Amplifying women’s authoritative voice in media

Around the world only 24% of the people seen, heard or read about in the news are women, and only 19% of subject matter experts sourced in the news are women (Global Media Monitoring Project, 2015 Who Makes the News Report). The absence of women’s expert and leadership voice from the news media perpetuates gender bias and women’s socio-economic exclusion in society. There is growing body of opinion among major newsrooms around the world that increasing women’s voice, particularly their authoritative voice, in the media can not only fight gender inequality, but improve the business of journalism and news reporting. A greater voice for women in media, for instance, can lead to more diversity in content and as a result a more diverse audience, developing an edge on the competition by breaking more stories through new sources, or building audience trust through greater inclusion.

This panel session will feature media professionals leading in the effort to adapt journalistic and newsroom practices to assure gender-equal content. Panel members will discuss the various tools and methodologies being put into practice today, the business case for investing in these approaches, and what simple measures more newsrooms can take around the world to bring more women into their content.

Organised in association with United for News, a coalition project led by Internews in collaboration with the World Economic Forum working to build sustainability and trust for local media around the world.