"Women are underrepresented in newsrooms and are less likely to read political and international news. Preliminary data shows that news organizations with a higher share of women writing the news and in leadership positions also have a higher share of women in their audience. A number of academic st
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udies found that (1) women are more likely to cover the news with a positive framing and (2) women are more likely to read and respond to news with a positive framing. As such, it is possible that increasing the share of female journalists, editors, and newsroom leaders in a newsroom could reduce the gender gap in political and international news consumption. More women reading these news topics could create (1) revenue opportunities for media companies through audience growth and (2) a more informed and engaged public." (Summary)
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"[...] This is a guide to provide support and advice based on shared experience of others worldwide and includes handy links to other research and IFJ resources. With courage, wit and sheer determination, we’ve seen many journalists demonstrate how to take on trolls, call them out, respond to pate
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ntly false information and posts, factual distortions, propaganda and misogyny. They have flagged trouble-makers who, through incessant trolling, attempt to deliberately misdirect online conversations and derail healthy debate. It is true there are many ways to take this fight back. Importantly, this guide is also a call to solidarity for all media workers, to join together in this fight for freedom of expression and safety online." (Page 2)
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"The article addresses in what way gender matters when dealing with war – and peace journalism. Issues discussed are to what extent the experiences of male and female reporters differ when they cover stories from the front line, especially regarding safety and working conditions. One important que
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stion is whether the increased presence of women in the frontline might be indicative of a change in war storylines. Are the stories framed differently dependent on the gender of the reporter? Will women’s perspectives allow for greater engagement with the lives of the victims of war rather than its technical and strategic aspects? The article also addresses how gender perspectives can contribute new ideas on peace journalism and even challenge our understanding of Johan Galtung’s theory." (Abstract)
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"The war journalist is often portrayed as a ruggedly masculine individual who survives on hard work, self-sufficiency, and heroic dedication to the truth in a stoic culture and dangerous environment. Yet, the growing number of female war journalists subtly complicates this traditional narrative. Fem
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ale war reporters navigate the precariousness of the conflict zone through the strategy of shape shifting—of switching gender performances depending on the environment and the audience. This article examines the shape-shifting phenomenon in the field, relying on 72 qualitative interviews conducted with English- and Arabic-speaking female journalists who have covered various wars and conflicts in the Arab region and beyond. On one level, interviewees say that they can work in precisely the same way as their male counterparts, downplaying their femininity and accentuating their own masculine qualities. On another rather paradoxical level, women war correspondents also sometimes foreground their feminine accessibility and intuition, especially when engaging female sources and entering private spaces inaccessible to male journalists. Finally, female conflict reporters sometimes perform an exaggerated version of feminine weakness or tacitly accept sexist treatment, especially when shape shifting can save them from danger or help them circumvent obstructions." (Abstract)
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"The chapter takes as its starting point the notion that journalists’ safety is a precondition for free expression and free media. Based on interviews and discussions with experienced female war and conflict journalists from seven countries worldwide, the discussion evolves around questions linked
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to what particular challenges and opportunities women journalists face, and how their security can best be ensured when covering war and conflict zones. The deliberations are believed to have a direct bearing on debates about female journalists’ safety online and offline, the importance of the presence of female journalists covering wars and conflicts, and how their being there may serve as an indicator of freedom of expression, civil rights and media freedom in general." (Abstract)
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"This chapter will analyze women’s access to and participation in Mexico’s news media. At the intersections of feminism and the political economy of communication, we will put into context the findings for Mexico in the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media (Global Report) (Byer
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ly 2011). Our purpose is to establish that the access and participation of women in Mexico’s news media are (a) identified by gender inequality, (b) subject to a structural problem and not just an accident or a circumstance exclusive of one industry, (c) marked by structural inequality, i.e., the higher the position, the wider the gap of gender inequality, and (d) defined by a gender division of labor that is a feature of the incorporation of women to these industries." (Abstract)
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"Any assessment of women journalists’ status in their newsrooms should begin with the big picture. Women professionals inside news and other media enterprises have been the torchbearers of change for at least three decades. Sometimes assisted by enlightened male allies, women in journalism and oth
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er media professions have worked individually and through organized groups to reverse patterns of workplace discrimination, to train both women and men to be more gender sensitive in their work, to expand content about women, and to otherwise put newsmaking more squarely in the service of women. These activities have been carried on while the structure and nature of the news industry changed around them, and while a range of other factors have provided the context within which they have strived to enter, work and advance." (Abstract)
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"In March 2006, socialist politician Michelle Bachelet became not only the first woman to assume the presidency of Chile, but also the first female president in South America. Bachelet appointed a cabinet with an equal number of men and women. Although there were several other changes to her cabinet
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as well, hers was significant for being the only government since the country’s return to democracy that established equal representation of female and male ministers (Fernández and Rubilar 2011). Bachelet’s rise to power was a milestone in the fight for equal rights among men and women in Chile, a movement which began toward the end of the 19th century and continued throughout the 20th, with Chile’s first wave of feminism and women’s demands for access to education and the right to vote (Kirkwood 1986). Despite this longstanding movement and the gender milestone represented by her presidency, Bachelet did not fundamentally change the participation of women in positions of political power." (Abstract)
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"Now in paperback for the first time, the Handbook is an academic adaptation of information contained in the Global Report on the Status of Women in News Media, a study commissioned by the International Women's Media Foundation. The book's editor was the principal investigator of the original study.
