At the end of Judy Woodruff’s successful interview for a job as secretary to the news director at WQKI, the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, the news director said to the recent college graduate: “How could I not hire someone with legs like yours?” She says she faced “the typical discrimination that women have faced over the years,” which she combated by “working hard and proving that I could do it.” (September 2002)

A native of Argentina, Liza Gross got her first full-time job in the media as editor of the Latin America Desk of The Associated Press in New York.

Now the executive managing editor of El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico, Gross was publisher of Exito, the Spanish-language daily of the Chicago Tribune for four-and-a-half years. She says she could “fill a book” with roadblocks she has faced as a woman in her career. (September 2002)

In her first job as a radio broadcaster in Chicago, Carole Simpson covered the civil rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King’s non-violent campaign in the North, and the Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial, two huge national stories in the U.S.

Today, Simpson makes it a priority to “mentor as many young people of color and as many women as I can, because I know how it might have helped me had I had a mentor.” (September 2002)

Souhila Hammadi is a reporter with El Watan, a national newspaper in Algeria. She spoke with the IWMF while in the United States with the Freedom House Visiting Fellows Program observing how U.S. journalists cover politics.

Sandra Nyaira is a 2002 winner of the IWMF’s Courage in Journalism Award. The former political editor at The Daily News in Zimbabwe, she is pursuing a master’s degree in international journalism at the City University of London. She spoke with the IWMF about the challenges facing women journalists in Zimbabwe.

IWMF board member and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Amanpour was recognized for "services to journalism." The honor is the second highest that can be bestowed by the Queen. Read the brief in the Los Angeles Times.

A panel discussion in April featured the IWMF's Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow as well as former IWMF Courage and Lifetime award winners. The Women's Media Center has posted an article on its website about the event, which was entitled "Women, the Media, and the Middle East.”

Applications are now being accepted for a free National Institutes of Health training session on media coverage of medical research. The three-day course, to be held April 12-14 in Bethesda, Md., is designed to help develop journalists' ability to evaluate and report on medical research. Space is limited, and the application deadline is Feb. 2.  Visit the website for more information about the course.

The Association for Women in Communications is now accepting entries for its 2007 Clarion Competition, which recognizes excellence across all communications disciplines. The competition is open to women, men and students worldwide.  Visit AWC’s website for details.

African journalists may apply for the 2007 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards, which aim to reinforce the importance of the journalist's role in Africa and to recognize and develop journalistic talent. Deadline is Feb. 21.  Visit CNN's website for details.

Journalists worldwide may submit nominations to CBC News in Canada for the inaugural Global Shining Light Award, which honors excellence in investigative reporting in a developing country or country in transition. Deadline is Feb. 16, and awards will be presented at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in May.  Visit the website for details.

The USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship Program is accepting applications from arts writers, critics, reporters, or editors from print, broadcast, and online journalism who are interested in learning more about artistic disciplines. Fellowships are open to international and U.S.-based journalists. Deadline is March 9.  Visit USC Annenberg’s website for details.

The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas will offer a new online Spanish-language course called "Tools for Investigative Journalism." Created by Argentine journalist Sandra Crucianelli, the free course will begin in February.  Read more about the course (in Spanish).

The Second International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training will be held in May in Kenya. Called eLearning Africa, the conference focuses on information and communications technology and building infrastructures. Partners for the event include the African Capacity Building Foundation and African Youth Movement.   Visit the conference website.

The Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists invites journalists and lawyers from six Arab countries to apply for a regional program to learn necessary skills to become trainers for their media organizations. CDFJ is organizing the program along with Netherlands-based Free Voice.  Visit CDFJ's website for details.