Awards help women who make an impact in the newsroom

May 16, 2017 at 04:56 pm by Staff


The Quint founder Rita Kapur - a foodie who likes her news to be like her steak "all meat and juice, no fat" - is one of two Asian media leaders helping increase women's voice in the industry.

With Rappler chief Maria Ressa, she is among speakers at the first global Women in News Summit being held on June 7 during the World News Media Congress in Durban.

More than 200 editors and journalists from around the world are expected at the summit, where the theme is 'Breaking through'. The event is part of WAN-Ifra's World News Media Congress and World Editors Forum, and part of the Women in News initiative which seeks to increase women's leadership and voices in the news.

Co-founder of The Quint Kapur (pictured), and chief executive and executive editor of Rappler Ressa share elements of a common career history. Both were at CNN, where Ressa spent 18 years as bureau chief in Manila and Jakarta, and Kapur was IBN features editor, launching the CJ (Citizen Journalist) Show. She also led the Power of 49campaign, which championed a manifesto for women, who comprise 49 per cent of the population.

Others speaking at the Durban WIN summit include ICFJ Knight Fellow Catherine Gicheru (Kenya), Times Media Group digital head Lisa MacLeod (South Africa), former Huffington Post South Africa editor-in-chief Verashni Pillay, VGTV chief executive Helje Solberg (Norway), El Universo bureau chief Monica Almeida (Equador), and Fatemah Farag, who is the founder of Welad Elbalad Media Services and director of WIN MENA (Egypt).

A panel session will address gender representation and gender bias in news reporting in the age of social media.

Laureates of the 2017 Women in News Editorial Leadership Award will be honoured at the WIN Summit, with two top achieving editors, one from North Africa region and one from sub-Saharan Africa, receiving Newsroom Leadership Awards.

The full programme of conferences and workshops taking place in Durban can be found here (www.wan-ifra.org/durban2017)

Sections: Newsmedia industry

Comments

or Register to post a comment




ADVERTISEMENTS


ADVERTISEMENTS