Global Media Monitoring Project's Who Makes the News? Preliminary Report

While the 2010 Global Media Monitoring Project's global, regional and national reports won't be published until September, 2010, a Preliminary Findings report has just been issued. GMMP is a project of The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) which maps whether and how media representations of women and men have changed since 2005, when they first started systematic tracking.

A bit about GMMP from the website:

What is the GMMP?
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) is the largest and longest longitudinal research and advocacy project on gender in the world's news media. It is unique in involving participants ranging from grassroots community organizations to university students and researchers to media practitioners, all of whom participate on a voluntary basis. The GMMP has two phases. The first is a research phase in which volunteer media monitors all over the world collect data on selected indicators of gender in their local news media, following specified guidelines. The second is the research findings' application phase which combines advocacy for gender-responsive media policies, capacity-building for gender-responsive media practice and gender-aware citizens' media literacy.

When does it take place?
Three GMMPs have taken place so far, the first in 1995, the second in 2000 and the third in 2005. The fourth global media research day is set for early November, 2009 when media monitors all the over the world will participate once again in a Media Monitoring Day - a one day massive, global effort to collect data on selected indicators of gender in their local news media. The follow-up data application phase (Phase 2) begins thereafter until 2014. What has the GMMP achieved so far? GMMP research from 1995, 2000, and 2005 shows consistently significant gender imbalances in news media content, news-making context and practice. Women are dramatically under-represented in the news, their voices silenced and contributions negated through stereotyping and invisibilisation. A comparison of the results from the three GMMPs in 1995, 2000 and 2005 revealed that change in the gender dimensions of news media has been small and slow across the 15-year period. As newsmakers, women are under-represented in professional categories. As authorities and experts, women barely feature in news stories. While there are a few excellent examples of exemplary gender-balanced and gender-sensitive journalism, overall there is a glaring deficit in the news media globally, with half of the world’s population barely present.

Will GMMP 2009/2010 make a difference?
The data generated by the monitoring project will provide gender and communication activists with a tool to lobby for more gender-sensitive media and communication policies in their national and regional contexts. The timing of the media monitoring for November means the results will be published in time for key
global processes scheduled for 2010, including the Beijing +15 review and the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit.