Published: 05 November 2012

Country: US

The 2012 US Presidential Campaign has highlighted many of the problems the American society has been facing, but as some media columnists and bloggers are reporting, the opportunity to have more women's representatives has been missed.

Despite that there is a "war on women," the topic of women was absent in the presidential debate. To some extent this is surprising considering their stance on women is one of the biggest differences between the two candidates. But it's also not so surprising. When it comes to women in the U.S. government and media, the numbers are pretty pitiful and, as in the case of the debates, sometimes women are simply invisible, reports The Huffington Post.

This scenario puts women in a position to have their interests exclusively represented by men where men decide whether or not women's issues make the cut. But even when women's issues are the topic of conversation will men really be able to accurately represent them? Will the media ever truly be a good vehicle for women and their stories, asks The Huffington Post?

Published: 05 November 2012

Country: US

The survey conducted by the Associated Press (AP) shows that racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not.

Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some people's more favorable views of blacks.

But there were some different media readings and interpretations of these AP poll results.

Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008. "In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election", reports AP.

Published: 05 November 2012

Region: Worldwide

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the British Council’s Our Shared Future project, the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the Reynolds Institute are launching Journeys of Belonging. That is an original multimedia project that takes an in-depth look at the personal narratives of 17 men and women of a diverse range of ages, backgrounds and religions.

A group of Missouri students produced 114 astounding video testimonials from people including former President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Auma Obama, and activist and athlete Beatrice Faumuina to shine a spotlight on the fundamental things we share in common through the many identities each of us hold.

Journeys of Belonging tackles mistaken religious, cultural and gender identity stereotypes like the inaccurate assumption that non-Westerners hold contrary values to those of Americans, the British and other Europeans.

Dates: 17 - 18 July 2012

Region: Palermo, Italy

The Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF) in cooperation with the Ethnobarometer organised in Palermo, Italy, a two-day workshop on the role of media in presenting information related to the Arab uprising and economic crisis and the impact this has on mutual perceptions between the people of the region and in particular towards Muslim populations in Europe.

The event gathered around 25 participants including journalists, civil society representatives and representatives of Muslim communities in Europe as well as experts on issues related to media, migration and perceptions with the purpose of discussing if and how perceptions towards Arab and Muslim populations in Europe have changed after the Arab Spring and as a consequence of the economic crisis.

One of the issues highlighted by the speakers is the lack of cultural diversity in the European newsrooms that has to be addressed; quotas should be established to allow the entrance of journalists with immigrant backgrounds in newspapers.

Cooperation and exchange between European and Arab journalists is very important for in-depth understanding of facts and professionalisation of journalists, reports ALF.

Deadline: 25 October 2012

Country: Morocco, Casablanca

The Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF) will hold the second Preparatory Meeting of the Anna Lindh Forum 2013 focused on the role of women and their perspective in the framework of the 4D ALF strategy: Dialogue, Democracy, Development and Diversity.

The Meeting will be organised in Casablanca, Morocco, from 22 – 25 November 2012 in close cooperation with the coordinators of the ALF National Network of Morocco and France.

The objective of the Meeting is to contribute to the formulation of the Programme of the Anna Lindh Forum 2013 by identifying current critical issues, recent trends, key challenges, lessons learnt and good practices to promote gender equality through the intercultural dialogue approach in the Euro-Med Region.