“Media bias is not merely a collection of individual errors but a systemic feature of media ecosystems worldwide.”
Despite progress, work to achieve an inclusive media that reflects diversity in sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, and religion remains unfinished.
That’s a key theme in a new series of reports tracking more than 25 years of the Media Diversity Institute’s (MDI) work in the field of media development.
The reports, produced by the Media Diversity Research Centre, examine key MDI projects, along with their impacts and the legacy, presenting a barometer for changing media trends and funder priorities.
Reviewing the past
The Media Diversity Research Centre (MDRC) examined 71 projects MDI was involved in from 1998 to 2024. MDI led 42 of them.
The projects, which covered ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual orientation, were at least six months in duration and completed by the end of 2024.
Key findings
Main findings from the studies include:
- The relationship between media and ethnicity has emerged as a critical frontier in the international struggle for inclusive societies.
- Ethnic exclusion represents a profound structural flaw, one that requires architectural rather than surface-level cosmetic solutions.
- The struggle to build media ecosystems where LGBTQ+ people are not merely visible but authentically represented is unfinished.
The primary aim of the study was to identify changes in the field of media and diversity, using MDI projects as a case study.
Evolution – ethnicity
When it comes to ethnic inclusion, projects have evolved from addressing surface-level symptoms of bias through short-term journalist training to undertaking the complex long-term work of rebuilding media institutions and public perceptions around the principles of ethnic inclusion and intersectional justice.
Initially, projects focused on training journalists in post-conflict areas like the Balkans and South Caucuses where media had often been weaponised to inflame ethnic tensions. Then they began to consciously incorporate institutional reform, with inclusivity regarded as a cornerstone of democratic resilience. More recent projects engaged directly with the digital transformation of public discourse, focusing on how technology amplifies and disseminates discrimination at unprecedented scale and speed.
Evolution – religion
MDI’s projects related to the media and religion have strengthened the capacity of journalists, civil society actors, and communities worldwide, opened new digital spaces for marginalised voices, shaped policy debates, and contributed to institutional reforms.
Project have reflected a broader societal shift in focus from combating Islamic extremism to evolving threats, including far-right Christian extremism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism. Projects focused on including voices from religious communities to tackle the problem of stories being told about a group not by or with them. There was a growing focus on engaging and collaborating with digital platform companies such as Facebook, Meta, and YouTube to combat online hate speech.
MDI’s legacy in this field includes training manuals, media monitoring groups, a growing number of journalists, academics, and students equipped with newly acquired knowledge of diversity reporting.
Evolution – sexual orientation
MDI’s work on sexual orientation reveals a deliberate evolution in tactics – a journey from promoting broad tolerance within media landscapes to demanding active recognition and legal protection.
Initially, sexual orientation was regarded as one strand within a broader diversity landscape, before strategically pivoting to counter a rising global backlash against LGBTQ+ rights.
The latest phase of media development is characterised by increasing funding for digital resilience and direct policy influence in challenging contexts, including a focus on changing legislation concerning online hate speech and content moderation.
Evolution – gender
MDI has implemented a wide range of projects examining how gender is represented in news media across diverse national and regional contexts.
Since the 2010s, almost all MDI projects with a distinct focus on gender equality had more than a single diversity area of concentration. Not surprisingly, from that time, a core priority has been addressing and countering online hate speech, misogyny, and gender-based violence across digital media platforms.
Projects linked the training of journalists to the creation of media that support and report fairly on issues of gender. Some projects produced hundreds of stories, some of which were republished by regional and international media.
Geographical diversity
These projects were carried out in more than 60 countries, from Cuba in the Caribbean and Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan in Africa, to Armenia, Russia and Kyrgyzstan in Eurasia.
The highest number of projects has been in Europe, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.
Read the reports
To discover more about the trends and the projects reviewed, please explore the reports:
Gender, Media, and Power: Insights from MDI’s Work from 1998 to 2024
From ‘Religion in the Media’ to ‘Religion as Media’: Mapping MDI’s Religion-Focused Work (1998-2024)
