Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the media : summary report.
Date: 2014-12-04
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: board of management, decision-making, evaluation method, female worker, gender equality, mass media, participation of women, position of women, report, woman

Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media20EndnotesEndnotes(1) Byerly, C., ‘Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media’, International Women’s Media Foundation, Washington DC, USA, 2011 (http://www.iwmf.org/our-research/global-report).(2) Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Women and the Media — Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organisations, EIGE, Luxembourg, 2013 (http://eige.europa.eu/content/document/advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-making-in-media-organisations-report).(3) Who makes the news?, Global Media Monitoring Project Report, World Association for Christian Communication, Canada, 2010 (http://www.genderclearinghouse.org/upload/Assets/Documents/pdf/gmmp_global_report_en.pdf).(4) Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Women and the Media — Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organisations, EIGE, Luxembourg, 2013 (http://eige.europa.eu/content/document/advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-making-in-media-organisations-report).(5) Strategy for equality between women and men 2010–15, COM (2010) 491, European Commission, Brussels, 2010 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0491:FIN:EN:PDF).(6) ‘ZDF-Staatsvertrag vom 31 August 1991, in der Fassung des Fünfzehnten Staatsvertrages zur Änderung rundfunkrechtlicher Staatsverträge (Fünfzehnter Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrag) in Kraft seit 1 January 2013’ (ZDF Treaty of 31 August 1991, in the version of the Fifteenth State Treaty amending broadcasting law treaties — Fifteenth Broadcasting Treaty Amendment — in force since 1 January 2013), Germany.(7) ‘Note di indirizzo della RAI della Commissione parlamentare per l’indirizzo generale e la vigilanza dei servizi radiotelevisivi, 30.7.1997’ (Document of the Parliamentary committee for the general direction and supervision of broadcasting), Italy.(8) ‘Loi du 5 mars 2009 relative à la communication audiovisuelle et au nouveau service public de la télévision’ (Law of 5 March 2009 on audiovisual communication and the new television public service), France.(9) Guidelines on Gender Equality and Gender Portrayal in the Broadcasting Media, Malta Broadcasting Authority, Malta, 2007 (http://www.ba-malta.org/codes-guidellines-policies).(10) Review of the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Women and the Media — Advancing gender equality in decision-making in media organisations, EIGE, Luxembourg, 2013 (http://eige.europa.eu/content/document/advancing-gender-equality-in-decision-making-in-media-organisations-report).Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaSummary reportCollection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media19New directionsGender quotas are still a controversial issue, though evidence shows that when and where introduced, quotas have enabled initial change and supported the advancement of gender equality. They could be considered within ap-proaches developed within and across media organisations.NGOs and, in particular, women’s associations already play a central role in bringing an exter-nal pressure for gender equality to bear within the media industry and in enhancing gender equality practices and approaches, including equality policies and self-regulation within or-ganisations. Their work in this regard should be supported at a financial and a political level. Their work should be expanded and deepened.More of these organisations should bring for-ward the demand for freedom of expression for women and the participation of women in ‘the construction of reality’ through the media.They should articulate the demand for gender equality in access to expression and decision-making in and through the media to feature on the political agenda. They should conduct gen-der equality monitoring of the media in terms of its organisation and production.Awareness-raising initiatives on gender equal-ity and those on inequalities in the media are effective in building a responsive and con-scious environment within media organisa-tions, at a decision-making level and at a pro-fessional group level. They create foundations for change and could usefully be considered within the strategies developed by NGOs in this field and also by other stakeholders.The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is an autonomous body of the European Union, established to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality, including gender mainstreaming in all EU policies and the resulting national policies, and the fight against discrimination based on sex, as well as to raise EU citizens’ awareness of gender equality. Further information can be found on the EIGE website  (http://www.eige.europa.eu).European Institute for Gender EqualityGedimino pr. 16 LT-01103 Vilnius LITHUANIATel. +370 52157444 E-mail: eige.sec@eige.europa.eu http://www.eige.europa.euhttp://www.twitter.com/eurogender http://www.facebook.com/eige.europa.eu http://www.youtube.com/eurogenderCollection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media18New directionsNew directionsThe study ‘Methods, tools and good practices in the field of women in the media’ identifies a number of developments that are required to increase women’s