Day 3: Opinion Exchange
The participants were divided into four groups and each group made a short presentation,
headed by a representative. After the presentations, everyone had a discussion and exchanged
opinions based on each topic.
Group 1 “Example of better working environment in media outlets”
Presentation summary (Presenter: Japan/ Newspaper)
In 2019, the ratio of female workers recruited was 40% of
the total new recruits in the newspaper firm she works for.
However, the ratio was only 20% when she joined it. The
firm has three main initiatives in increasing the number ofwomen journalists. The first is the reduction of working
hours: the regular hours were until 9 p.m., but shortened
to 7 p.m. This led to the reduction of daily working hours to10–12 hours. The second is respecting the private life ofeach journalist. This led to flexible working style and allowedGroup 1 presentation

both female and male employees to work from home. The third is an additional allowance for
employees who covered for the staff on parental leave, etc. This helped alleviate the sense ofinequality unmarried employees felt for taking on the workload of staff on parental leave.
○ Discussion topic: “What is an ideal working environment for women in the media?”
Main opinions:▶ My company allows employees to bring their children to work. My family is also supportive.
(Philippines/ Newspaper)▶ Most politics journalists with experience are men, therefore men wrote most byline front
page articles. However, a recent survey shows that the ratio of political articles by men
and women journalists has become equal. (Australia/ Newspaper)▶ To have a competitive advantage, women need expertise in a specific area. Thus, we muststudy. However, journalists work long hours rendering it hard to set aside time for learning.
A support system is needed to let them return to school. (Republic of Korea / Newspaper)▶ A newspaper firm in Japan has a system that allows employees to go back to study for two
to three years and then return to the former position. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ Journalists hate giving their own articles to others, but should allow more job sharing as
the news cycle can continue if they allow colleagues to take over. (Australia/ Newspaper)○ Group discussion summary:
For women working in the media to maintain work-life balance, support from both company
and society (including family and friends) is necessary. For example, it is ideal for working
parents to be able to bring their children to work or to review the system of deducting thenumber of days/years taken off as maternity or parental leave from the total years of service25

or retirement allowance. It would also be ideal to establish a system for journalists to be able
to take leave to study new things to broaden their career. Introducing flextime policy, job
sharing among journalists or working from home can reduce working hours. We should notseparate men and women. It is important to create a good working environment for both men
and women to have an open and free environment.

Group 2 “Issues of gender equality and women's empowerment raised by the media”
Presentation summary (Presenter: Japan/ Newspaper)
The media should report stories on active and iconic
women, female leaders close to us or men and women
helping each other in a household. It is also necessary forthe media to inform the public of harassments women face.
The number of women journalists in the media isincreasing, but the one of women in managerial posts
remains limited. This leads to the media presenting issues
from men’s point of view. More women should participate
in politics and administration. The media has an importantGroup 2 presentationrole to play in encouraging women to take their own
initiatives to empower women.
○ Discussion topic: “What we, as members of the media, should report to promote
gender equality
Main opinions:▶ It is still commonly accepted that a woman should be a housewife. We should make astatement that women can love and take care of children while having a job. (Philippines/Newspaper)▶ We in the media should make our intention clear when writing articles on promoting genderequality. (Thailand/ Newspaper)▶ It is important for the media to point out various issues. However, at the same time, weshould write about admirable and impressive women. (India/ Newspaper)▶ Articles about men who take up child rearing are often written from women’s point of view.
It is necessary to make a statement in a strategic manner in order to upend the stereotyped
perception of gender roles. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ It is important to write articles on women’s hardships, but I wonder if men read sucharticles. We must think about ways to deliver messages to men. (Japan/ TV station)▶ There were comments that men do not read articles on women, but if the number ofstories on women increases, men will eventually read them. (New Zealand/ Internetmedia)

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○ Group discussion summary:
The media is in a position to provide materials on promoting gender equality. For example, itwould be effective to introduce examples of women who create positive social impact or womenand men who can be a role model for the society. However, it is a fact that our society is still
male-dominated and the readers of articles on women are mostly women. To promote genderequality, it is necessary to provide topics that interest men. On the other hand, increasing
stories on women may lead men to read such articles inevitably. In any case, there is a needto think strategically on delivering these messages.

