International Women Media Leaders Conference Spotlighting Gender Equity

What is Status of Women in The News Media?
Unveiled IWMF Global Reports Offer Tough Look at How Far We've Come

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From around the world, top women media executives gathered in Washington, D.C., March 22-25, 2011, to examine gender barriers in the news business and create a plan for the future.

A long-awaited global report analyzing research data from 500 broadcast and print companies in 59 countries was unveiled at the conference. The IWMF commissioned the two-year study – the first detailed look at the challenges facing women news professionals everywhere.

The International Women’s Media Foundation and George Washington University’s Global Media Institute partnered on the important conference. Women news executives – with the power to create change – developed a “Platform for Action” to achieve gender equity in newsrooms. The IWMF will track progress in countries, when delegates return home.

The Journalism & Women Symposium teamed up with the IWMF, providing resources and countless volunteers in the media from across the country. Scores of women professionals signed up to work at the gathering.

Among the conference highlights:

-- ABC News Anchor Diane Sawyer spoke to veteran broadcaster Marvin Kalb for the The Kalb Report series at the National Press Club on Tuesday, March 22.

 --  “The Global Report on Women in the News Media” was unveiled on Wednesday, March 23, at GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium.  IWMF Board member Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHourl officially opened the conference, and Katty Kay of BBC World News America provided an overview of the report with a panel.

--  Conference delegates on Wednesday, March 23, heard from exemplary media companies in their regions: Canada’s CBC General Manager and Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire, Uganda’s The New Vision Editor-In-Chief Barbara Kaija, Peru’s Silvia Miro Quesada of Empresa Editora El Commercio S.A, Germany’s Taz, Die Tageszeitung Managing Editor Ines Pohl and Norway's Kjersti Sortland, Verdens Gang managing editor.


-- Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer delivered a keynote luncheon speech to the delegates March 23 at GW’s City View Room. IWMF Board member Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post  interviewed three winners of IWMF grants for digital news media projects. He introduced Sabrina Crow, managing director and senior vice president for media client services for  The Nielsen Company, who talked about Nielsen’s new research on women’s use of new media.

-- On Thursday, March 24, at the Newseum there was a special panel moderated by Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour focusing on the relevance of media and the influence of social media on global causes. Featured on the panel were Bloomberg News Editor- in-Chief Matt Winkler, noted philanthropist Howard G. Buffett and Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibarguen.

--  Tom Rosenstiel, director the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, and Frank Sesno, director of GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, moderated a panel of media experts at GW’s Marvin Center on March 24  to discuss the findings of PEJ’s “State of the News Media 2011” report examining the state of the media in the United States and global implications.

Sponsors

The International Women’s Media Foundation thanks our sponsors for their generous support for the International Conference of Women Media Leaders.

Proud National Presenting Sponsor of the IWMF Courage Awards