participation in and ac-cess to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new communication technologies. A starting point for these consid-erations must be that a long-term perspective of commitment and engagement is required. Transformation towards gender equality needs to be structural and long term rather than be-ing limited in objective, time and extent if real change is to be achieved. Commitment, sup-port and funding in this area need to be long term to ensure sustainability.Commitment and collaboration among all stakeholders are required to ensure positive change for women in the media. Public in-stitutions, media institutions, gender equal-ity bodies, national industry associations, women’s associations and other NGOs need to combine their efforts to address gender in-equality in the media.Public policy should explicitly address the pro-motion of women’s participation in and ac-cess to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new communication technologies. Policymakers are challenged to respond to the lack of policy in this field.The relevant national authorities should take a proactive approach to equality for women in the media. They should promote network-ing and knowledge transfer among the dif-ferent stakeholders involved at EU, Member State and local levels. Gender equality pro-jects in the media industry should be funded to promote organisational changes through the adoption of codes of conduct and gender action plans. The relevant authorities should collect media-related data disaggregated by gender. Research, studies and surveys are also important as they provide scientifically supported evidence of existing gaps and in-equalities and they can document and assess progress being made.Active commitment and leadership of man-agement, as well as of key figures such as editors-in-chief, within media organisations, is important if gender equality is to be in-creased. Media organisations need to take a leading role in advancing gender equality within their organisations. They should adopt codes of conduct and support the impact of these with gender action plans. These codes and action plans should integrate a gender dimension into the policies, procedures, and practices of the organisation. They should develop and support cultural competence among management and staff to promote and practise gender sensitivity and technical competence to advance gender equality in practice. Management training is fundamental particularly concerning the skills to promote gender equality, to build the necessary capac-ity at this level within media organisations.These codes and action plans should guaran-tee non-discrimination, fair recruitment, equal pay, equal access to training and career op-portunities, and the elimination of any form of sexual harassment. Specific commitments to action should also be included in the codes and action plans. Expert databases of women should be created and maintained. Gender bal-ance in expert panels should be achieved. Gen-der mainstreaming processes should inform all policies and actions to ensure that they equally engage women and men.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media3Contents ..........................................................................................................................3Introduction ....................................................................................................................4The challenges ................................................................................................................5The policy context ..........................................................................................................7Good practices ................................................................................................................9Criteria for assessment of good practices in the area of women and media ..........10Monitoring ....................................................................................................................12Training for gender equality........................................................................................14Awareness-raising ........................................................................................................16Self-regulation ..............................................................................................................17New directions ..............................................................................................................18Endnotes .......................................................................................................................20ContentsCollection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media17Self-regulationSelf-regulationSelf-regulation initiatives accounted for 18 % of  all the methods and tools collected in the study. They include codes of conduct for gen-der equality, internal gender equality policies and internal gender equality action plans. They seek to prevent discrimination, take account of diversity and/or advance equality.Good practice self-regulation should serve to increase women’s access to roles that enhance their intellectual skills and competences and to give women a voice in the media prod-ucts most relevant in shaping public opinion. It should promote women’s participation in media production at all levels and access for women to decision-making in the media. It should enable a transparent organisation of work based on clearly defined criteria in pro-motions and task management. Two good practice methods and tools were identified in the study.Method/toolDescription50/50 gender balance on the ‘Tonight with Vincent Browne’ show imple-mented since 2012 by TV3 in IrelandThe objective of this initiative is to increase the number of women featuring on the panels for this current affairs show. Men have dominated the fields of discussion for the show — politics, economics and finance.Editorial staff members are responsible for ensuring the 50/50 balance as a form of self-regulation.