Electromagnetic-wave propagation in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas is studied. Two different approaches to the subject are discussed and compared. Explicit expressions for the dielectric tensor components are derived following an established procedure that takes into account the effects of the gradients of plasma parameters, and are shown to possess non-resonant contributions to the anti-Hermitian parts. General and explicit expressions are also derived by following a different approach that has recently appeared in the literature, and are shown to possess satisfactory symmetry properties leading to anti-Hermitian parts comprising only resonant terms. The simple case of high-frequency waves in the ordinary mode propagating perpendicularly to the ambient magnetic field is presented as an example in order to show that the use of the dielectric tensor derived using the second method correctly describes wave absorption and/or amplification, eliminating the feature of non-resonant absorption that arises from the use of the first method.