Gender in Media and Communications in the digital age: Post-pandemic trajectories in education, research and advocacy

AGEMI, the IAMCR Gender and Communication Section, the IAMCR Task Force for GAMAG, Complutense University of Madrid and Università degli studi di Padovà jointly organize an international post-conference on entitled "Gender in Media and Communications in the digital age: Post-pandemic trajecotories in education, research and advocacy" that will take place on September 28th and 29th at the Complutense University of Madrid as a hybrid event (online and in person). 

The event aims to encourage the exchange of recent experiences and practices and the dissemination of innovative pedagogical models and online teaching methods that use gender as a primary thematic in work around media, journalism, and communication. With a specific focus on epistemologies and on (caring) methodologies that make use of online platforms and digital media, the conference comprises papers on pedagogical approaches to the study of gender, sexuality, and on intersectional forms of oppression in and through media production and consumption – including print and electronic media, film and television, advertising, and social media – within and beyond the pandemic context.

The second day will be devoted to a networking session, comprising a first part dedicated to the analysis and reflection of the current situation of women’s communication rights and gender equality across sectors in times of crises, and a second part devoted to joint elaboration of ideas, initiatives and strategies to develop and implement a ‘New Gender Deal in media and communication’. In each session, initial short remarks are offered by invited speakers, followed by open discussions

You can register here and download the full program for the event here. 

AGEMI participates on the organization of an online training course on gender equality in the media for media professionals, NGOs and university students

In 2021, the Standing Conference of the Audiovisual Mediterranean (COPEAM) and the North-South Center of the Council of Europe organized a series of training workshops to bring the educational resources on gender and media developed by AGEMI to a wide group of journalists and non-profit organizations in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The participative training on Gender Equality in the Media for media professionals, students and CSOs' representatives was a series of workshops elaborated by AGEMI’s founders and coordinators Karen Ross (University of Newcastle, UK) and Claudia Padovani (University of Padova (Italy). 

This training action included online activities on gender equality for young journalists, students and CSOs representatives of the Euro-Mediterranean region aiming at developing a network of journalists and young professionals contributing to the objectives of the North-South Center’s project “Promoting Diversity and Equality”. The training sessions aimed to:

1) enhance awareness and professional skills to fight gender stereotypes in public communication 

2) favour mutual learning between the educational and the professional dimensions 

3) promote a more equal, diverse and inclusive media sector 

4) improve abilities to use new technologies and smart journalism to report about gender-related issues.

The participants’ teams were involved in bi-weekly online sessions, integrating interactive learning practices and self-study activities with mentors’ facilitation. AGEMI’s Teaching Units 2 (gender representation in the media) and 5 (women and leadership) were integrated as part of the course to introduce participants to relevant topics and foster the discussion.

AGEMI partners with European UniTWIN members in a teaching collaboration to counter gender-based violence in and through the media (25N 2021)

This is a special action research and learning program organized in the context of the UNESCO-UniTWIN Network on Gender Media and ICT, in partnership with the Universities of Padova (Prof Claudia Padovani and Dr Alice Baroni), Newcastle University (Prof Karen Ross and Dr David Baines), Complutense University of Madrid (Prof Patricia Nunez Gomez and Dr Lucia Gloria Vázquez Rodríguez), University of Vienna (Prof Krisztina Rozgonyi and Dr Jennifer Adams). These four universities work together with students of different courses in a  multidisciplinary project for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

25 November 2021: Act against Gender-based Violence! - the day of communicAction across Europe. AGEMI and its partners foster actions in real life to create, advocate, support, and share communication and media research campaigns aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls. We invited students to prepare for different activities to be undertaken before or during 25 November, depending on their interests, backgrounds, and linguistic proficiency, including: a) reaching out to local journalists, women’s groups and associations, conducting interviews and writing reports; b) working on the development of policy guidelines on gender-based violence and news media; c) producing blog-posts, photography projects, podcasts and/or video materials.

The results of this joint teaching collaboration, presented to members of the International Federation of Journalists' Gender Council in January 2022, can be found here. 

AGEMI Co-organizes three online workshops in gender and media with the Complutense University of Madrid

1. Gender and Communication Training for PhD Students in Media, Journalism and Advertising: This workshop addressed the tools developed in the New Syllabus on Gender, Media & ICTs: New Approaches for Research, Education & Training (UNESCO, 2019) for the promotion of gender equality in the field of communication. These include the "Gender Indicators for Media" (UNESCO, 2012), section J of the & "Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action" (1995), and the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development related to communication for equality. The workshop’s goal was twofold: on the one hand, participants were encouraged to reflect on their professional and teaching practice in the field of gender-responsive communication; on the other hand, resources developed by UNESCO-UniTWIN and the AGEMI (Advancing Gender Equality in Media Industries) platform were provided in order for attendees to design a teaching module focused on communication for equality. Both founders of AGEMI, Prof. Claudia Padovani and Prof. Karen Ross were invited to participate in the workshop explaining the variety of resources integrated in the platform and the way these can be used to forward a media environment invested in the fight for gender equality. The results of this workshop were presented at the IAMCR Conference held in July, on a paper entitled “Media literacy for gender equality. A proposal for training workshops based on the syllabus by UNESCO-UniTWIN Network on Media, Gender, and ICTs”. You can download the full program for the workshop here. 

2. Gender and Communication Workshop in the frame of the International Conference on Microsexism (University of Sevilla, Tecnológico de Monterrey). This workshop was offered as part of the activities included in the International Conference on Microsexism. Since the 15 attendants to this conference came from different academic fields (with a shared interest in gender), it was a highly multidisciplinary activity. The resources developed by AGEMI, along with the New Syllabus on Gender, Media & ICTs: New Approaches for Research, Education & Training were first introduced in the keynote speech, and then a 4h workshop to dwelve into these educational resources was organized. Two weeks later, participants presented their module proposals for courses on gender and media. The results and methodological approach of this workshop were published in a book entitled Cartografía de los micromachismos: dinámicas y violencia simbólica edited by Dykinson. 

3. Gender and Communication Workshop within the Spanish “Semana de la Ciencia”. The "Semana de la Ciencia" is one of the most important events for the dissemination of scientific knowledge that takes part in Spain, as it is organised and promoted by the Ministry of Science and Education. This workshop was open to the general public and it comprised three 4h sessions in which participants learn to navigate the most relevant educational resources in gender and media developed by AGEMI and UNESCO. By the end of the workshop, they all designed module proposals for courses in the field of gender and media, both for formal and informal education.