The authority divide
The authority divide
Plus: preserving diversity + fresh opportunities 🌐
WorldWise readers—
It’s an oddly fuzzy-yet-clear memory from a long time ago. Someone whose judgment I trusted offered a piece of advice. “Read everything”, he said; whatever you get your hands on.
The idea being, it helps you become a rounded person able to draw on all sorts of influences in whatever you do.
I followed the advice, to the best of my ability. And he was right. I’ve seen the benefits.
It’s now a very different information era; one where “read everything” feels like asking for trouble: the explosion of content has made even attempting it almost dangerous. Our collective way of coping with the volume—splitting into isolated ‘bubbles’—was one of the motivations behind this newsletter.
But the essence of that advice isn’t about volume. It’s about diversity—opening yourself up to different ways of seeing and experiencing the world.
Information bubbles that help us manage the volume also close us down. Diversity gets sacrificed for ease. Our field of vision narrows. Empathy suffers. And that’s something we can’t afford to lose.
Anita
MEDIA EDITION | opportunities and support to grow in communication
INSIDER | views & experience
It’s a hidden cost.
Women are still largely excluded from the highest rankings of power and editorial decision-making in the news media industry globally. Sadly, that’s hardly news to most of us. The last major reports I’ve seen document this were published a couple of years back.
A study by Luba Kassova, commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, analysed gender and race in major news media within the UK, US, India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. It found women missing along the value chain of the news ecosystem, from leadership through to expert sources, in these six major media markets.
Another report, by WAN-IFRA Women in News (WIN), was a leadership mapping of 192 major news media companies in 17 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Arab regions. It found that women make up just 10% of top business roles (publisher or CEO) and some 30% of the top editorial positions (editor in chief or executive editor). The findings are largely consistent with earlier research by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which found women held on average 20% of the top editorial positions of the more than 250 media surveyed.
The combined results paint a damning picture overall. It matters for a number of reasons, and not just to women.
A lack of female sources fuels inequality and creates room for biased reporting—a 2011 snapshot-estimate by the International Labor Organization revealed that 46% of stories published by media enabled gender stereotypes. Then there’s the bottom line: studies show consistently that companies with greater diversity at senior leadership levels outperform those without. McKinsey research has also shown that diverse and inclusive companies are a major priority for the new wave of talent that is entering the workforce—and will dominate—in the next decade.
There’s another less obvious sign of gender inequality in the media: women tend not to be thought of as authoritative experts in certain fields.
As subjects of stories and interview sources, women are far less likely to be interviewed as experts and only appear in about a quarter of television, radio, print and online news, according to a report by the Global Media Monitoring Project. And in an analysis of COVID-19 pandemic coverage by major news sources in the US, UK and Australia, women were quoted only a third of the time and in a quarter of all interviews in the area of public health and epidemiology.
In Africa specifically, only 22% of the people seen, heard or read about in the news are women, according to a 2021 Global Media Monitoring Project report. Women sources are especially less visible in issues like politics and the economy, which often dominate news coverage across the continent.
And that’s even after a period of improvement: “The usage of female experts as sources in the African media has increased significantly compared to 10 years ago,” said Ijeoma Okereke-Adagba, a program officer at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development.
Equally interesting is the fact that having better access is not the whole story.
A South Africa-based nonprofit media company called Quote This Woman+ (QW+) has curated a database of women experts in Africa for journalists to reach out to. The database is being used by over 1,000 journalists, some of whom write for international outlets like The New York Times, the BBC, and Al Jazeera.
But, according to QW+ director Kath Magrobi:
"Even with access to the QW+’s database, it’s still difficult to convince these experts to go out on a limb and talk to [the media], unless it is 100% aligned with the expert’s field of study. Yet the experts who are men are prepared to talk on wide-ranging subject matters with supreme confidence.”
I heard the same reflection in my interviews of journalists who covered science in the pandemic, I’ve seen it play out time and again, and it’s worth noting that the problem is intersectional (which is to say, perceptions of authority don’t get skewed only by gender). There’s a lot to unpack on why it happens, but that’s for another day. I’ll just say for now that in my experience, simply becoming conscious of this difference in behaviour can be transforming. I believe it opens up possibilities for women—and for men—to change entrenched habits that reinforce this authority divide.
OPPORTUNITIES | working with the media
grants+funding
GLOBAL | The Robert B. Silvers Foundation is inviting Anglophone writers of any nationality to apply for up to $10,000 to support long-form writing in fields that include political analysis and social reportage—closing 31 March.
MENA | The Arab Culture Fund is accepting applications for a programme that supports documentary films of any length and at all stages of development, by filmmakers living in the diaspora or Arab countries—closing 4 April.
GLOBAL | Journalists and media organisations are eligible to apply for the Biodiversity Media Grant, offered by the Earth Journalism Network and Arcadia, to increase the capacity of the media to cover conservation and biodiversity issues—closing 9 April.
GLOBAL | National Geographic is accepting proposals for grants in the areas of conservation, education, research, storytelling and technology—closing 11 April.
LAC | The initiative Conexão Oceano de Comunicação Ambiental is offering grants for journalists in Brazil with story ideas that address links between ocean preservation and aquatic sports activities directly influenced by coastal areas—closing 14 April.
fellowships+scholarships
GLOBAL | The New Humanitarian is inviting locally-focused journalists from the Global South to apply for a reporting fellowship that offers an opportunity to learn skills, experiment and present local stories for global audiences—closing 31 March.