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This text draws together the most robust data from that original study, presenting it in 29 chapters on individual nations and three additional theoretical chapters. The book is the most expansive effort to date to consider women's standing in the journalism profession across the world. Contents organize nations in relation to their progress within newsrooms, with those most advanced in gender equality representing diversity in terms of region and national development. Contributing authors are, in most cases, the original researchers for their respective nations in the Global Report study." (Publisher description)
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"Female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment are barely documented in the literature about Australian news journalism despite evidence of its ongoing prevalence. There have been some stories of harassment detailed in autobiographies by female journalists and the occasional article in the
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mainstream media about individual incidents, but it wasn’t until 1996 that a union survey provided statistical evidence of an industry-wide problem. That Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance survey found that more than half of the 368 female participants had experienced sexual harassment at work. In 2012, I conducted the largest survey of female journalists in Australia finding that there was an increased number of respondents who had experienced sexual harassment in their workplaces. In a bid to better understand female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment, this paper analyses written comments made by survey participants in relation to key questions about harassment. It finds that most downplay its seriousness and do not make formal reports because they fear victimisation or retaliation. As a consequence, a culture of secrecy hides a major industry problem where many women believe they should work it out themselves and that harassment is the price they have to pay for working in a male-dominated industry." (Abstract)
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"Much has been made of the role of various media in the shaping of conflicts and political agendas in today's Arab world. This volume examines this topic with interdisciplinary contributions that range across media studies, anthroplogy, religious studies, and political science and explore both new a
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nd older media forms." (Publisher description)
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"This study examines why female journalists in an Arab country continue to be marginalized. It hypothesized that a set of interrelated factors, pertaining to gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and the lack of a legally and socially enabling environment, work together to systematically discour
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age and block women's entry into the news field, push those who made it out of the profession, and keep those who have endured down and siloed in specific roles away from decision-making and policy-setting positions. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, including a survey of 250 Lebanese, Arab and international female journalists working in Lebanon, qualitative interviews with 26 female journalists, as well as analysis of ownership documents and minutes of board meetings. Findings suggest that structural, institutional and cultural obstacles that have faced women for centuries around the globe continue to operate with potent effects in Lebanon, and by extension in the Arab region." (Abstract)
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"The aim of the present book is to provide both empirical and theoretical input to the discussions of the role of journalism and media in conflict and post-conflict situations and in the often rather muddy waters between them. Together, the contributions to this book from different parts of the worl
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d emphasise that discussions about post-conflict situations will gain from including the media. At the same time, the contributions problematise the concept of post-conflict and powerfully illustrate that the phase between war/conflict and peace is neither unidirectional nor linear, as the use of the concept sometimes seems to imply. Reaching a peace agreement or arranging for the termination of hostilities is, in itself, no guarantee that peace can be secured. The examples from Afghanistan, Colombia and South Sudan in this book show this up clearly. Remaining post-conflict societal friction may even be as threatening to long-lasting peace as the war itself. Hence, post-conflict may be seen as a “conflict situation in which open warfare has come to an end. However, such situations remain tense for years or decades and can easily relapse into large-scale violence” (Junne and Verkoren 2005)." (Introduction, pages 16-17)
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"The handbook seeks to shine a spotlight on media organisations that have prioritized gender equality within their organizations, leadership teams, and within their audience, and as a result, have seen a positive return. At best, we hope these stories inspire media to take concrete action to priorit
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ize gender equality and inclusion in their management structures and newsrooms. At the very least, we hope they start a broader conversation around this important subject." (Introduction)
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