In keeping pace with this year’s International Women’s day theme, ‘Accelerate action for gender equality’, the global women’s organisation, World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)’s programme known as Women in News has called for “action and commitment to move beyond rhetoric to action on the push to break barriers, build more inclusive workspaces and drive systemic change”.
This, they did by issuing two information resources – WIN Guild’s Leadership Pledge and the Leadership Mapping Report – aimed at inspiring the media industry to commit to making real progress in the face of glaring gaps in gender equality and inclusion.
The Leadership Mapping Report exposes the glaring gap in women’s leadership in the media, featuring country-by-country data, regional overviews, and sector-specific trends, while the Leadership Pledge outlines collective and individual actionable steps that media leaders committed to take to close the gender gap in media leadership, and urges their peers to follow suit.
Women in News, which operates in 30 countries in the world, has reported that women occupy only one in four (24%) of the business and editorial leadership positions in the media, a slight improvement from 22% in 2022.
The group committed to work together to create more inclusive and equitable spaces within media leadership – spaces that reflect the true diversity of societies and uphold the values that guide the vision of an equal, inclusive, safe and financially resilient media industry – one that actively combats disinformation, misinformation and division, and upholds human rights and democracy.
It made the following collective pledges: “mainstream mentorship programmes within our organisations, relying on best practice models of our peers; use collective influence to work towards eliminating stereotypical and biased portrayals of women in our respective media houses; champion policy changes to end discrimination, ensure equal opportunities (including equal pay); and stop sexual harassment and ensure a safe working environment”.
At the individual level, the members pledged to: “create a succession plan that includes competent women whom I will expose to training opportunities and put forward for promotion; and mentor two women in my organisation in the next 12 months”.
WAN-IFRA is the world’s largest international press organisation representing 3,000 news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and 60 member publisher associations in 120 countries.
Its mission is to protect the rights of journalists and publishers worldwide to operate independent media. It provides its members with expertise and services to innovate and prosper in a digital world and perform their crucial role in society.