‘Act of commitment to a process of self-regulation to improve the image of women in the media’ implemented since 2010 by the Commission sur l’image des femmes dans les médias (Commission on the Image of Women in the Media) in FranceThis ‘Act of commitment’ seeks to improve women’s access to expression in the media. It is a tripartite agreement involving the government (Secretary of State responsible for Family and Solidar-ity), media organisations (20 radio organisations, 19 TV organisa-tions and 22 press organisations) and the Commission on the Image of Women in the Media.The media organisations have committed to actively seeking to feature more women experts in programmes or articles, to participate in a network of women experts and to raise aware-ness among editorial staff and production staff. The Commission monitors the actions of the media in this regard. The government supports the process and has an overview on progress made.Significant progress has been reported involving changes to recruitment policies and access for women to important roles. However, the proportion of women experts in programmes or articles has not made the same progress.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media4IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionThe Fourth World Conference on Women identified ‘Women in the media’ as a critical area of concern. One objective in the Beijing Platform for Action was to increase women’s participation in and access to expression and decision-making in and through the  media and new communication technologies.Expression in and through the media encom-passes participation by women in the crea-tion of media products and the presence and weight of women’s voices within media con-tent. Decision-making encompasses partici-pation by women in top-level management positions in media organisations and top-level editorial positions with responsibility for media policymaking and production.This report is based on a study commissioned by the European Institute for Gender Equality on ‘Methods, tools and good practices in the field of women in the media’. The study lasted from August 2012 until May 2013. Several ac-tivities have been implemented as part of the study. The study reviewed relevant policies and literature in the field. A mapping of stake-holders working in the field of women and the media at institutional level and at organisa-tional level was carried out. An online survey of 166 stakeholders was conducted. The map-ping exercise and survey enabled the collec-tion of methods and tools used to increase and improve the participation of women in expression as well as in decision-making within media companies. The mapped tools include monitoring, self-regulation, aware-ness-raising and gender training initiatives. Qualitative criteria for the identification and assessment of good practices in the area of women and the media were developed. The practices identified as having potential were shared and assessed in a consultation meet-ing that gathered experts and professionals in the field and that selected 14 good practices.The study collected a body of resources, in-cluding recent literature on the areas of con-cern for the project as well as recent refer- ences to the issue of gender stereotypes in the media.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media16Awareness-raisingAwareness-raisingAwareness-raising initiatives accounted for 18 % of the methods and tools collected in the study. They include campaigns to stimulate commit-ment and understanding among media profes-sionals of gender balance through the inclusion of women as experts, reporters and decision-makers in media companies. Other campaigns are to raise the confidence of women working in the media. Initiatives also include conferences and seminars where relevant data, good prac-tices and research findings are presented. These events provide an opportunity to examine the issue of women in the media.Awareness-raising initiatives are key to build-ing a responsive and conscious environment for media equality within media organisations, particularly at a decision-making level. Good practice awareness-raising requires a clearly defined target group, involves clear messages and spreads concepts that empower women and mainstream equality. They are centred on women’s expertise and skills and address gen-der imbalance as a shared community prob-lem. Two good practice methods and tools were identified in the study.Method/toolDescriptionAwareness-raising campaign for the French-speaking com-munity of Belgium organised in 2011 by the Association des Journalistes Professionnels (AJP — Association of Profes-sional Journalists)This campaign sought to: raise awareness among key actors in the daily press sector for the French-speaking community about the importance of gender-balanced representation in the media; start a collective analysis of the causes of under-representation of women in newsrooms; encourage managers to achieve gender equality in human resources policies and practices; and stimulate the key actors to question their own practice and participate in