Poynter and The National Press Club Journalism Institute to Host "Closing Journalism's Gender Gap: A Forum on Women and Leadership"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Poynter Institute, in partnership with the National Press Club Journalism Institute, will co-host a national forum on the issues, challenges and opportunities for positive change for women in journalism and media leadership.

The aftermath of The New York Times' firing of executive editor Jill Abramson has sparked a national conversation about the current newsroom culture for women in leadership.  The forum, to be held June 30 at the National Press Club in Washington DC, will encourage a careful examination of gender and newsroom culture and will support positive action to expand and grow the scope, influence and impact of women leaders.

The discussion-based forum will center on questions surrounding leadership issues, including, "Why has the number of women leaders in media remained unchanged over the past decade?  Has the focus on new technology affected the advancement of women leaders in newsrooms? And, what news organizations have effectively advanced women leaders, and how did they do it?"

The event will feature renowned panelists from across journalism and media leadership. Speakers include Carolyn Ryan, Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, Susan Goldberg, editor in chief of National Geographic and former president of the American Society of News Editors, Lynette Clemetson, director of editorial initiatives at NPR, Patti Dennis, director of recruiting for Gannett Broadcasting and Anders Gyllenhaal, vice president of news for McClatchy Newspapers.

Additional speakers at the forum include Kelly McBride, Poynter's vice president of academic programs, and Jill Geisler, senior faculty for Poynter's leadership and management division, who will moderate.

 "I'm excited that Poynter and The National Press Club Journalism Institute are working to move the discussion forward about where women leaders are in journalism today and how to transform and improve their opportunities in the future," said Tim Franklin, president of The Poynter Institute.

"This forum is an opportunity to advance the conversation that was ignited online and on social media about women's leadership roles in journalism," said Barbara Cochran, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute and Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. "Forty years after women began entering newsrooms in substantial numbers, it's urgent to address the challenges women face in achieving parity in the newsroom."

Poynter's vice president of academic programs, Kelly McBride, added, "The gains that women made in journalism leadership have stagnated. We have to figure out a way to reignite that progress. We have an obligation to represent our audience. And content audits suggest that journalism as a profession does not fairly represent women as leaders and experts. If we can't get it right in our newsrooms, it's going to be hard to serve the public interest on this issue."

For more information on "Closing Journalism's Gender Gap: A Forum on Women and Leadership", visit The National Press Club site.

About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is an international leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world's largest online journalism curriculum in 6 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 290,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute's website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world's top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

About the National Press Club Journalism Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute is the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club.  Its mission is to train communications professionals in a changing media environment, provide scholarships to the next generation of journalists, recognize excellence in journalism and globally promote a free press, the cornerstone of a free society.

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