Media Development PROGRAMMES

Purpose and Key Activities 2016-2017

Women in News (WIN) aims to increase women’s leadership and voices in the news. It does so by equipping women journalists and editors with the skills, strategies, and support networks to take on greater leadership positions within their media. In parallel, WIN partners with media organisations to identify industry-led solutions to close the gender gap in their newsrooms, board-rooms and in the content they produce. WIN is currently working with more than 80 media from 12 countries including: Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (WIN Africa) and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. WIN is supported through to 2019 by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Key outcomes

36 local trainers or workshop facilitators worked with 60 media companies from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine actively engaged with Women in News to promote their female talent, educate their senior executives on gender diversity, and promote greater gender balance in news. 75 women editors and journalists are graduates from Women in News Media Management and Career Coaching.

• 63% of media partners surveyed report having positively changed their perceptions about the value of gender mainstreaming
• 79% report to being better equipped to influence organisational change to support gender equality within their media organisations
• 54% report to making an effort to improve gender balance in their editorial content

Specifically:

• 46% report increasing diversity within reporting beats
• 54% report including more women as expert sources
• 17% of editors/journalists report a career promotion since having joined the programme
• 98% editors/journalists reported an increase in their professional networks
• 98% reported engaging with their professional networks on a regular basis either to give or receive support.
• 94% editors/journalists from Africa and 84% from MENA report an increase in their media and career management skills
• 91% editors/journalists report to increasing their coverage of social justice issues
• 81% report to have a 'good' or 'very good' understanding of gender bias in the news.

How is WIN Responding

All initiatives are designed by regional experts drawn from the WIN community and adapted to each region/country, with best practices and tools provided by the Global HR Brain Trust. WIN's focus is on:

1. Developing sexual harassment training module for managers and staff
2. Developing practical handbook for media managers
3. Targeting HR Directors beginning with in- person training and mentoring
4. Prioritising education on sexual harassment in meetings with top management

Media Freedom and Democracy Programme (MMP)

WAN-IFRA’s Media Mentoring Programme South East Asia, worked with 75 senior executives and middle managers from 11 media companies drawn from Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. 6 senior media executives from Norway travelled onsite to conduct in-house mentoring and workshops, complementing digital strategy, media ethics and managing diversity workshops.

WAN-IFRA also organised the first ever Women in News South East Asia Summit, a one day mentoring and networking event that brought together 40 women journalists and editors from around the region. The event will serve as a launch to additional WIN activities in the region. In November 2017 WAN-IFRA introduced Media Freedom Committees, signaling an enhanced focus on locally driven press freedom advocacy activities.

The Media Freedom Committee focused activities corresponded with the launch of the 2017-2018 programme activities in Singapore, and linked into WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media Asia conference and masterclass events. WAN-IFRA APEC training manager continues to support project activities, leveraging internal resources and synergies. The majority of partners in MMP have worked with WAN-IFRA for multiple years. Each year there is a deepening trust and engagement on both parties.

Strengthening Media & Society

160 media professionals from 85 media partners in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines engage with WAN-IFRA on women’s editorial leadership skills, digital media management, innovation and media freedom.

• 78% of Digital Skills participants report actively applying new digital tools and strategies at work as a result of WAN-IFRA training. 60% report developing and implementing new digital strategies and products to improve growth.
• 90% of the Women Editorial Leaders report having gained new knowledge and skills, while 81% report increased levels of confidence as a direct result of working with WAN-IFRA. 82% say that they have increased their contributions to news agendas within their organisations partly or wholly as a result of the SMS programme.
• 86% of participants have gained advocacy skills and knowledge to campaign on press freedom issues.
• 36% of newsrooms have increased coverage of press freedom issues, while 50% report having increased coverage of social justice issues as a result of the SMS programme. 43% of media organisations say that they are collaborating with other media around press freedom or social justice issues.
• 80% of newsrooms report having stronger professional networks as a direct result of the programme.
• 16 Media Freedom Committees active, empowering 180 media professionals and some 90+ media outlets to advocate more effectively for press freedom, raise professional standards, and bridge the gap between media and the public.