Section 3: Campaign Profile
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2005 findings will be released on 15th February 2006 to launch Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media, 16th February – 8th March 2006 to challenge news media worldwide to ensure that both men and women ‘make the news’.
What is the goal of the Who Makes The News? Campaign?
Campaign dates
The Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media begins on 16th February 2006. This is exactly one year since hundreds of gender and media groups in 76 countries joined in an effort of incredible solidarity to monitor the representation of women and men in their news media as part of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2005. The Who Makes the News? Campaign will end on 8th March 2006 – International Women’s Day.
Why focus on the news media?
News media is a key source of information for the general public. Media-generated information influences perceptions and understanding about what happens in the world. However, the news media selects what is covered, how it is covered, the time allotted to each item and the order in which they are presented
These editorial choices are often made from select viewpoints and experiences and do not necessarily offer a “window on the world” but rather express the priorities and values of those who make the editorial choices
“News media owners and news editors are overwhelmingly male and they routinely decide what news women should hear and read. What is the impact on all of us when the news is constantly reported from a male point of view? Keep in mind that media leaders are not just leaders in that industry, but have the power to shape society's attitudes.” ( mediachannel.org)
Why focus on gender?
Women are 52% of the world’s population - but only make up a tiny fraction of the world’s news subjects. The Global Media Monitoring Project shows that on one day in 1995, women made up only 17% of news subjects around the world. Five years later, women were only 18% of news subjects worldwide. Research over the last 30 years supports the findings of GMMP 1995, 2000 and 2005.
Whilst some countries perform better than others, these figures show that everyone can do better to ensure women and men are fairly represented in and through news media. Don’t women have a story to tell?
What is the goal of the Who Makes The News? Campaign?
The goal of the Who Makes the News? Campaign is to promote gender equality in the media.
To do so we are challenging leaders of the news media, editors, media owners and journalists worldwide to take substantial and immediate action to ensure that the news media represents women and men in a fair and balanced way.
WACC and its partners worldwide join with UNESCO in offering a challenge to all media producing daily news to give editorial responsibility to women editors and journalists to direct the news on 8th March 2006 - International Women’s Day.
This March 8th gesture of goodwill by media management is a first step towards promoting gender equality in and through the media.
What will happen and where?
15th February 2006: the global GMMP 2005 report containing global, regional and national quantitative and qualitative results will be released in London at the Foreign Press Association, 11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AJ.
Launch partners include UNESCO’s Women Make the News Initiative, UNIFEM, Amnesty International’s Violence Against Women Campaign, Article 19, the International Federation of Journalists, the Media Diversity Institute, the Stanhope Centre and many more.
16th February – 8th March 2006: national launches of the global and national GMMP 2005 reports and activities relating to the promotion of gender equality in and through the media will take place in many of the countries that participated in the media monitoring research in 2005.
The Who Makes the News? website will promote all our partners’ activities that are taking place as part of the Three Weeks of Action on Gender and the Media. It will also provide opportunities for discussion and debate on gender and media issues though blogs etc as well as spaces to discuss media coverage from a gender perspective during The Three Weeks of Action.
The website will also encourage people throughout the world to become involved in challenging the media globally to fulfill their democratic responsibility to represent women and men in a fair and balanced way by sending letters to local media managers to take up UNESCO’s invitation on March 8, 2006.
Related Info
In these blogs, you can discuss the good or bad practices of Gender representation on the Media.
Here you are able to be part of each activity that takes place during the Three Weeks of Global Action (15 February – 8 March 2006)
