The IWMF Co-Leads Conversation to Shift Power and End Sexual Harassment in the News Media

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 9, 2018) – If you’re wondering where some of the most powerful women in the news media are today, they are busy engaging in a solutions-focused discussion to end sexual harassment and shift power dynamics across the industry.

Elisa Lees Muñoz, the executive director of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), is one of the women leading three major discussions happening at the Newseum’s Power Shift Summit today. The summit is a high-level gathering of invited leaders across journalism and the media industry, who are focused not only on sexual misconduct in newsrooms — but, more importantly, on how to create meaningful and sustainable change. The event can be viewed live until 3pm today here. Join the conversation on social media using #PowerShiftSummit.

In addition to Lees Muñoz, panelists include investigative reporters, senior editors and newsroom administrators, and leaders of media coalitions. They are talking about what newsrooms and media organizations are doing now to deal with emerging cases, and what systemic changes are needed for the future.

“How do you change the power structure and have a gendered approach when you have an industry led almost entirely by men?” asked Lees Muñoz. “One of the best ways to address these problems is to get more women in the highest levels of industries, so there is a real culture change.”

The IWMF has been working to quash sexual harassment in the news media since it was founded in 1990, and is committed to making 2018 the year that women journalists have the tools and confidence to be safe in their work places. The IWMF does this by holding newsrooms accountable, conducting research, giving women journalists invaluable opportunities to grow in their careers, providing emergency assistance to journalists in crisis, and improving their safety through free Hostile Environments and First Aid Training.

Participants include:

• Amy Brittain, investigative reporter, The Washington Post

• Carrie Budoff Brown, editor, POLITICO

• Alfredo Carbajal, managing editor of Al Día at The Dallas Morning News and president, American Society of News Editors

• Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, SVP/News Administration, CBS News

• Paul Farhi, media reporter, The Washington Post

• Jill Geisler, Loyola University Chicago’s Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity

• Sarah Glover, president, National Association of Black Journalists

• Joanne Lipman, former editor in chief of USA TODAY and author of “That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together”

• Loren Mayor, chief operating officer, NPR

• Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director, International Women’s Media Foundation

• Carolyn Ryan, assistant managing editor, The New York Times

• Lara Setrakian, CEO of News Deeply and cofounder of Press Forward

• Madhulika Sikka, Public Editor, PBS

• Lauren Williams, editor in chief, Vox

About the International Women’s Media Foundation

Since 1990, the IWMF has worked to unleash the potential of women journalists as champions of press freedom to transform the global news media. We work to ensure that women journalists worldwide are fully supported, protected, recognized and rewarded for their vital contributions at all levels of the news media. Learn more at www.iwmf.org.