|
|
|
|
IFJ CAMPAIGN- END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN JOURNALISTS
|
|
|
On 25 November 2013, the IFJ launched a global campaign in response to the numerous cases of women journalists being threatened, attacked, harassed, raped or even killed in the course of their profession. This campaign section highlights some of the principle cases of violence against women journalists reported by the IFJ and its sister organisation EFJ as from January 2014. Follow us on #IFJVAW
|
|
Justice for french journalist murdered in central african Republic
(14.05.2014) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urge the transitional government of the Central African Republic and all international forces based in the country to do everything in their power to ensure the murderers of French journalist, Camille Lepage, answer for their crimes.
According to media reports, renowned freelance photojournalist Lepage, 26, had been travelling near the CAR border with Cameroon when she became caught up in fighting. Her body was found when a French patrol stopped a car driven by Christian anti-balaka militia in the Bouar region, a statement said.
More
|
|
|
EFJ condemns cold blooded killing of Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist in Afghanistan
(04.04.2014) The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemned the cold blooded killing of a Germany photographer, Anja Niedringhaus, at the outskirt of Khost city in Afghanistan ahead of Saturday’s Afghan presidential election.
Anja Niedringhaus, 48, was an internationally acclaimed photographer. She has been working for the Associated Press (AP) as a staff photographer since 2002. In the past years, she has been working in Afghanistan covering the conflict and its impact on the citizens.
According to the AP, Niedringhaus was shot dead instantly by a unit commander at the heavily guarded compound in the Tani district while she travelled with another freelance journalist, Kathy Gannon, in a convoy of election workers.
More
|
|
Call for Action in India after gang rape of journalist
(1.04.2014) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Indian Journalist Union (IJU) and the All India Newspaper Employees Federation (AINEF) are deeply concerned by the latest incident of a reported gang rape of a journalist in India on Thursday, March 28.
According to reports, a 27-year-old journalist on assignment was gang-raped by two people in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, Northern India. The journalist was conducting research on historic temples when on the way back to her hotel she was abducted and raped by the two assailants. The police have arrested one of the accused and are investigating the case.
The IFJ has expressed its concerns following the incident: “The culture of sexual harassment and threat in India continues to endanger women journalists both in the newsroom and out in the field. Gender equity and safety is intrinsic to press freedom and as long as women journalists’ lives are threatened, there can be no true freedom of the media.â€
|
|
IFJ demands thorough and impartial investigation into murder of egyption journalist
 (31.03.2014) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on Egyptian authorities to ensure that a thorough and transparent investigation is immediately carried out into the murder of journalist, Mayada Ashraf on Friday, 28 March 2014.
According to her employer, Egyptian newspaper Al-Dustour, Ashraf was shot while covering clashes between Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Egyptian security forces in eastern Cairo. It is unclear who was responsible for the murder, but opposing groups have blamed each other for the killing.
More
|
|
European social partners launch toolkit on gender equality in practice
(13.05.2014) European organisations representing employers and workers, namely , ETUC, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME and CEEP launched a toolkit compiling 100 initiatives to promote gender equality in the work place. It addresses gender role, women in decision making positions, work life balance and the gender pay gap.
More
|
|
GAMAG forms its steering committee
The Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG) is in the process of forming its steering committee.
GAMAG was formally launched in December 2013 in Bangkok at the close of the first Global Forum on Media and Gender. This pioneering collective brings together key stakeholders capable of effecting real and sustainable change; among them are representatives of media organizations, media professionals (including the IFJ), academics, policy-makers, civil society groups and development agencies.
An international steering committee to guide GAMAG is being put in place. The steering committee of 13-15 members will reflect regional, linguistic, and generational diversity, and will include representatives of key stakeholder sectors such as media professionals and their unions, media organizations, governments, and international agencies. In particular, it will include at least four representatives of print/broadcasting unions/associations and journalists’ associations and have at least one representative from each region of the world according to UNESCO’s configuration (Africa, Arab States, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean), among other criteria.
The IFJ has been nominated to be a member of the steering committee and gender council co-chair Mounia Belafia represents the organisation in this process.
International in scope and integrated in structure, the GAMAG is a cohesive global force dedicated to tackling gender disparities in media and helping achieve Millennium Development Goal 3, promoting gender equality and empowering women and ensuring systematic follow-up to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The GAMAG Framework and Plan of Action may be consulted here.
|
|
IWMF launches Anja Niedringhaus courage in photojournalism award
(15.04.2014) In honor of the courageous and dedicated AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus who was killed on April 4, 2014 in Afghanistan, the International Women’s Media Foundation has announced the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. The award includes a $1million endowment gift from the Howard G. Buffet Foundation and will be given annually to a woman photojournalist who sets herself apart by delivering extraordinary and brave work.