training in gender issues in the media.The campaign was based on the ‘Study on diversity and equality in the French-speaking daily press in Belgium’ (2011) and a mapping of good practices for gender equality in newsrooms. Activities included visits to newsrooms and press agencies to present the study results, workshops for key actors and the distribution of a leaflet on the study results to the general public.The key actors identified included editors and journalists, communica-tion professionals, teachers and students of journalism.Gender equality plan imple-mented since 2012 by Öster-reichischer Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)This initiative by the Austrian public broadcaster covers both awareness-raising and self-regulation. The gender equality plan aims to advance gender equal-ity through the promotion of women, the elimination of discrimination and enabling of reconciliation of family and work. In those areas where women are under-represented, there is a target to increase the share of women to 45 %. Activities for the promotion of women are integrated into human resource planning with the objective of reaching the target share of women within 6 years. The share of women in technical positions is also to be increased by improving their opportunities for occupational development.Men are motivated to make use of reconciliation initiatives to fulfil their fam-ily duties. Leaders in the organisation are stimulated to provide leadership regarding gender equality.The plan should lead to a higher proportion of women in leading positions. It should contribute to higher qualifications and enhanced possibilities for career progression among women in part-time employment.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media5The challengesThe challengesProgress towards gender equality for women in the media has been slow. Five challenges can be identified in the study ‘Methods, tools and good practices in the field of women in the media’.The first one is that women experience signifi-cant inequalities in participation in and access to decision-making in media organisations. Many of the employment obstacles faced by women in the media industry are similar to those faced more generally by women in the labour market. These include discrimination at the point of recruitment, a gender pay gap, precarious conditions of employment and vertical segregation. According to a 2011 study by the International Women’s Media Founda-tion (1), for example, examining more than 500 companies in nearly 60 countries, women oc-cupy only 26 % of the governing positions and 27 % of the top management jobs.Research carried out by EIGE on women and the media establishes the centrality of women’s participation in decision-making in media organisations to change within this sector towards gender equality. It identified significant gender inequalities in decision-making within media organisations. It found that ‘While women have considerably out-numbered men in university level and prac-tice-based journalism programmes (Eurostat, Education Statistics, 2010) and women are em-ployed in media professions in ever-increasing numbers (Eurostat LFS, 2011) the organisa-tional culture of media organisations remains largely masculine and women are still sig-nificantly under-represented in the decision-making structures of media organisations’. (2)The media labour market also presents specific features that need to be taken into account. The industry is characterised by temporary work and discontinuous careers. The specific needs of freelancers and temporary workers have to be taken into account. Media profes-sions are varied and not confined to journal-ists. There are strong gender biases in all areas of the media industry, but these are especially prevalent in the technical professions. All media professions need to be taken into ac-count in addressing the situation of women in the media, including electricians, video opera-tors, video editors, sound mixers and writers.Secondly, women experience significant in-equalities in participation in and access to expression in and through the media. There is a form of segregation where women work in areas of ‘soft’ news rather than ‘hard’ news and are, therefore, not engaged in those posi-tions with potential to shape public opinion. According to a 2010 Global Media Monitoring Project report (3), for example, women make up only 20 % of experts and 19 % of spokes-persons in the news.The third challenge is that there is a lack of policies directly addressing gender equality in the media industry. Policies that do refer to the media are predominantly focused on gen-der stereotypes and women’s portrayal in the media, and neglect gender equality within the media industry and women’s access to the production of media products.Governments and public institutions are wary of media regulation due to a commitment to freedom of expression. It is important to note that promoting gender equality in the media is not an interference with freedom of expres-sion but a means for women to achieve full access to freedom of expression.