It matters who reports the news

It matters who reports the news.

In 2016 and 2017, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) received an average of 2,561 applications each year across seven programs, emphasizing the demand for female journalists to cover underreported issues from underserved areas.

Because gender imbalance in journalism is at the core of the IWMF’s mission, our focus in both 2016 and 2017 was to make the news you read more equitable, powerful and diverse.

Within the past two years:

• The IWMF honored female journalists like Hadeel al-Yamani, who covered the conflict in Yemen and was denied a visa to the U.S. to accept her award, launching #Hadeelsvisa – and, we recognized the legendary contributions Diane Rehm and Andrea Mitchell
• The women on IWMF reporting trips, and those who received grants and fellowships, reported on climate change, natural resources and youth in El Salvador, along with conservation, food security and violence against women
• The IWMF launched the Kim Wall Memorial Fund, inspiring adventurous women to report on subcultures around the globe and named Anne Kristine Hermann as the inaugural awardee
• A new award from the IWMF was created to honor the memory of the legendary co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour, Gwen Ifill, who passed away in November 2016

With the rising tide of women-identifying journalists advocating for press freedom, the value of our organization could not be more critical. It’s a fight that we’re proud to lead and a community we’re honored to serve.

Take a look at our Impact Report for 2016—2017, which outlines our organization’s role, impact and mission within news media.

“There is no other organization in the world that values women journalists or takes us as seriously as the IWMF.” – Siobhan O’Grady, IWMF Fellow in 2015 and 2016

Read the full Impact Report here.