Project: Telling digital stories to empower women
Introduction
Beth Duff-Brown is a journalist with more than 25 years
of experience, reporting from Africa, Asia and North America. She is a writer,
news manager and proud mom.
Beth would appreciate hearing from anyone interested in her project, particularly regarding content. Please send her an email and she'll treat you to coffee!
About the Project
I am on sabbatical from The Associated Press to create a digital product for the international news agency that will take AP content from all platforms -- audio, video, narrative writing, photos, social media and interactives -- to tell stories about women and girls in the developing world.
Why Women and Girls?
The trafficking of women, mass rape and genital mutilation, honor killings and acid attacks and the disregard for girls in primary education continue to plague developing nations. At the same time, it’s hard for my daughter to conceive of ever earning less than the boys in her class. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her that my paycheck is still only 80 cents for every $1 a professional man takes home; that women run only 15 of the Fortune 500 companies. Governments, institutions and NGOs have worked hard to combat these inequalities and societal ills. The first bill President Obama signed into law after taking office protects an employee’s right to sue for pay discrimination, and he established a new State Department office on Global Women’s Issues to promote their advancement. Half of World Bank lending was devoted to programs for women and girls in 2008 and one of the most successful microcredit institutions – Grameen Bank in Bangladesh – caters to women. It seems the world agrees that ending poverty, disease and extremism in this century is predicated on dramatically improving the lives of women and their daughters. I believe journalism has a responsibility in bringing these issues to the front pages and digital screens.
Updates from the Farm