‘The Guild is guided by the reality that inclusive newsrooms lead to better journalism, broader audience engagement and stronger business outcomes.’
– Melanie Walker, WAN-IFRA WIN Executive Director
The news media is a bastion of society that holds power to account, keeps communities informed and helps shape public discourse. Yet, the face of media leadership has long failed to reflect the diversity of the audiences it serves.
With more than half the world’s population identifying as women, gender is the largest diversity category – yet women’s representation in leadership and their voice in news content remains muted.
WAN-IFRA WIN has been working to move the needle on this over the past 15 years and, as part of this effort, last year launched the WIN Guild: a pioneering initiative designed to bring together a coalition of senior women media leaders committed to championing equality, inclusion and diversity in the industry.
At a time when progress towards gender equity is increasingly threatened, the Guild offers a critical platform for women to collectively drive change in media leadership.
Comprising high-level media executives from across three regions: Africa, the Arab region and Southeast Asia, the Guild creates a confidential space for peer-to-peer mentorship, collaboration and advocacy.
Leading from the front
The first edition of the WAN-IFRA WIN Guild Leadership Summit kicks off in Malawi this weekend, from 21-24 February 2025.
The in-person summit brings together 19 women at the helm of major news organisations, including Su Myat Wai (Founder and Managing Editor, Than Lwin Khet News, Myanmar), Citra Prastuti (Chief Editor, KBR, Indonesia), WAN-IFRA WIN Editorial Leadership Award Laureates Dima Khatib (Managing Director, AJ+ Channels, Palestine/Syria) and Beatrice Bandawe (Managing Editor, The Guardian Limited, Tanzania), Etaf Roudan (Chief Operations Officer, Community Media Network, Jordan), and Faith Zaba (Editor, The Zimbabwe Independent, Zimbabwe),
“The Guild is guided by the reality that inclusive newsrooms lead to better journalism, broader audience engagement and stronger business outcomes. Gender equality and inclusion are a matter of financial sustainability and non-negotiable moral imperatives,” says WAN-IFRA WIN Executive Director Melanie Walker.
The Guild has already held several closed-door peer-mentoring sessions, facilitated by IFC-accredited coach Tamala Chirwa, where participants explored leadership challenges and shared solutions.
These peer mentoring sessions have fostered a supportive environment where women leaders from these diverse markets discuss issues such as management and leadership in resource-strapped newsrooms, succession planning, and the relentless pressure to identify new revenue streams in a highly competitive space.
These discussions have also allowed Guild members to reflect on the systemic barriers they face, such as the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles, and the cultural and institutional biases that persist in the media landscape.
Manifesting more than a mission
A key outcome of the Malawi Summit will be the development of a Leadership Pledge: a bold declaration of intent from members of the Guild to drive meaningful and measurable change in the industry.
“We are striving to accelerate the pace of change in getting more women into media leadership, to influence industry standards to mainstream gender equality, and to develop the next generation of leaders by mentoring and supporting each other and other women,” said WIN Guild member Pamella Makotsi Sittoni, former Executive Editor of The Daily Nation in Kenya.
“As we prepare for the WIN Guild Summit, we call on all in the media industry to join us in closing the leadership gap and creating a more equitable and inclusive future for all.”
