wfn.org | Global Media Monitoring Begins in 127 Countries

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> PRESS RELEASE

> 10 NOVEMBER 2009

Today gender equality in the news media came under scrutiny in some
127 countries around the world. Teams of volunteers around the world
took part in measuring how well their national media are doing on fair
and balanced representation and portrayal of women and men in the
news. They monitored thousands of stories in hundreds of newspapers
and news broadcasts. The Global Media Monitoring Project is the
largest research and advocacy initiative in the world on gender
equality in news and journalism.

> Full statement?.

Today gender equality in the news media came under scrutiny in some
127 countries around the world.

> From Argentina to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh to Yemen, Barbados to the
Solomon Islands and Australia to Canada, national newspapers,
television, radio and internet news broadcasts were analyzed in the
Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP). Teams of volunteers around the
world took part in measuring how well their national media are doing
on fair and balanced representation and portrayal of women and men in
the news. They monitored thousands of stories in hundreds of
newspapers and news broadcasts.

The Global Media Monitoring Project is the largest research and
advocacy initiative in the world on gender equality in news and
journalism. It is coordinated in Toronto by the World Association for
Christian Communication (WACC) with regional coordinators and national
coordinators in each country. Through it, community organizations,
organizations concerned with gender equality, university students and
researchers and media professionals, among others, work together in a
massive voluntary collaborative effort. Its ultimate goal is to
advance gender justice by encouraging the fair and balanced gender
portrayal and representation in and through the news.

It is often said that the news is a mirror on the world. The GMMP
study in 2005 found that women are largely invisible in the news. Four
out of every five persons (21%) in news stories worldwide were men,
and just ten percent of all news stories focused specifically on
women. The data gathered today will generate solid evidence of whether
and how much this has changed across the world.

Today's research investigates concrete examples of how the routines
and practices of journalism result in news stories that reinforce
gender stereotypes, and highlights instances of exemplary gender
sensitive journalism. The data generated today are expected to provide
evidence ? facts and figures ? for transformation.
.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women UNIFEM is supporting the
project, recognizing the importance of gender equality in news media
to women around the world. The International Federation of Journalists
and numerous national media associations are involved.

The results will be analyzed by WACC in partnership with Media
Monitoring Africa and Gender Links, both based in South Africa. A
report will be published in time for the 2010 the Millennium
Development Goals Review Summit and the 15 year review of progress in
the implementation of the 1995 Platform for Action adopted at the
Fourth United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing. Through Section
â??Jâ?? of the Beijing Platform for Action, governments and  other
actors committed to promote a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal
of women in the media. They also committed to increase the
participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in
and through the media and new technologies of communication.

The project highlights the need for fair and balanced gender portrayal
to take its rightful place in ethical professional standards for
journalism.

For updates from monitoring groups around the world visit:
http://www.waccglobal.org

For more information, please visit http://www.whomakesthenews.org

or contact Terry Mutuku, Communication Officer: MT@waccglobal.org
<http://mailto:MT@wacclgobal.org