About Reflect Reality
Origins of the project
By Jennifer Cobb
Director of United for News
Around the world women represent one of the largest groups left out of the news media. According to the 2020 Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), only 24% of experts cited in news stories globally are women. This devastating statistic has barely changed in decades.
We can and must do better.
Imagine for a moment that women experts were fully represented in all media. Women and girls would be empowered and emboldened to fully participate in society, adding untold talent, skills and wisdom to a world that desperately needs them. Culture would shift and adapt as stereotypes are smashed. And the news and information we all consume would be inclusive of diverse voices, rebuilding trust in the critical resource of reputable media.
United for News’ 2018 coalition retreat at the Carey Institute for Global Good, New York. Members gather to outline their plan to address the disparity of women’s voices in the news.
United for News is a multi-stakeholder coalition of private sector, media and NGOs committed to supporting and sustaining media around the world. A joint venture between Internews and the World Economic Forum, our focus is in on leveraging the expertise of all our members and their communities to strengthen reputable media.
United for News coalition members share strategies for how news producers can source more women in their stories at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia Italy. From left: Ros Atkins, Founder of the BBC’s 50:50 Project; Jenny Holm, Program Manager at Internews; Laura Zelenko, Senior Executive Editor at Bloomberg; and Melanie Walker, Director of Women in News at WAN IFRA. Photo credit: IFJ
One of our key concerns is rebuilding trust in media around the world. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, media is currently the least trusted institution in the world, and skepticism surrounding news organizations and news reporting is widespread. While there are many factors needed to restore trust, one key, addressable element is ensuring that news and information reflect the communities they serve.
Reflect Reality is our contribution to this challenge. On these pages, you will find a rich and deep set of resources to advance the voices of women in the news. These resources are drawn from the leading experts in the field – individuals and organizations working on the front lines in countries around the world to build greater representation for women’s voices.
United for News is deeply grateful to our members for making this work possible. Bloomberg, Edelman, the World Association of Newspapers, the 50:50 Project, Newsgain, the Global Forum for Media Development and Internews bring tremendous insight and wisdom to these pages. We are also grateful to the contributors from around the world, whose insights offer nuance and depth to the work.
We are deeply grateful to our funder, the News Integrity Initiative at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York, for making this work possible.
It is our deepest hope that by collecting this wisdom in a single, easy to access resource, journalists, newsrooms, organizations and individuals around the world will be inspired to do their part to normalize the expert voices of women, so that media does fully reflect the reality we all inhabit every day.
Reflect Reality is a project of United for News, a multi-stakeholder coalition, led by Internews in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, with a mission to build trust and sustainability for news media around the world.
We are grateful for the collaboration and guidance of the following United for News member organizations. Each has developed specific expertise related to building gender equality in the news and specifically, sourcing more women as subject matter experts. Reflect Reality is a product of their generous commitment to sharing resources and experience to help close the gender gap.
Pilot partners
In addition to best practices sourced from our partners, the strategic approaches presented in Reflect Reality are informed by pilot projects conducted in collaboration with news teams around the world. Thank you to the following partners for their careful attention to increasing the extent they source women as experts, and their collaboration in sharing best practices.
Contributors
In addition to the United for News coalition, stakeholders around the world are engaged in the global movement to increase the voice of women in the news. We are immensely grateful for the contributions and testimonials of the following individuals.
Sarah Macharia, Global Media Monitoring Project – Toronto, Canada
Jacqueline Gallinetti, Plan International – London, England
Daniel Nkashama, Radio Okapi – Gombe, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Shari Graydon, Informed Opinions – Ottawa, Canada
Laxmi Parthasarathy, Global Press Institute – Washington D.C., USA
Lynn Walsh, Trusting News Project – San Diego, California, USA
Giulia Dessi, Media Diversity Institute – London, England
Misako Ito, UNESCO – Bangkok, Thailand
Chuck Rice, Developing Radio Partners – Asheville, USA
Lisa Kimmel, Edelman – Toronto, Canada
Angela Nicoara, Internews - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Laura Zelenko, Bloomberg – NYC, USA
Sam Farah, BBC – London, England
Julianna Iootty, BBC – London, England
Michelle Foster, Newsgain – Paeonian Springs Virginia, USA
Leah Mushi, Internews – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Christine Dobby, The Globe and Mail – Toronto, Canada
Sarah Holmes, BBC – London, England
Temur Durrani, Toronto Star – Toronto, Canada
Evelyn Kwong, Toronto Star - Toronto, Canada
Jo Sheldon, Edelman - London, England
Melanie Walker, WAN IFRA - Toronto, Canada
Melissa Stasiuk, The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Canada
Julie Carl, Toronto Star - Toronto, Canada
Sara Schonhardt, Earth Journalism Network - Washington D.C., USA
We also would like to thank the following individuals for their guidance : Nathan Matias, Stephen Grove, Lisa Kassenaar, Sophie Nadeau, Jenny Holm, Steve Rubel, Mira Milosevic, Nina Goswami, Ros Atkins, Zofeen Ebrahim, Davinder Kumar, Stephanie Phang, Jodi Schneider, Gabriela Christie.
Reflect Reality was compiled and edited by Natalie White and Deborah Ensor, with help from Jennifer Cobb, Paula Orlando and Genevieve DiVito. It is a product of Internews and the United for News coalition. United for News and the production of Reflect Reality are supported with funding from the News Integrity Initiative at the City University of New York, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
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