Niedringhaus spent her life documenting wars and the effects of conflicts on people living in dangerous regions. She received the IMWF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005.
|
|
Venezulan journalist released after being abducted for a week
(14.04.2014) Nairobi Pinto, head of correspondents for Venezuelan TV station Globovision, was freed on 14 April after being kidnapped for a week. She was taken by armed gunmen on April 6 while returning home from a supermarket. According to authorities she was found in the town of Cua, about 60 km from the capital, Caracas.
Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez stated that 3,000 police officers had been hunting for Pinto and that she’s going home safe and sound, but no further details were given of who was involved in the kidnapping and in what circumstances she had been released.
Photo: © AFP
|
|
New IFJ gender saftey training module for Asia Pacific
The outcome of the IFJ gender research held in 2013 in the Asia Pacific region, resulted in the development of a new gender safety training module which will be rolled out this year by IFJ Asia-Pacific in Pakistan and India.
On April 15-16, the first of these trainings was conducted with women journalists in Karachi, Hyderabad and Peshawar with the support of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. See a photo gallery from this workshop here.
Sundas Quereshi, of FM93, © Jane Worthington-IFJ
|
|
European Commission publishes annual gender equality report
(14.04.2014) The Commission’s most recent gender equality report released on 14 April 2014, shows that concrete progress has been made in 2013 to improve equality between men and women. The report points in particular at the gender pay gap which is stagnated at 16.4% being addressed by introducing an initiative to improve pay transparency. Results also show that the number of women on company boards has increased.
Challenges remain nevertheless. According to the report, it will take nearly 30 years to reach the EU’s target of 75% of women in employment, 70 years to achieve fully equal pay and 20 years to achieve equality in national parliaments. Progress is also uneven among the EU Member States and disparities continue to exist in different areas.
The full report can be accessed here and provides an overview of the main EU policy and legal developments in gender equality over the last year, as well as some examples of policies and actions in Member States.
|
|
EFJ-DJV- Council of Europe Encounter on youth and women in the media
 (11-13.04.2014) Around 40 journalists, union representatives and media educators attended a two-day meeting on 'Youth and Women in the Media,' in April under the project Media in Europe for Diversity Inclusiveness (MEDIANE), led by the Council of Europe (CoE) and co-funded by the EU and CoE.
The encounter organised by the Council of europe, the EFJ and its German affiliate DJV highlighted best practice examples in Denmark and Germany where youth and women are taking leadership role in the unions. Participants emphasised the need for journalists' unions to improve their recruitment strategies and change their constitutions (if necessary) to reach out to young journalists including journalism students and freelancers.
To better understand how diverse & inclusive the media workplace is, participants also visited the local TV and radio stations TV Tourins and Bayerischer Rundfunk, as well as the journalism school of the Univerisity of Applied Sciences in Würzburg.
More on MEDIANE.
|
|
IFJ attends 58th session of UN Commission on the Status of Women
(21.03. 2014)
Mindy Ran, co-chair of the IFJ Gender Council, attended the 58th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women which took place from 10 to 21 March 2014 in the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The annual gathering addressed critical issues related to gender equality and women’s rights and focused more specifically this year on “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for Women and girlsâ€.
The Commission called inter alia for the encouragement of more young women journalists to actively participate in determining the content of news programs, so that it better reflects their needs. The panelists also spoke of new technologies which allow women to access information in a revolutionary way.
In a letter published on the IFJ Gender Council blog and addressed to the UN, Mindy Ran argued that insufficient attention was given to the efforts and actions of the IFJ and the trade union movement during the session.
Read report from Mindy Ran here.
|
|
NEW IFJ-SAMSN report on women journalists in South-Asia
 In March, a new IFJ-SAMSN report on The Stories Women Journalists Tell, gave a snapshot on the experience of women journalists in the South Asia region.
The report is the first created by the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) and looked specifically at the experience of women journalists and shed light on how women are rapidly joining media’s ranks in large numbers, yet told the story that many still bear the brunt of inequality in newsrooms. The report was the result of a series of roundtables held between February and July 2013.
