When journalism misses half the story, democracy pays the price

By WAN-IFRA WIN Team

As geopolitical tensions rise and conflicts deepen, one of journalism's core missions - to explain the world in its full complexity - has never been more essential. When coverage systematically overlooks the perspectives of women, whether as sources, subjects or newsroom leaders, our audiences' understanding of crises is inevitably incomplete.

This is not a question of equitable representation. It is a question of democratic legitimacy. Newsrooms that fail to capture the diversity of lived realities do a disservice to public discourse.

This International Women's Day, editors around the world face a professional imperative to assess whether their coverage truly reflects the societies they serve. Accuracy in journalism demands more than precision in facts; it demands inclusivity in perspective.

We have seen the importance of this in our work with journalists in Ukraineand Gaza, where we have provided small financial grants to 80 women journalists who have gone on to produce more than 200 stories under this programme that centre women's experiences and perspectives of war.

Global research provides clear evidence of a consistent pattern: women are significantly underrepresented in conflict reporting. A 2024 report by CAREfound that while media coverage of conflicts increased more than six-fold between 2013 and 2023, only 5% of articles focused on women's experiences in war. And only 0.3% of those talked about women positively.

Further, a 2022 analysis by International Media Support (IMS)of global digital news coverage of the war in Ukraine found that women accounted for only 23% of the total number of experts, protagonists or sources quoted in news stories.

Additionally, a 2023 study by the Bridgewater State University's Journal of International Women's Studiesexamining media narratives around the Ukraine conflict found that when women are included, they are often portrayed in narrow, stereotypical roles - primarily as victims or caregivers, rather than as decision-makers or active agents.

To assess our programme's impact - specifically its contribution to more gender-balanced coverage of the Gaza war - the WIN team conducted a sample analysis of the content produced.

The results are outlined below (note that certain formats, such as video, were excluded from this review):

The stories produced were published across a range of Palestinian, Arab and international platforms, contributing to a more nuanced global understanding of the conflict.

These narratives do not replace conventional war reporting. They enrich it, making coverage more accurate and more reflective of the ways war reshapes societies, families and futures.

Yet the ability to produce such coverage over time is closely tied to who holds editorial power.

Data from WAN-IFRA WIN's 2024 Gender Balance in Content report show that women-owned and women-led media organisations perform significantly better on gender representation metrics than the wider field.

Among 83 outlets analysed globally, only 12 were women-led, yet these organisations recorded an average gender balance score of 30.25%, compared with 22.70% across the full sample. This means they produced more stories that had women prominently showing up as main characters, authors and sources.

Notably, in five women-founded outlets, women appeared as main characters in 44.2% of coverage - almost double the overall average. These figures reflect not tokenistic boosts, but patterns of editorial decision-making that expand whose voices and experiences are deemed newsworthy.

At the same time, research from the WIN Leadership Mapping 2024report underscores a persistent leadership gap: women remain underrepresented in senior editorial roles across many markets.

On average, women hold just under 1 in 3 top editorial posts and fewer than 1 in 5 business lead positions.

This gap affects story selection, sourcing practices and newsroom priorities, especially in moments of crisis.

The implications extend well beyond gender balance columns.

Media is central to democratic accountability: it frames public debate, shapes collective understanding and influences policy responses.

If half of society's experiences are systematically underreported - especially in contexts of war, displacement and political upheaval - democratic discourse itself is weakened.

Democracy demands that reporting captures the full impact of events - including the social, economic and human consequences experienced differently across gender lines.

Inclusive journalism is not optional.

It is central to credible reporting in a fractured, conflict-affected world.

WAN-IFRA Staff

[email protected]