Why: Media shapes us, informs our ideas, policies and politics. It tells us who we are, and what we can be.
What: WMC works toward media equality using interconnected strategies of research, original stories and articles, promotion of women experts and media training.
#NetNeutrality is back! The @FCC just restored #NetNeutrality protections. This is a huge win that will ensure every single one of us has access and the opportunity to benefit from the free and open internet. The Women's Media Center joins hundreds of advocates in celebrating this move by the FCC and further our calls for the agency to reinstate all critical protections from the 2015 Open Internet Order, as well as adopt protections that take into account new technology and what we’ve learned since 2015.
We count our blessings every day to benefit from Gloria Steinem's leadership, and today, on her 90th birthday, we reflect on everything we've learned and been gifted from her. Please join us in celebrating Gloria on her birthday!
In sisterhood and with love, from all of us at WMC.
Women made modest year-to-year gains in the non-acting nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards with 32% going to women, matching the previous high set in 2021. The increase can be largely attributed to more women nominees in the major categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Editing, and in the below-the-line crafts categories of Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, and Best Documentary Feature. But despite increases, the number of women recognized with Oscar nominations for these behind-the-camera roles continues to lag woefully behind that of men. Even with an all-time high of 32%, more than twice as many nominations — 68% — are going to men in the 18 non-acting categories.
The “Women of Color in U.S. News Leadership 2023” report spotlights 20 women of color top executives in media who are visible, powerful, and transformational. These dynamic women in television, print, digital, and radio now occupy a seat at the table in an industry long dominated by White men. They lead at a time when the need to grow audiences, increase the bottom line, and keep pace with a rapidly changing digital world gains urgency. Perhaps paramount to the ability to do all of this is creating newsrooms that are inclusive, diverse, and representative. They are working to ensure that the voices, experiences, and stories of everyone, especially women and people of color, are included in media.
For the annual Primetime Emmy Awards, the total numbers of women who get nominations in non-acting categories have continued to hit a proverbial “glass ceiling” of below 40% every year. The total numbers have not changed from the previous year: For the 2023 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, 33% of the non-acting nominees were women, the same percentage for the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards. And in typically male-dominated categories, things are getting worse for women.
THE WOMEN’S MEDIA CENTER hosted their 2023 WOMEN’S MEDIA AWARDS on October 19th at the Whitby Hotel in New York City. The WMC AWARDS were presented to outstanding leaders and champions for women in media. This year’s WMC 2023 Women’s Media Awards honorees were: Mariska Hargitay, Fredricka Whitfield, Karen Lincoln Michel, Emily Ladau, Koritha Mitchell, and Akila Radhakrishnan.
Tuesday, March 28 at 4:00pm. Westfield State University
WMC Board Chair, Janet Dewart Bell, has been honored as a 2024 Sheroe in Media by the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association. “The MMCA is grateful to honor these amazing Sheroes. They work to ensure equity in the media so that BIPOC stories are seen and heard and to empower people of color and women in the media. Their tremendous work is inspiring, and we are overjoyed to acknowledge their accomplishments,” said Olga Lucia Torres, chair of MMCA's board of trustees.
Congratulations to Women's Media Center board member Regina K. Scully who will be celebrated at the Women's Image Awards on February 21, 2024. Philanthropist and producer Regina K. Scully will accept The WIN Awards Humanitarian Honoree tribute: “I’m honored to receive the Humanitarian Award from Women’s Image Network. I’m a filmmaker who is also in the trauma recovery business. Storytelling changes our DNA. Films help transform the world. It’s especially timely, as the world needs stories that help heal. Our stories are a call to action; our primary mission has always been to enable filmmakers to tell stories that inspire and educate.”
Congratulations to WMC board member Pat Mitchell, the recipient of the Sundance Institute's Vanguard Award for Philanthropy, who has been recognized for her exemplary commitment to the Institute’s support and to philanthropy for social impact. “Beyond being a stalwart champion of the role of media and storytelling as an agent for social change, Pat is a fierce advocate for gender and racial equality, and in all her diverse roles and responsibilities — as a journalist, documentary producer, and media executive — has supported the stories and ideas that move us forward toward a more equitable future." said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO.
Congratulations to Women's Media Center board member Anita DeFrantz, the recipient of the 2024 NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award. DeFrantz, an Olympian and lifelong advocate for athletes, will be honored by the NCAA on Wednesday January 10, 2024.
Watch our video to see how the Women's Media Center is working to make women and girls more visible and powerful in media. Featuring graduates of the WMC Progressive Women's Voices media and leadership training.
Men have received 78% of non-acting Oscar nominations over the past 17 years and women 22%, according to an analysis by the Women’s Media Center. The report, “WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations,” concludes that there have been modest improvements in female representation from 2007 to 2023 but also that progress has been slow and uneven.
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2021 is comprised of 109 studies and reports, including original research by the Women’s Media Center and aggregated research from academia, industry and professional groups, labor unions, media watchdogs, newsrooms, and other sources.
In celebration of National Dictionary Day, the Women’s Media Center today launched a new online resource and media channel, Unspinning the Spin: The Women’s Media Center Guide to Fair and Accurate Language. Written by Rosalie Maggio.
Unspinning the Spin was created to help everyone understand and be understood. Consumers and creators of media are the most obvious beneficiaries, but almost anyone can benefit from this up-to-date guide on the background, current uses, accuracy, alternatives, and best practices for choosing and de-coding common words and phrases. This resource goes beyond the scope of a dictionary or thesaurus. It’s the result of mining a wide variety of fields for accurate, inclusive, creative, and clear words and phrases. As a compendium that is easy to consult, practical, informative, and witty, it is indispensable for everyday use.
WMC News and Features provide progressive women’s perspectives on both headline stories and timely events ignored or misrepresented in the mainstream media.
Pioneering intersectional teen feminism, WMC Fbomb provides socially conscious youth with a welcoming, progressive-minded community.
WMC IDAR/E spotlights the voices of diverse Latinas on a range of current and emerging issues.
WMC Women Under Siege examines how sexualized and other violence is being used to devastate women and tear apart communities around the world, in conflict and beyond.
WMC Speech Project spotlights and documents online abuse and its effects on women’s rights, civic participation, and free speech.
Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan is a nationally syndicated American radio show and podcast with an audience in 110 countries around the globe and on iTunes.
The Women’s Media Awards honor champions for women in media. The extraordinary women we recognize set the standard for what media should look like when it gives voice to the diverse female half of the country.
WMC research and reports are more than just statistics—they are evidence and tools for social change, and create benchmarks to highlight the status and progress of women in media.
The Women’s Media Center press kit contains approved WMC images, logos and biographies for reporters, editors, producers and bookers, in addition to our press release database.
WMC media training gives diverse women leaders the tools to be media-smart and media-savvy and helps expand the representation of women, as pundits and as sources, on all media platforms.
The Women’s Media Center (WMC), a nonprofit that conducts research on and advocates for the visibility of women and girls in media, released a report last week that analyzed the demographics of host and guest appearances on the five biggest Sunday shows. Researchers looked at episodes that aired in 2020 for ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation, CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet the Press.
WMC SheSource is an online database of women experts who we connect to journalists, bookers, and producers, thereby increasing the number of diverse women in our media.
The Women's Media Center Guide to Fair and Accurate Language—a searchable online resource.