The WAN-IFRA & DCX Expos in Berlin from 9 to 11 October 2018, will present a high-caliber and international panel on the subject of ‘Women in Tech’ on the morning of the first day. Female experts in the media industry can submit a presentation proposal for the international platform of the news community. Media makers and newspapers worldwide report about, and for, a diverse society. However, a good gender balance is not yet a matter of course – neither in storytelling nor in the composition of the workforce. In the accompanying program, the IFRA and DCX Expos will address the lower representation of women, especially in the technical departments of news providers.
At The New York Times, they state that “building a diverse and inclusive workplace is essential to our mission. It enriches our report, because journalists with diverse backgrounds reflect the society we cover. As noted in our Diversity Report, many of the numbers are moving in the right direction — though not far enough or fast enough. However, there is evidence that our efforts are already paying off.”
In the top-class and international session from 10 to 11.30 am on 9 October, female media leaders from the technical and digital fields will pick up the thread – based on a case study by two leaders from The Times, the top female decision-makers will provide insights into their work. They will discuss strategies, benefits and difficulties of driving up the representation of women in the workplace.
Who’s who of the tech and digital scene
The composition of the panel alone shows that women can set the tone in the technical departments of media providers worldwide: Cindy Taibi, chief information officer of The New York Times, Fiona Campbell, director of Digital at BBC News, Dheerja Kaur, head of product of The Skimm (focused on news for female millenials), Carolyn Wakulchik, content and SF manager at Tech Ladies (a job board and community for women in tech), Ariane Bernard, chief digital officer of Le Parisien, and Bailey Evans, technical coordinator at The New York Times, will shape the session together.
Proposals for lectures by women
The organizers of the IFRA and DCX Expos would like to attract even more women to the accompanying program. Women can apply for lectures via a web form. “As representatives of the global news media industry, we have both the opportunity and also the responsibility to do as much as we can to promote greater gender balance,” emphasizes Vincent Peyregne, chief executive officer of WAN-IFRA, co-organizer of IFRA and DCX. “We can help influence and drive change by encouraging more women to speak at our conferences and participate in our activities. We would like to invite them to contribute to this effort to bring more gender balance and diversity in the composition of our panels,” says Peyregne.
