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The Global Media Monitoring  Project 2015, reports little progress towards media gender parity in news in the last five years. “… the decade 2005 to 2015 has been one of stagnation” according to gender and media scholar, Margaret Gallagher. “There has been no change in women’s share of news-making roles in the traditional media (newspapers, radio, television) since 2010, and indeed almost none since 2005 [and] the new digital media (Internet and Twitter news) offer little comfort.”

The proportion of women heard, mentioned or seen in newspapers, TV and radio remains at 24%, exactly the same as in 2010. “GMMP 2015 reveals that the rate of progress towards media gender parity has almost ground to a halt over the past five years.”  

In political news, the figures are alarming, with a 3% fall in the rates of women in news, down to 16%. In terms of stories actually focussing on women, that remains at 10%. Economic news is least likely to focus on women, with economics at 5% and politics at 7% of stories. Science and health has shown a marked improvement, up to 35%, but those subjects have the lowest priority in the news agenda.

In Latin America, at least, the gender gap in news has shown a marked improvement up to 29%, compared to 16% in 2010.  

GMMP 2015 was collated from data gathered by volunteer teams in 114 countries who monitored more than 22 thousand stories published, broadcast or tweeted by 2,030 distinct media houses, as well as interviewing 45 thousand people. Click for summary report the full report or the background and history of the project here.

 

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A very practical hand book for reporting and monitoring gender sensitivity in conflict reporting has been released by Swedish women’s organisation called The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. The compact 14 page booklet is very hands-on, providing a tool for journalists and others who want to understand conflicts in a larger context.

It provides a five point guide for thinking about peace journalism and a plan for practical conflict sensitive journalism. As well there are simple media monitoring tests, which could prove as useful for teaching, as they would be for journalists assessing their own work.

Kvinna till Kvinna (meaning woman to woman) began in response to the systematic mass rapes and abuse of women in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s. It now supports over 100 women’s organisations in five regions afflicted by conflict: Central and Western Africa, the Middle East, the South Caucasus and the Western Balkans.

The hand book is available below, or can be downloaded in Swedish and English from Kvinna till Kvinna’s website, where there is a great deal of information and teaching resources available about women in war and conflict.

April, 25-27, 2016, Beijing China: Registration now open. This year’s event is themed Let us Talk Radio”. With an insatiable quest for newer, highly mobile and more immersive experiences, radio content creators and journalists are adding new dimensions to the media landscape. Radio is riding a ‘Digital Wave’ wooing audiences across social media platforms, providing content on multiple mobile and stationary smart devices. 

The Asia-Pacific Broadcsting Union conference will run on the 25th and 26th, and the ABU Radio Song Festival will be organised on the evening of 26 April in conjunction with RadioAsia. The Media2020 Conference will also take place in Beijing on April 27, 2016. The theme of Media2020 conference is ‘Taking the Media Forward’Programme attached.

further information www.abu.org.my or contact Mrs Vijay Sadhu Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Tel: +603 2282 5962  Fax: +603 2282 5292 Email: [email protected]