2025-03-07. We mark International Women’s Day 2025 by dedicating to its theme, with just that: Action. WAN-IFRA’s equality champion Melanie Walker outlines the real need for urgent change – and how we intend to bring it. The post Accelerating Action: why, and how, WAN-IFRA WIN will keep driving inclusivity in global news media appeared first on WAN-IFRA.
WAN-IFRA WIN’s latest research underscores the persistent gender gap in media leadership, reinforcing the urgent need for change. The WIN Guild, a collective of top editors and media executives, is leading the charge with a new Pledge to leverage their influence and accelerate gender equality within their organisations.
On average still today just under 1 in 3 top editorial posts are held by women and fewer than 1 in 5 business lead positions are held by women.
This is compounded by the dire track record of women appearing only 1 in 4 times in bylines, as key experts, or protagonists in news content – statistics that have not significantly changed since 2010.
The policy and mindset shifts emerging from the United States, like it or not, send ripples across the globe, shaping narratives and influencing realities far beyond their borders.
This extends to viewpoints and priorities assigned to gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
That is why, on the eve of International Women’s Day, it is more important than ever to reaffirm the core values that guide us at WAN-IFRA and within the global media community:
- Equality – especially gender equality – is a foundation of freedom of expression, democracy, and human rights.
- Diversity is a strength; it fuels innovation, creativity, and resilience.
- Everyone has the right to bring their whole self to work. Workplaces must be safe, inclusive, and free from discrimination and harassment.
- Diverse and inclusive newsrooms create better journalism, deeper audience engagement, and stronger business outcomes. Inclusion is not just a moral imperative; it is a financial necessity.
- Gender equality and inclusion are non-negotiable. Doing the right thing should never be up for debate.
WAN-IFRA’s heritage – rooted in the courage of journalists who stood against oppression during World War II – reminds us that our commitment to these principles is both timeless and necessary.
Powering up, inclusively
For 15 years, WAN-IFRA’s Women in News (WIN) programme has striven to change the composition of the media landscape through capacity building and advocacy programmes. These initiatives are designed to both empower high potential women media professionals, and build media environments where these future leaders can flourish: environments defined by inclusion, safety and stability.
Lofty ambitions for an industry under siege, but this vision has helped to sustain and nourish the growth, reach and impact of WIN in the decade and a half since our first pilot programme in Southern Africa back in 2010.
Today, thanks to the support and generosity of Sweden and Norway – and a veritable army of co-conspirators and champions – WIN is now active in more than 26 countries across the globe, engaging with up to 1,200 media per year on subjects ranging from inclusive leadership, managing and eradicating sexual harassment, to digital transformation and change management.
Our capacity-building programmes specifically aim to widen the pipeline of leaders as a vital step to change the composition of power structures within the media.
That an entity such as The Guild exists, however, is significant progress. 15 years ago it would not have been possible to bring together such an esteemed group of business and editorial leads.
This is a bright spot for change, and one that is reflected in our 2024 Leadership Mapping findings: overall, the needle IS moving, with 25% of top management positions held by women, compared to 21% in 2022.
This continues to serve as a beacon for WIN and all those in our industry who have committed themselves and their organisations to a future where equality, diversity and inclusion is a given.
About the Author: Melanie Walker is Media Development Executive Director and Gender Lead at WAN-IFRA.
The post Accelerating Action: why, and how, WAN-IFRA WIN will keep driving inclusivity in global news media appeared first on WAN-IFRA.
