Top female media executives from around the world gathered at GW to examine gender equity in the news media at the International Conference of Women Media Leaders March 22 to 25.
Hosted by GW’s Global Media Institute and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), the conference featured the release of a groundbreaking report on the status of women in the media and an endorsement to create a declaration of principles on gender equity in the news media.
The conference featured more than 75 delegates from across four continents, including from the nations of Peru, Lebanon, Ghana, South Africa and Yemen.
Conference guests included Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour, Katty Kay of BBC World News America, and Melanne Verveer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, who delivered a keynote to delegates in 1957 E Street’s City View Room on March 23.
“At this conference, our student volunteers and attendees saw journalism from a very different perspective and gained insights into the gender barriers that remain today, even here in the U.S.,” says Global Media Institute Executive Director and Professor of Journalism Michael Freedman.
A special Kalb Report with guest Diane Sawyer, anchor of ABC World News, kicked off the conference at the National Press Club March 22.
GW President Steven Knapp, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and National Press Club President Mark Hamrick were among those who delivered remarks at an opening reception before the Kalb Report. Delegates also attended sessions in GW’s Marvin Center examining current challenges facing women in news media, including career advancement and salaries.
A March 24 panel with Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence, was moderated by Frank Sesno, director of GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
The Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media, released at the conference, examined more than 170,000 people in global news media in nearly 60 countries, finding that only 27 percent of women occupy top management jobs and 36 percent hold reporting jobs.
According to the report, there is more parity among senior professionals, however; women now hold 41 percent of the news gathering, editing and writing jobs.
“The report is the first of its kind since 1995 and offers concrete evidence of both advances in the workplace and remaining gender challenges,” says Mr. Freedman. “It presents an important new baseline for tracking future progress.”
Mr. Freedman says GW faculty members and administrators added depth, substance and dimension to the conference, which has been in the works for more than three years. “The partnership proved a good match, and it would be our hope that the relationship with IWMF expands in the future,” he says.
Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, deputy editor of Fréttablaðið, Iceland’s most widely circulated newspaper, says the conference was “an amazing opportunity” to meet media leaders from around the world. “I feel very empowered to deal with everything I have to deal with when I return home, because as a female media leader I am constantly fighting. This conference gave me strength!” she says.
The conference and report highlighted the risks and limitations women in journalism face across the world.
“As we’ve heard firsthand this week, not everyone enjoys the freedoms we sometimes take for granted here in the U.S,” says Mr. Freedman. “There is strength in numbers and this conference can serve as a powerful catalyst for driving these efforts forward.”
“Across our campuses, from the GW School of Media and Public Affairs to the Women’s Leadership Program, GW is helping prepare students not only to be informed global citizens and active participants in their chosen fields but also to become the leaders of tomorrow,” he says.