The episode with Aziza Nait Sibaha on the WME podcast recently has opened up the discussion regarding a very vital matter. Despite hitting new milestones for women in various aspects of daily life, women continue to be underrepresented and marginalized.

Women hold less than 25% of the top editor positions in almost every country except the USA. We can have all the debates and findings, but with no real tangible push for more women in the higher echelons of #journalism, there will be no move to equality in all facets of life.

Women in journalism undergo the same mental and physical strain as their male counterparts, in addition to facing gender biases and strains that are not placed on their male counterparts. Journalism continues to be seen as a male dominated space with men still placed at the highest levels of management. Independent reporting and movements such as #MeToo have uncovered a mere glimpse into what women have already been enduing and subjugated to; workplace sexual assault, online harassment, death threats, imbalanced power dynamics, some among many others.

News reporting, be it a pandemic, war, economic crisis, has always had women right there in the trenches with their male colleagues. It is time to stop pretending that equality is a discussion and not a fact.

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