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media15Training for gender equalityMentoring programme for women journalists organised since 2011 by the Journalistinnenbund (League of Women Journalists) in GermanyThis programme seeks to support women journalists to improve their careers. It provides advice, support and coaching from older and more experienced journalists to women freelancers and to women starting a career in the field.It is based on volunteers, although it was initially funded by the government. Seventy women journalists have benefited from the programme to date. The programme has also facilitated networking among women journalists.Mentoring for women working in the film and TV industry organised since 2010 by WFTV (Women in Film and Television)This initiative seeks to improve women’s confidence and give them tools to help to advance their careers. It aims to build their knowl-edge of the industry through peer-to-peer sharing of up-to-date information, particularly about what skills are required for different jobs in the industry. It seeks to provide good mentoring and support and to encourage collaboration between the women involved.Twenty women, with 5 to 10 years of experience in the film and TV industry, are involved annually. Six hours of mentoring contact and fortnightly seminars are provided over 6 months.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media6The challengesThe fourth challenge is that academics too have paid little attention to issues of women’s participation in and access to expression and decision-making in and through the media. The aspect of the media that has been most widely investigated by academics relates to the portrayal of women in the media.Finally, media organisations have been reluc-tant to engage with the issue of inequality of women in the media. Women’s associations, journalist unions and NGOs are the driving forces for change in relation to women in the media. It is these organisations that imple-ment a large proportion of the methods and tools for gender equality found in the media industry. The methods and tools collected in the study were mostly implemented by NGOs (25 %), professional associations (20 %), indus-try associations (18 %) and statutory equality bodies (19 %). The figure for media organisa-tions was 17 %.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media14Training for gender equalityTraining for gender equalityTraining initiatives represented 24 % of all the methods and tools collected in the study. They include standard training courses and mentor-ing programmes as well as toolkits, manuals and handbooks. Most address gender issues in terms of media content. Training courses and modules to support women’s careers and guidelines for staff on gender issues in the workplace are less widespread.Most training activities are aimed at empowering women, regardless of whether they are working in the media or are experts in a particular field. The aim of the training is to support women to access high-profile roles in the media and to improve the gender bal-ance in decision-making positions in media organisations.Few training activities are tailored for media organisations to train management, human re-sources personnel or other staff. This is unfortu-nate, given that training is so important in sup-porting the necessary capacity development at management level, particularly in relation to gender equality skills.Good practice in training initiatives requires trainers with gender expertise. Content should be specific to gender in the media. Good prac-tice requires a clear definition of purpose and a training agenda that produces actionable outcomes. Good practice ensures that women are not held responsible for discrimination they experience. Four good practice methods and tools were identified in the study.Method/toolDescriptionTraining courses run in 2011 by Ariadna, Asociatia Femeilor Journaliste din Romania (Romanian Women Journalists Association)A number of training activities on women in the media were provided as part of a wider gender equality programme. Specific objectives for the training included: to enhance knowledge, skills and awareness of gender issues; to increase women’s access to media products; and to increase women’s agency and responsibility for policymaking and production in media organisations.Between 80 and 100 media professionals from print, radio, television and online media organisations participated in each course. Trainees had the advantage of networking and working together. Courses included teaching modules and electronic course handbooks.Training courses for women experts provided since 2009 by Vrouwen in de media (VIDM — Women in the Media)The objectives for this training provision are to redress the gender imbalance in experts’ access to expression through the media and, specifically, to inform and train women to claim their position in the media and secure greater visibility.Training courses are for 10–25 participants, provide information on newsmaking systems and processes and explain how journalists select news and how they find people to be interviewed. Trainees receive information about the best way to become visible and to present themselves.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media7The policy contextThe policy contextThere are policies on gender balance in de-cision-making at a European level. However, reference to the media in these policies is lim-ited. Policies that refer to the media focus on gender stereotypes and women’s portrayal in the media.Research conducted by EIGE (4) identified decisions, directives and recommendations adopted by EU institutions that could be used by all private organisations, including media organisations, to promote gender equality and foster the advancement of women in their organisations. It further noted the work of the European Commission in ad-dressing the relationship between women and the media in the broader context of poli-cies to foster equal opportunities between women and men. In particular it referred to the focus