Group 3 “Networking of women journalists”
Presentation summary (Presenter: Republic of Korea / Newspaper)
In the Republic of Korea , the number of women journalists
is on the increase each year as well as media outlets
targeting women. As an example of networking of womenjournalists, the presenter introduced a Korean womenjournalist association comprising 31 Korean media outlets
and 1,400 journalists. The association provides workshops,training, and writes articles on gender. The presenter also
introduced a labor union for the media and activities ofunofficial study groups. The presenter concluded that it isGroup 3 presentationnecessary to increase the number of women in managerial posts and promote further
networking among women journalists through an interaction between senior and junior female
employees.
○ Discussion topic: “What a network of women journalists can produce”
Main opinions:▶ As far as I know, an official organization like the Korean women journalist association does
not exist in my country. (Malaysia/ Newspaper)▶ As each media outlet competes with others, challenge lies ahead in creating a crossorganizational association. (Japan/ TV station)▶ The biggest challenge is taking an initiative in creating a network. (Malaysia/ Newspaper)▶ The leading organization in promoting a women journalists’ network does not necessarily
have to be official. (Australia/ Newspaper)▶ Networking initiative is important to claim the rights of women interviewees and womenjournalists. (Thailand/ TV station)▶ If a women journalists’ network is to be created in my country, I want to promotementoring of young women journalists. (Australia/ Newspaper)▶ If the target is women only, this alienates men which may result in reverse gender
discrimination. It is better to target both men and women journalists with gender sensitive
viewpoints. (Japan/ Newspaper)▶ Vulnerable people need to form a group to voice an opinion. (Republic of Korea /27Newspaper)○ Group discussion summary:Republic of Korea has a women journalists’ association that plays a central role in networking
among women journalists. However, as far as we know, no such organization exists in thecountries where our participants come from. We welcome any opportunity to promote womenjournalists’ network. The network does not need to be an official organization; an unofficialand flexible network can also be effective. When women journalists come together, this can beused as a tool to voice concerns on improving working conditions or issues on gender. This
exchange program brought together women journalists from eleven countries of the AsiaPacific region, which presents a good opportunity to establish an international womenjournalists’ network.

Group 4

“Example of advanced initiatives on gender equality and women'sempowerment in Asia Pacific countries”
Presentation summary (Presenter: New Zealand/ TV station)
Since 1995, BBC has conducted the Global Media
Monitoring Project (GMMP). Every five years, GMMP has
done a one-day study of the representation and portrayalof women and men in the news media in over 100countries. In 1995, 24% of the news subjects werewomen, the ratio of female commentators was 19% and
37% of reports were by women journalists. Our company
took part in the BBC-initiated “50:50 Project,” a scheme
to increase women’s representation in media contents toGroup 4 presentationreflect the real life that has an equal gender mix. One in three viewers noticed the difference,
20% of women viewed it positively, and most young viewers welcomed the changes. As ajournalist, it is always important to strive for an equal gender ratio.
○ Discussion topic: “How to increase the presence of women in journalism”
Main opinions:▶ We have entered an age in which we get criticized on the social media if only men talkabout women’s empowerment in the media. To promote women’s empowerment, we need
men’s support. The media should present a balanced report by reporting the voices of men
who support women’s empowerment. (India/ Newspaper)▶ We must check the gender distribution of staff or information sources. (Japan/ TV station)▶ It is difficult to make changes in the company, as there is a risk of losing our job. Since the#MeToo movement began with a tweet by a female freelance journalist, the leading media
had no choice but to follow the trend and make changes. (India/ Newspaper)▶ The spread of online news made it easy to know the response of readers. Newspapers
used to print political and economic issues on the front page as most readers are middle28

aged men in such traditional media. However, the trend is moving towards reporting on
the hardship of life as a woman. The readers’ and the media’s interest in women’s issues
have begun to converge, resulting in an increase in such stories. (Japan/ Newspaper)○ Group discussion summary:
Many challenges lie ahead in achieving equal gender distribution: women working in the media
are relatively few, most information sources are men, the number of women in managerial
posts is limited, men think women journalists get their job from their looks, and people feel
women journalists deal only with soft-news stories. The tasks are to aim for an equal gender
distribution by collecting gender distribution data of staff and information sources and todiscuss the issue with not only women but also men. Most women in managerial posts in themedia have worked harder than men to get there. Some think that feminism is prejudice, notabout women’s empowerment. We must break down the notion of feminism being prejudice.

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Review and Conclusion of Exchange of Opinions
Dr. HAYASHI Kaori, Professor, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary
Information Studies, The University of Tokyo
I am delighted to welcome all the participants who have taken time out of your busy
schedule to have a very active discussion throughout the program. I could sense all of theparticipants’ joy of working as a journalist. At the same time, I could also sense the doubts,difficulties and dissatisfaction on how to stay involved with journalism because you love what
you do so much.
I hope everyone could reflect on your position and think about how to stay involved withthe job as a journalist and as a woman, through exchange of opinions. In recent years, theculture of journalism is going through drastic change withhaving more women and minority groups in the field as wellas

digitaltransformation.

However,the objectiveofjournalism remains the same, which I believe is “to create
a better society.” I hope and expect that women journalists
will play more active roles in the future.

Closing Remarks
Ms. HASHIMOTO Seiko, Minister of State for Gender Equality,
Minister in charge of Women's Empowerment
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of you for participating in the threeday exchange program. I am delighted to welcome journalists who are active in the frontlines
in media outlets in various countries.
The media has a large influence and plays an important role in changing people’s mindsets
and reducing prejudice. For this reason, it is extremely important for women to play anactive role in the decision-making process of the media and think of ways to include women’sviewpoints and ways of thinking in this age of diversity. I hope the symposium allowed all of
you to examine the activities and future of women journalists, and field visits and exchangeof opinions deepened understanding of Japan and the roles of women working in the media.
I would be delighted if all of you reported the experiences, new ideas or awareness learnedfrom the program and make good use of these experiences in the future.
I also believe that the international network you have built
during the three days would be a valuable asset. I hope allof you become a bridge of trust and friendship in the Asia
Pacific region by using this network. I would like toconclude my speech by wishing you continued success thatwould lead to women’s empowerment in the media as awhole.
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