The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) is a women's organization involved in the
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
industry. The organisation of professional women working in media or educating about electronic and allied media, has a mission to strengthen initiatives which ensure women’s views and values are integral to media programming and to advance the impact of women in media.
IAWRT has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (
ECOSOC
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...
)
History
The first meetings to form the organisation were held in 1949 and 1950. Delegates from eight countries officially formed what was then called IARW (International Association of Radio Women) in 1951. It became IAWRT (International Association of Women in Radio and Television) in 1957.
One of the founders of the
organization
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
,
Willemijn Posthumus-van der Goot
Willemijn Posthumus-van der Goot (2 May 1897 – 16 January 1989) was a Dutch economist, feminist and radio broadcaster. As the first woman to attain a doctorate in economics in the Netherlands, her work focused on the impact of working women ...
, left an extensive collection of papers from its early years, which are housed in the
International Archives for the Women's Movement International Archives for the Women's Movement ( nl, Internationaal Archief voor de Vrouwenbeweging (IAV)) was founded in Amsterdam in 1935, as a repository to collect and preserve the cultural heritage of women and make the documents of the moveme ...
( nl, Internationaal Informatiecentrum en Archief voor de Vrouwenbeweging (IIAV)), located within the
Atria Institute, a major women's archive based in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
.
IAWRT has long addressed the issue of what the media conveys, and the need for equity in the workplace. During the 1950s through to the 1980s, it was a friendship organization between women
journalists
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
on either side of the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
, but one which shared professional insights and aimed to promote peace. At first, only one member from each country was permitted to join. As times changed, IAWRT became more of a networking organization for
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
women, holding its first conferences on the Asian continent in the Philippines in 1994, and then on the African continent in Zimbabwe in 1997. The formation of country chapters began under the leadership of the first Asian based president, the late
Jai Chandiram
Jai Chandiram (26 December 1937 – 11 May 2013) was a veteran media person and the former deputy director general of Doordarshan. She contributed greatly to the use of media in education and was instrumental in introducing its use at premier in ...
of India.
As IAWRT continued to evolve, it included female digital journalists and media academics, and it began implementing media projects in various parts of the global south, supported by
FOKUS
Fokus was a political party in Denmark. The party was founded in 2010, originally as a splinter group of the Danish People’s Party (DF), but the politics of Fokus differed from that of DF on a number of issues. For example, while DF supported ...
in Norway. It has run projects and reported on gender representation on the media and released one of the few safety handbooks for journalists specifically aimed at the safety of women practitioners. IAWRT has worked on community film and media and the establishment of disaster response community radio in the Philippines.
As well it has taken an increasing participatory role in the annual
NGO-CSW and
CSW held annually around and in UN headquarters in New York, USA. IT and Gender Justice solutions to cyber violence were among the 2018 events which IAWRT participated in. In 2019 its presentation will be Community Media Models for Disaster Preparedness and Risk Management. Its next publication will be a handbook on best practices for gender mainstreaming (women's voices in newsrooms and on the media) in 2019.
The organisation today has 14 chapters across the world and organizes regional and international conferences, film festivals, workshops and training for the professional development of its members. This includes safety training.
The 2018 regional conference was in Uganda. The 2017 biennial conference took place in Quezon City, the Philippines.
The President for 2017-20 is freelance Zimbabwean journalist and broadcaster, Violet Gonda. The Vice President is journalist safety trainer and Egyptian journalist Abeer Saady.
The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
main representative is Sheila Katzman backed by Rebecca Myles, both from the US Chapter.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Association Of Women In Radio And Television
Feminist mass media
International women's organizations
Communications and media organizations
Women's occupational organizations
Organizations established in 1951
Women in radio
Women in television