******PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE!!!!!!********** From 16th February until 8th March 2006, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is organising 'Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media (http://www.whomakesthenews.org). Endorsed by both the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the "Who Makes the News?" campaign aims to promote gender equality in the media by challenging the news media to take substantial and immediate action to ensure that they represent women and men in a fair and balanced way. The "Who Makes the News?" campaign begins on 16th February 2006. This is exactly one year since hundreds of gender and media groups in 76 countries joined in an effort of incredible solidarity to monitor the representation of women and men in their news media as part of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2005. The GMMP 2005 results unfortunately show that the marginalisation of women in the news media is still very much a reality. The "Who Makes the News?" Campaign will end on 8th March 2006 - International Women's Day (http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm). On this day, WACC and its partners worldwide join with UNESCO in offering a challenge to all media producing daily news to give editorial responsibility to women editors and journalists to direct the news on 8th March 2006 as a first step towards promoting gender equality in the media. (http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18295&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_ SECT ION=201.html). During Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media, hundreds of gender and media activists around the world will organise activities using the global, regional and national results of GMMP 2005 to establish a dialogue with news media on their representation of women and men and to explore ways to ensure that women are no longer marginalised in the news media. The "Who Makes the News?" campaign is a unique and exciting opportunity for all those who are committed to the promotion of gender equality and communication rights to join together to challenge the media to fulfil their democratic responsibility to represent women and men in a fair and balanced way. If you would like further information about the "Who Makes the News?" Campaign or to receive a Take Action Pack in English, Spanish or French please contact [log in to unmask] We look forward to hearing from you! Myriam Horngren WACC Network and Advocacy Coordinator 357 Kennington Lane London SE11 5QY United Kingdom Direct line: 44 (0) 207 587 3018 Fax: 44 (0) 207 735 0340 web: www.wacc.org.uk/ www.whomakesthenews.org email: [log in to unmask]