in the 'Strategy for equality be-tween women and men 2010–15' (5) on persis-tent inequalities between women and men in decision-making positions.Overall EIGE research found that ‘the critical area of women and the media as a policy-relevant issue is hampered by the fact that it is nested at the crossroads of several different areas of policy debate and European Union institutional intervention; that is, those of gen-der equality promotion, including framework programmes adopted at EU level, of media policy that has rarely engaged with the idea of equality between women and men and also with gender mainstreaming, and more recently, the measures promoted to improve women’s presence in decision-making in the EU’. The research concludes that ‘explicit poli-cies which encourage media industries to en-able more women to reach decision-making positions in the media industry are lacking'. (2)There are few laws at national level that explic-itly address the media industry from a gender equality perspective. Equal treatment legisla-tion in the Member States prohibits discrimina-tion in employment and allows positive action on the ground of gender. This is important but makes no specific reference to the media.There are exceptions. The ZDF Treaty (31 Au-gust 1991) (6) in Germany requires that 39 out of 77 members of the board of this public tele-vision company be women and that the equal opportunities commissioner of ZDF must en-sure the realisation of gender equality objec-tives within the company. In Italy the Docu-ment of the Parliamentary Committee for the General Supervision of Broadcasting (30 July 1997) (7) requires the public broadcasting company (RAI) to promote the acquisition of ‘power and agency’ by its women employees. Legislation in France on audiovisual commu-nication and the new public television service (5 March 2009) (8) reinforces the role of the ‘Conseil Superior de l’Audiovisuel’ (Audiovisual Higher Council) in promoting diversity, includ-ing gender. It specifies the expectations of the state on diversity in all media, particularly the public broadcaster (France Télévisions).National authorities have issued regulations governing media and communication. How-ever, most focus on gender stereotypes, jour-nalists’ behaviour and the issue of respect for diversity and human dignity.In Malta there is, however, the example of the Guidelines on Gender Equality and Gender Por-trayal in the Broadcasting Media issued in 2007 by the Malta Broadcasting Authority (9). The guidelines state that men and women should have equal responsibilities in the broadcasting Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media13MonitoringMethod/toolDescription‘Kvinfo Database’ implemented since 1997 by Kon-Viden Informa-tion Forskning (Kvinfo — Danish Centre for Information on Gender, Equality and Diversity)The objectives of this directory are to provide journalists, employers, conference organisers and others with a user-friendly tool to find women experts with specific qualifications in a wide range of fields, to make women experts visible to the media and journalists and to increase the weight and visibility of women’s voices in the media.‘Questionnaire to women journal-ists’, implemented in 2006 by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the United KingdomThis was a one-off survey of women members of the NUJ. The NUJ wanted to reach out to women working in the industry.The objectives of the survey were: to identify the experiences and problems related to gender that the women members have had at work; to start organising these women to work collectively on the issues identified; and to find out what they thought the NUJ could do in response to the issues identified.The survey identified patterns, themes and priorities for the NUJ to take forward in its work.‘Website Zeroviolenzadonne.it’ implemented since 2009 by Zeroviolenzadonne.it (Zero Violence against Women) in ItalyThis project involves a daily press review of the space dedicated to women and gender issues in the media. It aims to raise awareness of the imbalance in the presence of women in the media in terms of representation and in terms of access as journalists, media produc-ers and decision-makers. It provides a space for debate on the issues relating to the visibility of women in the media.‘Actively seeking women’s opinion on male-dominated subjects’ implemented since 2000 by Trud Daily in BulgariaThe objective of this initiative is to increase the visibility and weight of women’s voices in the coverage of Trud Daily. The deputy editors and editors-in-chief actively seek women’s opinion by identifying women from among popular and competent bloggers, freelancers and women in civil society.Women who collaborate with Trud Daily are not expected to be pro-fessionals or to be officially recognised as an expert in a field. They need to be competent in the topic covered. This policy has resulted in an increasing number of women’s voices in the newspaper.