the social topic (payments, benefits, compensations) there were no expert comments from women.
In sports news women did not appear as experts at all, while among heroes and heroines they made up 43%. This is explained by the participation of female athletes in competitions, but coaches and spokespeople were mostly men.
Economic news (reconstruction, tenders, budget, corruption) showed an almost complete absence of women among experts — only 1 case. Among the heroes and heroines of economic materials there were no women. Topics of budget, public procurement and financial management continue to be associated mainly with men by the media. There were no female experts in news about social initiatives, sports, economy, international news and crime.
It is worth noting that during the monitoring period there were no cases of direct gender discrimination, objectification of the body or ageism. No materials with sexist wording were found either. As before, women appear more often in the news as heroines of social stories, educational or humanitarian materials. Men dominate as commentators in politics, economy and security issues. Thus, the media reproduce the traditional distribution of public roles.
How the gender balance in Kherson media has changed over three years
So, what changes in gender approaches to writing materials have taken place in Kherson media over the past three years. If we compare the monitoring results 2023, 2025 and the current 2026 data, one can see both shifts and new imbalances. Thus, in February 2023 the situation looked quite optimistic: 44% of expert opinions belonged to women, and 56% to men. In fact, it was almost parity.
In 2025 the share of female experts was already 22%, and heroines 32%. In 2026 the picture changed radically. Only 14% of experts were women versus 86% male experts. That is, the share of women among experts decreased more than threefold. This is the most noticeable drop among all indicators.
In 2023 a large portion of expert comments came from regular public statements by the spokesperson of the Operational Command “South”, Natalia Humeniuk, as well as an active presence of women in education and social policy topics. In 2026 such a concentration of female expert voices is no longer present. The military theme remained dominant, but experts in it are mostly men.
There is a different dynamic among the heroes of the news. In 2023 women made up 42.5% of heroines versus 57.5% men. That is, the gender balance among subjects of the materials was relatively close to equal. In 2025 the ratio of heroes to heroines was already 68/32%. In 2026 the share of women among news heroes was 27%. Formally this is less than in 2023, but it is important to consider the context: the total number of news on military and criminal themes increased, and these categories traditionally feature men. Thus, women became less represented specifically as heroines of the military-security agenda.
In 2023 there were topics where women were not just represented, but dominated:
- 66% of expert opinions in the volunteering topic belonged to women;
- 100% of expert opinions in education and social policy topics — to women;
- 60% of expert assessments in the war topic — also to women (mostly due to regular comments by the spokesperson).
In 2025 women, as experts, prevailed only in the health topic, while in public development and the economy there was parity.
In 2026 such topics practically do not exist. In politics, economy, crime and security issues men predominate among experts. Even in social topics the share of female experts is no longer decisive. At the same time, in 2026 the previously recorded trend persists: women more often appear in materials about education, humanitarian issues, social stories and culture. But the expert voice — the position of commentator, analyst, bearer of competent assessment — is increasingly concentrated in the male segment.
In 2023 we could speak of a gradual move toward balance. In 2025 and 2026 — of a rollback specifically in the expert representation of women. This means that Kherson online media began to show women more often as participants in events, but much less often as bearers of expert opinion.
Thus, over three years regional media did not consolidate previous progress in the representation of female experts. On the contrary, there was a significant quieting of the female voice specifically in the field of public commentary. And while in 2023 one could speak of a positive dynamic (+10% compared to previous IMI studies), in 2026 the opposite trend is recorded.
Serhii Nikitenko, regional representative Institute of Mass Information in Kherson Oblast*The online media MOST, a co-founder of which is the author of the publication, in accordance with the requirements of the IMI monitoring methodology, which involves researching the most popular media of the region, was monitored by a regional IMI representative from another region to avoid a conflict of interest.