As you know, one of FairerScience.org's most prominent goals is to improve communication between researchers, advocates and news media. I don't think anyone would disagree that this is a worthy goal, but in the last month, two major reports have come out emphasizing just how important it is:

Women's eNews reported today on the International Symposium on Women and News, which took place in Dresden, Germany last week. According to the article, Someday, With Help, News Media May Get It, the primary question under discussion was, "Why are fresh ideas about reporting on women resisted so consistently by editors and publishers around the world?"

As the Global Media Monitoring Project found in a recent study of news media, few media outlets are turning to women to report the news or to serve as experts on breaking stories or continuing coverage. In an earlier piece, Women's eNews reported that women are not seen as experts in any major field. In fact,

Women are most likely to be included as sources if the story being reported is a "lifestyle" piece, as opposed to hard news, business or sports, or if the reporter is female

...

A woman is least likely to be cited as a source if the news program is on a cable network or PBS' "NewsHour" or if the story is about sports.

Women are also least likely to be quoted in stories about foreign affairs, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research institute affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

Given these existing trends, it is important for researchers to be proactive about finding outlets for their findings and for advocates to pursue opportunities to share their stories and, especially, their expertise.

We at FairerScience.org would like to help you all change these trends in media and reporting. Maybe our tools KISI and KICI can help.