Why: Media shapes us, informs our ideas, policies and politics. It tells us who we are, and what we can be.
What: WMC works toward media equality using interconnected strategies of research, original stories and articles, promotion of women experts and media training.
For the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, 2,634 people have been nominated in 102 non-acting categories. Of these nominees, 855 (33%) are women, 1,774 (67%) are men, and five (less than 1%) are nonbinary. These percentages show slightly lower female representation compared to the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The WMC AWARDS were presented to outstanding leaders and champions for women in media. This year’s WMC 2025 Women’s Media Awards honorees were: Geralyn White Dreyfous, S. Mitra Kalita, Imani Perry, Erica Smiley, Jessica Valenti
As WMC marks its 20th anniversary, presenters and awardees urge people to keep fighting against backlash and to find strength in community.
The third in the Women's Media Center Beverly Wettenstein History Lecture Series premiered online on March 31, 2025, during Women's History Month. Delivered by Anushay Hossain, the lecture "How the systematic exclusion of women in American healthcare history can explain the current, ongoing and already worsening health crisis" is inspired by her book: “The Pain Gap—How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women".
Following her lecture, Anushay Hossain will engage in conversation with Vicki Shabo, Director of Better Life Labs and Senior Fellow for Gender Equity, Paid Leave & Care Policy at New America. Dr. Janet Dewart Bell, Chair of the Women's Media Center, will make introductory remarks.
A new study finds a 5 percent drop in women nominated for Oscars in non-acting categories compared to last year. As speculation grows about winners of 2025 Academy Awards to be announced March 2, the report from the Women’s Media Center demonstrates that men continued their overall dominance and also gained ground in a majority of categories. If the percentage of women nominated declines, the chances of women winning Oscars in non-acting categories also drops.
Congratulations to WMC Co-Founder Jane Fonda on being the 60th recipient of the SAG-AFTRA Lifetime Achievement Award. The Life Achievement Award is bestowed on “an actor who fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession.” Listen to her acceptance speech.
Watch Dr. Janet Dewart Bell's Juneteenth lecture "Black Women Speak for Freedom, Justice, and Democracy: Historical Perspectives".
Watch our video to see how the Women's Media Center is working to make women and girls more visible and powerful in media. Featuring graduates of the WMC Progressive Women's Voices media and leadership training.
The “Women of Color in U.S. News Leadership 2023” report spotlights 20 women of color top executives in media who are visible, powerful, and transformational. These dynamic women in television, print, digital, and radio now occupy a seat at the table in an industry long dominated by White men. They lead at a time when the need to grow audiences, increase the bottom line, and keep pace with a rapidly changing digital world gains urgency. Perhaps paramount to the ability to do all of this is creating newsrooms that are inclusive, diverse, and representative. They are working to ensure that the voices, experiences, and stories of everyone, especially women and people of color, are included in media.
WMC Board Chair, Janet Dewart Bell, has been honored as a 2024 Sheroe in Media by the Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association. “The MMCA is grateful to honor these amazing Sheroes. They work to ensure equity in the media so that BIPOC stories are seen and heard and to empower people of color and women in the media. Their tremendous work is inspiring, and we are overjoyed to acknowledge their accomplishments,” said Olga Lucia Torres, chair of MMCA's board of trustees.
Congratulations to Women's Media Center board member Regina K. Scully who will be celebrated at the Women's Image Awards on February 21, 2024. Philanthropist and producer Regina K. Scully will accept The WIN Awards Humanitarian Honoree tribute: “I’m honored to receive the Humanitarian Award from Women’s Image Network. I’m a filmmaker who is also in the trauma recovery business. Storytelling changes our DNA. Films help transform the world. It’s especially timely, as the world needs stories that help heal. Our stories are a call to action; our primary mission has always been to enable filmmakers to tell stories that inspire and educate.”
Men have received 78% of non-acting Oscar nominations over the past 17 years and women 22%, according to an analysis by the Women’s Media Center. The report, “WMC Investigation: 17-Year Analysis of Gender & Non-Acting Academy Award Nominations,” concludes that there have been modest improvements in female representation from 2007 to 2023 but also that progress has been slow and uneven.
The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2021 is comprised of 109 studies and reports, including original research by the Women’s Media Center and aggregated research from academia, industry and professional groups, labor unions, media watchdogs, newsrooms, and other sources.
In celebration of National Dictionary Day, the Women’s Media Center today launched a new online resource and media channel, Unspinning the Spin: The Women’s Media Center Guide to Fair and Accurate Language. Written by Rosalie Maggio.
Unspinning the Spin was created to help everyone understand and be understood. Consumers and creators of media are the most obvious beneficiaries, but almost anyone can benefit from this up-to-date guide on the background, current uses, accuracy, alternatives, and best practices for choosing and de-coding common words and phrases. This resource goes beyond the scope of a dictionary or thesaurus. It’s the result of mining a wide variety of fields for accurate, inclusive, creative, and clear words and phrases. As a compendium that is easy to consult, practical, informative, and witty, it is indispensable for everyday use.
WMC News and Features provide progressive women’s perspectives on both headline stories and timely events ignored or misrepresented in the mainstream media.
Pioneering intersectional teen feminism, WMC Fbomb provides socially conscious youth with a welcoming, progressive-minded community.
WMC IDAR/E spotlights the voices of diverse Latinas on a range of current and emerging issues.
WMC Women Under Siege examines how sexualized and other violence is being used to devastate women and tear apart communities around the world, in conflict and beyond.
WMC Speech Project spotlights and documents online abuse and its effects on women’s rights, civic participation, and free speech.
Women's Media Center Live with Robin Morgan is a nationally syndicated American radio show and podcast with an audience in 110 countries around the globe and on iTunes.
The Women’s Media Awards honor champions for women in media. The extraordinary women we recognize set the standard for what media should look like when it gives voice to the diverse female half of the country.
WMC research and reports are more than just statistics—they are evidence and tools for social change, and create benchmarks to highlight the status and progress of women in media.
The Women’s Media Center press kit contains approved WMC images, logos and biographies for reporters, editors, producers and bookers, in addition to our press release database.
WMC media training gives diverse women leaders the tools to be media-smart and media-savvy and helps expand the representation of women, as pundits and as sources, on all media platforms.
The Women’s Media Center (WMC), a nonprofit that conducts research on and advocates for the visibility of women and girls in media, released a report last week that analyzed the demographics of host and guest appearances on the five biggest Sunday shows. Researchers looked at episodes that aired in 2020 for ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation, CNN’s State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and NBC’s Meet the Press.
WMC SheSource is an online database of women experts who we connect to journalists, bookers, and producers, thereby increasing the number of diverse women in our media.
The Women's Media Center Guide to Fair and Accurate Language—a searchable online resource.