Dear Friends of the IWMF,

Everywhere I go I am approached by people I’ve never met who tell me how much they admire the IWMF and the work we do. This was very much in evidence when I was in Bangkok earlier this month, presenting early results of groundbreaking research on security issues for women reporters at the UNESCO Global Forum on Media and Gender.

I learned that people all over the world are using our Global Report on the Status of Women in Media as a baseline for positive change. The sense of urgency and momentum at the conference was contagious. The bottom-line message to the IWMF? You are doing great work – do more!

Thanks to your support and generosity, here’s what we were able to accomplish in 2013.

With my best wishes for a great holiday season,

Elisa Lees Muñoz
Executive Director of the IWMF

Courage in Journalism

At the 2013 IWMF Courage in Journalism Awards ceremonies, we recognized our 2013 Courage winners – Najiba Ayubi, Afghanistan, Nour Kelze, Syria, Bopha Phorn, Cambodia, and Lifetime winner Edna Machirori, Zimbabwe – are extraordinary, inspiring the rest of us by living their lives with truth as the standard. The IWMF also launched an Emergency Fund for Courage awardees and others who face serious security threats around the world. Women journalists have always faced a unique set of challenges to their personal security, including sexual assault and threats to young children. A new source of great concern is the increasing use of social media to intimidate and shame women journalists. 2014 marks the 25th year of the Courage in Journalism Awards during which the IWMF hopes to increase resources for the Emergency Fund in order to better aid women journalists in need.

Global Survey on Violence and Threats against Women working in the News Media

During the UN’s Global Forum on Media and Gender, the IWMF and the London-based International News Safety Institute released preliminary findings of a survey to determine the gender aspects of intimidation, threats and abuse, including sexual violence, physical violence, sexual harassment, racial harassment, ageism and digital security threats against women journalists. It is distressing to see that more than half (64.48%) of the 822 women journalists who responded to our on-line survey have experienced some sort of ‘intimidation, threats or abuse’ in relation to their work.

Women Entrepreneurs In Digital News

Susie Cagle – The Oakland Projects	Lara Setrakian – News Deeply	Kelly Virella – The Urban Thinker
Another inspiring group of women, the IWMF’s digital media entrepreneurs are creating innovative platforms for everything from investigative reporting to graphic journalism. Their challenges are both financial and cultural, as they confront gender biases at the same time that they are creating innovative ways for all of us to receive the news.

HIV/AIDS Reporting Fellowship

Our South Africa investigative reporting fellowship program is a powerful reminder that good journalism can make an impact on culture and government policy. Thanks to support from the MAC AIDS Fund, the IWMF trained 30 journalists to become experts in HIV/AIDS reporting, enhancing their careers while at the same time educating a nation. IWMF fellows’ reporting led to the establishment of the first Male Medical Circumcision clinic in Alexandra township and a special parliamentary hearing on prison rape prevention.

Western Sahara Reporting Fellowship

In December 2013, the IWMF wrapped up a year long program, funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, with the aim of increasing coverage of the underreported territory of Western Sahara. Fellows traveled to Morocco, Algeria, and Western Sahara to report on a variety of topics. It is worth noting that journalists are not typically allowed the level of access we achieved in Western Sahara; the reporting was later characterized by U.S. officials as the most balanced and accurate to come out of the region, landing some articles in State Department briefing book given to John Kerry upon assuming his tenure as Secretary of State.

Eastern DR Congo Reporting Fellowship

After developing one of our most ambitious projects to date, we are recruiting outstanding international women journalists to join us in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a series of four reporting trips. The IWMF will facilitate the opportunity for reporting fellows to uncover the many underreported narratives in the region.

We encourage you to visit the IWMF’s new website