MENA | Journalists and scientists in the Nile Basin countries can apply for a fellowship programme that offers training, mentorship, and co-production of communication outputs about water issues in the Nile River Basin based on scientific research—closing 31 March.
GLOBAL | The National Association of Science Writers is offering a fellowship to help up to six students and early-career science communicators from anywhere in the world to fund a US-based internship during the summer of 2024—closing 1 April.
MENA | Egyptian students can apply for a fellowship to pursue a Master's degree in journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo—closing 1 April.
GLOBAL | The Club of Rome is accepting applications for its Communications Fellowship, a six-month mentoring programme for early-career communications professionals from underrepresented communities and regions who are covering sustainability issues—closing 5 April.
GLOBAL | Young journalists who cover international affairs can apply for a fellowship by The Dag Hammarskjöld Fund for Journalists to cover deliberations of the United Nations General Assembly in September—closing 5 April.
GLOBAL | Lighthouse Reports is inviting applications to a six-month fellowship programme that offers support to develop investigative skills and contribute to active, collaborative investigations—closing 8 April.
training+events
LAC | Registration is open for Brazil-based students interested in a free course on how to avoid stereotypes and bias in their journalism practice, offered by the Black Journalists Network and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro—closing 27 March.
ASIA | Environmental journalists in India who are interested in data-driven accountability reporting can apply for the Environmental Data Journalism Academy, offered by Thibi and Internews’ Earth Journalism Network—closing 30 March.
ASIA | Science journalists from member countries of The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation who are keen to advance their skills to cover evidence-based climate stories are invited to apply to the Himalayan Climate Boot Camp 2024, which is taking place in May at the Pyramid Laboratory and observatory/ Everest Base Camp—closing 30 March.
GLOBAL | The Knight Center is offering a free online course, “Freedom of Expression, Artificial Intelligence and Elections”, for students interested in the ever-evolving world of technology and democracy—closing 2 April.
ASIA | The Asia chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association is inviting applications for mentors or mentees to take part in a programme aimed at students with an interest in journalism—closing 2 April.
LAC | Journalists based in Mexico's northern border, or who have an interest in reporting on transparency and corruption in the region, can register for a free workshop by the International Center for Journalists which aims to provide participants with tools for professional and safe electoral coverage—closing 4 April.
GLOBAL | The Global Press Journal is offering a four-week certificate programme on how to apply four narrative change techniques to storytelling—closing 4 April.
GLOBAL | Mongabay is hosting a webinar discussion with journalist Ian Morse and indigenous rights advocate Galina Angarova on ethical, technical, and environmental issues for reporters covering transition minerals and their role in decarbonisation—closing 8 April.
awards+competitions
AFRICA | The South African National Editors’ Forum is accepting entries for the Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards, which highlight exceptional work by South African journalists—closing 29 March.
GLOBAL | The National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications are inviting submissions from individuals who have developed content in science communication, science journalism, or research—closing 31 March.
MENA | The European Union is accepting entries by journalists from the Middle East for the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, which recognises work related to human rights and governance issues—closing 1 April.
GLOBAL | One Young World is accepting nominations for the Journalist of the Year Award, which also offers a fully funded trip to their upcoming summit in Canada, from young journalists whose work focuses on social, economic and/or political rights—closing 7 April.
GLOBAL/AFRICA | Agence EFE and Casa África are calling for submissions for the Sixth Saliou Traoré Prize for Spanish-language journalism on Africa, which is open to journalists with a track record on publishing about the continent—closing 15 April.
pitches+positions
GLOBAL | Mongabay is recruiting an Operations Coordinator who will be working remotely—apply now.
GLOBAL | The Markup has a call for pitches on how misinformation impacts immigrant communities—pitch now.
ASIA | Rina Chandran is Rest of World’s new Southeast Asia editor and is calling for pitches—pitch now.
AFRICA | Mongabay’s Africa-based news bureau is offering two paid reporting opportunities, one on how farmers and pastoralists in the Sahel are responding to climate change, and one on agricultural impacts on land degradation in West and Central Africa—pitch now.
GLOBAL | The Gecko Project is looking for an experienced editor working remotely to oversee a series of ambitious investigations—closing 29 March.
resources+tools
Mastering on-camera interviews: Key tips and essential strategies - Jamie Hellman for IJNET
Amplify your freelance career: 10 key resources for freelance journalists - Kiril Stoimenov for EJC
A beginner's guide to SEO for publishers and creators! - Ghost
Should freelance journalists have a niche? - Lucy McGuire for Journo Resources
Reporter’s guide to investigating carbon offsets – Toby McIntosh for GIJN
“I thought that the public conversation needed more accurate, diverse stories,” said [Ankur] Paliwal. “This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my 13 years of journalism. I've never had so many sleepless nights in a year.”
HIGHLIGHT | community space
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Federation for Journalists (IFJ) are inviting journalists to fill out a survey as part of a study on the safety of environmental journalists. The study aims to map how extensive the problem is internationally, and assess the efficacy of attempts to address it. The survey is available in seven languages (including English, Portuguese and Spanish), and results will be presented in Santiago, Chile, during World Press Freedom Day on the 3rd of May. Click here to take the survey—it closes on the 28th of March.
VIEW | insight & global news
Catch up on our exclusive two-part interview with Francisco Sagasti, Peru's former president 🇵🇪 In Part 1, he recounts the circumstances leading to the appointment and key decisions taken to jump-start Peru’s pandemic response. In Part 2, Sagasti outlines the key principles that lay behind those decisions, and calls for a new style of political leadership to ride out turbulence in the coming decades.
