Q: Why do you believe The Global Report on Women in the News Media is needed?
NH: There seems to be a gap between the widespread idea that women have “made it” in the media and what happens in reality. The study will probably prove this and hopefully shake up the media world.
Q: What impact you think this project will have?
NH: In France, where I am conducting the research, some of the media people are uncomfortable with the topic. Others, though, have been completely open, and I hope that their example will influence the rest. Perhaps, compared to other countries, France will realize that it has ground to make up.
Q: What prepared you to oversee the research for your area of the world?
NH: As a freelance author and researcher based in Paris, I have been working on gender discrimination for about 15 years now, and my work has always highlighted problems in the media. I have worked on three reports for the Ministry of Social Affairs on women in the media. My latest book, Les Filles faciles n'existent pas (Easy Women Don’t Exist), came out in 2008 and is about female sexual reputation.