The report’s author, Geeta Seshu, said: “The women we spoke to shared their thoughts, ideas and experiences. Their primary concerns centred on recruitment, work assignments and promotions; the impact of the contract system and growing job insecurity; the need for greater gender sensitivity in the workplace; sexual harassment and safety.â€
|
|
Report shows US media still dominated by men
(3.04.2014)
The Women’s Media Center, a nonprofit women’s organisation in the US revealed in its latest report on the status of women in U.S. media, that women are clearly underrepresented in several media outlets.
By focusing on the most widely circulated and watched TV networks, newspapers and online news sites in the U.S., the researchers found that male journalists receive a whopping 63% of the byline credits or on-camera appearances.
The research also found that women are more likely to cover soft news topics such as lifestyle and culture, while men are more likely to report on politics and criminal justice. Some news outlets are doing better than others though. While the Chicago Sun-Times is closest to equal gender representation, the New York Times has the widest gender gap with more than twice as many male than female journalists.
The full report can be accessed online and is a third in a series of the Women’s Media Center.
|
|
"Prenons La Une" fédère les journalistes françaises autour de l'égalité dans l'information
Un collectif de journalistes françaises lance un appel pour plus de représentativité des femmes dans les médias professionnels et l'égalité des femmes dans les rédactions.
"Prenons La Une" compte déjà plus de 700 signatures.
Plus
|
|
New booklet on reporting on gender-sensitive issues
(3.04.2014)
Following a study session of The European Youth Press (EYP) titled “Gender in the Mediaâ€, a booklet with guidelines of what young journalists should consider when reporting on gender-sensitive issues was released in April.
The booklet addresses gender stereotypes in the media and is intended to help journalists better understand the importance of their work, in building a fairer and more equal society. It provides practical tips on how to, for instance, choose an angle for stories, how to cover stories on female leaders and how journalists can become more gender sensitive.
|
|
Four times more male than female experts on UK Radio and TV News, Study says
(3.04.2014)
A survey conducted by City University London on representations of women in broadcast news in the UK found that male experts still outnumber female experts by a ratio of four to one. The research also found that most women interviewed for news programs aren’t called experts, while their male colleagues normally are, and that there are three times more male than female reporters.
The research looked at 125 programs in the UK between November and 2013 and March 2014. Out of the results, “Todayâ€, BBC Radio 4’s long running early morning news program had the lowest percentage of women appearing on air.
Lis Howell, Director of Broadcasting at City University London, who also led the research, says: "Things are changing but very slowly. Journalists want to get women on air, and women want to do it, but there are few role models, and there is still some resistance in conservative pockets of the profession.â€
|
|
IFJ Gender Council launches blog
In January this year, the IFJ Gender Council launched a blog with the aim of reporting on the activities of its diverse members and encouraging the sharing of local voices and events. The blog can be accessed here.
|
|
European Women's Lobby launches campaign to address gender imbalance in EU institutions
Women make up more than 52% of the population in Europe, however they are still under-represented in political decision-making in all member states (27% on average in national parliaments) and in the European institutions (35% in the European Parliament).
In view of the European elections, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in Europe, launched the 50/50 Parity Democracy campaign promoting the equal representation of women and men in all European institutions. For the EWL, it is obvious that the media play a role in portraying women candidates, raising awareness of parity and bringing gender equality on the political agenda. The 50/50 campaign is aimed at contributing to a real debate on parity democracy, stereotypes and effective gender equality.
The EWL also unveiled its Manifesto for European elections this year, “Act now for her future, commit to gender equality!â€, in order to promote gender equality and women’s rights.
|
|
Promoting Gender Equality in the Audiovisual Sector
 In October 2011, the EFJ and other social partners from the EU Audiovisual Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee adopted a Framework of Actions on Gender Equality to promote gender equality in the audiovisual sector throughout the EU. Showing a real commitment for progress in this field from both the unions (FIA, FIM, EFJ and UNI-MEI) and the employers (ACT, AER, CEPI, EBU and FIAPF), this Framework of Actions (FoA) can now be used by European national social partners to advocate for gender equality in the audiovisual sector.
An  executive summary (available in English) introduces the FoA and shows how it can help social partner organisations in the audiovisual sector across the EU to develop their practices with a view to enhancing gender equality. A leaflet is also available in order to help promoting gender equality in the EU audiovisual sector.
The leaflet is available for download on the UNI MEI web site in English, French, German, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Lithuanian, Polish, Dutch, Italian and Swedish, in both Screen and Print versions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IFJ Gender Council Steering Committee,
27th June, Brussels
Contact: Pamela Moriniere
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