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media8The policy contextindustry, broadcasters should ensure both women and men secure equal access to all areas and levels of the broadcasting media and broadcasting companies should recruit a gender-balanced staff.Codes of conduct are used as a form of self- regulation by a number of media companies. They tend to be used by public bodies. The Code of Czech Television (2003), the Diversity Cell and Diversity Charter at VRT in Belgium (2003), the Gender Equality Policy for Public Service Television, SVT, in Sweden (2008), the Plan on Gender Equality for Austrian Broadcast-ing, ORT, (2012), and the Gender Equality Policy for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE, (2012) all promote gender equality within these companies. In France there is the Act of Com-mitment for a Process of Self-Regulation (2012) that covers the media in general and includes a commitment from public and private compa-nies to increase the proportion of women ex-perts appearing in programmes/articles.EIGE research on women and the media (10) found that the ‘majority of media organisa-tions have remained resistant to change and progress’. The research usefully differentiates between ‘passive general commitments’ and ‘proactive action plans’ for gender equality within organisations. It concludes that ‘poli-cies should ensure that those strategies (within media organisations) move beyond a pas-sive general commitment to gender equa- lity towards proactive action plans to pro-mote equality within organisations. Currently, the mere presence of codes of conduct to promote gender equality in many organisa-tions, including media organisations, is not a sufficient condition for change’.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media12MonitoringMonitoringMonitoring methods and tools are the most widespread and they accounted for 40 % of all the methods and tools identified in the study. Good practice in monitoring initiatives requires the involvement of experts in gender equality and in the media. Monitoring needs to have a clearly defined purpose, be conducted on a regu-lar basis and have its results widely disseminated. It most often focuses on women’s participation in and access to expression in and through the me-dia. It includes databases and directories of wom-en experts in various fields for the use of media professionals when specific expertise is needed. Directories of women media experts and journal-ists are also used and serve as a networking tool to support women’s professional advancement.Surveys and checklists are used to analyse media content. In some cases user groups evaluate the degree of equal representation of men and women by regularly watching, listen-ing to or reading media outputs. Studies can also assist with monitoring and are important both in providing an evidence-based perspec-tive on gender equality and in documenting progress. Some companies have established advisory committees to monitor gender equality.Good practice in monitoring initiatives requires the involvement of experts in gender equal-ity and in the media. Monitoring needs to have a clearly defined purpose, be conducted on a regular basis and have its results widely disseminated.Six good practice methods and tools were identified in the study.Method/toolDescription‘Database of professional women in the media with a gender perspective’ developed in 2012 by Coordinadora Española del Lobby Europeo de Mujeres (CELEM — Spanish Coordinator of the European Women’s Lobby)This directory of women journalists with a gender perspective was created to enable networking among these journalists. The specific purpose of the initiative is to increase the quantity and quality of information about gender in the media. One result of the initiative has been to raise awareness among media professionals about the need for visibility of women.‘Directory of Experts’ implemented since 2011 by France TélévisionsThis directory of experts is used to increase the number and pro-portion of women experts appearing in television programmes. It includes 100 experts who were individually vetted for quality by the Director of Diversity in Programmes. The experts are drawn from a range of profiles in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and disability.The directory has been placed on France Télévisions' intranet system and promoted to all the directors of channels. A diversity representative has been appointed in each channel to promote its use. The impact of the directory is assessed on a weekly basis by the channels themselves using a self-monitoring online tool.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media9Good practicesGood practicesThe process of identifying good practices in the field of women and the media involved assessment against general criteria of good design and efficiency, against criteria related to the specific practice being considered and against criteria directly connected with the field of women and the media and, more specifically, directly connected to the focus on ‘access to and participation in expression’ and of ‘access to and participation in decision-making’ that are the two objectives set by the Beijing Platform for Action in Area J (Women and the Media).A step-by-step process was used in the iden-tification of good practice, following the ap-proach developed by EIGE. All the methods and tools identified were scanned and a first selection was made on the general criteria of good design and efficiency. A number of ‘practices with potential’ were then identi-fied from this initial selection. Experts and stakeholders with relevant experience on the topic were identified and invited to par-ticipate in the assessment process. A consul-tation meeting then provided the context in which practices with potential were analysed and discussed by the experts and stakehold-ers to achieve agreed identification of ‘good practices’.Those good practices do not have the ambi-tion to represent the absolute and most effec-tive approaches in the EU but they do stand out as relevant, effective and viable options to overcome gender inequalities in the area of women and media. They also aim to support policymakers and professionals to improve the effectiveness of relevant policies and practices.The methods and tools addressing equality for women in the media, found in the study ‘Methods, Tools and Good Practices in the Field of Women in the Media’, include moni-toring activities, training activities, awareness-raising actions, and self-regulation initiatives. There was a prevalence of monitoring activi-ties (40 %) over the other types of action. This compares to training (24 %), awareness-raising (18 %) and self-regulation (18 %). This suggests that many media organisations may still be at the stage where the priority is to establish a clear picture of the gender inequalities and to make gender inequality visible.Methods and tools supporting women’s ac-cess to expression are more widespread than those supporting women’s access to decision-making. In particular, monitoring initiatives, training activities and awareness-raising ac-tions tend to support women’s participation in and access to expression. Self-regulation actions tend to support women’s access to decision-making.Gender equality in the media requires a long-term perspective on and commitment to the initiatives taken. The transformation required for gender equality is structural in nature. Ef-fective approaches to gender equality need to be sustainable and adequately financed.Collection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media11Criteria for assessment of good practices in the area of women and mediaMonitoring of ac-cess of women to expressionMonitoring of ac-cess of women to decision-makingSelf-regulationfor gender equalityGender trainingAwareness-raisingClear definition of the monitoring purposesClear definition of the monitoring purposesSelf-regulation tools intended to increase women’s access to roles enhancing their intellectual skills and competencesClear definition of gender training purposesClear definition of awareness-raising goal(s)Monitoring grounded in a clear definition of ‘access to expression’Monitoring grounded in a clear definition of ‘access to decision-making’Self-regulation tools intended to give women a voice in the media products that are more relevant in public opinion shapingWell-developed strategyClearly defined targetMonitoring conducted on a regular basisMonitoring conducted on a regular basisSelf-regulation tools intended to promote women’s participation in media production process at any levelWell-designed agendaClear messageDissemination of monitoring resultsDissemination of monitoring resultsSelf-regulation tools intended to promote access of women to decision-making in the mediaAddressing real problemsCentred on women’s expertise and skillsMonitoring conducted using a clearly defined and consistent methodological approachMonitoring conducted using a clearly defined and consistent methodological approachSelf-regulation tools aiming to pro-mote a transparent organisation of work, based on clearly defined and shared criteria in promotion and tasks managementNot holding women responsible for discriminationWell disseminatedInvolvement of gender experts and media experts in monitoringInvolvement of gender experts and media experts in monitoringStable, long-lasting nature of self-regulation tools adopted to redress gender imbalances‘Gender and the media’-specific contentAddressing gender imbalance as a community problemStrong basis in women and the media issuesGender skills and expertise of trainersCollection of methods, tools and good practices in the field of women and the mediaAchieving equality for women in the media10Criteria for assessment of good practices in the area of women and mediaCriteria for assessment of good practices in the area of women and mediaFirst set of EIGE’s basic criteria: Basic ele-ments for defining a practice with potential1. Works well.2. Transferable.3. Has learning potential.4. Embedded within wider gender main-streaming strategy.Second set of criteria: Women’s participa-tion in and access to expression and deci-sion-making —specific criteria common for all practices with potential1. Approach centred on the role of women in the social construction of reality.2. Clear, appropriate, comprehensive definition of women’s access to and participation in expression in and through the media.3. Enables women to access prestigious roles in and through the media.4. Enables women to access all the professional roles involved in media production.5. Increases women’s chances of having a voice in all the thematic domains covered by media.6. Contrasts women’s segregation in the thematic domains considered to be for women’s interest/expertise only.7. Increases women’s chances of having a voice in all the media products.8. Clear, appropriate, comprehensive definition of women’s access to and participation in decision-making within media organisations.9. Promotes balanced participation of women in decision-making within media organisations (access to top-level positions and to editorial positions, in charge of policymaking and production).10. Increases the attention given to women’s social, economic and cultural issues.11. Promotes the creation of women’s formal or informal networks.12. Promotes work/life balance and workers’ well-being.13. Promotes women’s careers within media organisations at any level.14. Ensures gender equality by promoting transparency in the organisation of work.15. Acknowledges and tackles forms of multiple discrimination that intersect with gender discrimination.Third set of criteria: Practices with po-tential, specific elements for the field of interventionSee opposite.