International Women's Day 2024, themed "Invest in Women", advocates for the United Nations' gender equality sustainable development goal to be met by 2030. In light of this campaign, Telum asked women in the media about their careers and gender inequality in the industry.

Dita De Boni, Senior Journalist at The National Business Review  
I always loved words and stories, and I genuinely find the whole human experience interesting and worthy of exploration. I started in business journalism as I could not get a general news reporter job, but in truth, I think business journalism is every bit as much of a study of humanity as any other endeavour, and perhaps even more so.

It's a tricky thing to answer succinctly, but can I put it this way: I believe if there were more female leaders in the world, it would be a better place.

Read Dita's full interview here.

Emma Stanford, Senior Travel Journalist at Stuff
I was a big reader of teen magazines, pouring over the pages and always looking to see who had written the articles and who the editors were. I just thought they were the coolest women out. I also loved watching The Devil Wears Prada, featuring three amazing actresses, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Anne Hathaway, portray the world of magazines. Ironically, most of my career has been in radio broadcasting.

There is always more to do, but New Zealand is definitely getting better. There are a lot more women who are leaders in newsrooms now compared to when I first started in journalism. The same can be said for a lot of sectors, but until there is no longer a gender pay gap, there is still work to do. It would be good to see more women included in topics that are not typically female-focused and have far less focus on their appearance. There is more to be done there. 

Including women is so important because, without them, you forget the voice of half of the population. Women themselves are very diverse, so it's not enough just to have one woman at the table, but several and from various backgrounds. 

Read Emma's full interview here.

Zoë George, Senior Sports Journalist at Stuff
I wanted to be a journalist at 12. By 16, I had my first story published on the front page of the local paper and was working with a local TV network. At that time, there weren't many women in sports journalism (there still aren't many!), but I saw one when I was young and decided I wanted to be like her. It took 18 years of my career to be a sports journalist.

All these years on, I still love journalism. For me, it's always been about getting to the heart of a good story, uncovering the truth, holding those in power to account, and lifting the voices of those who have so often been sidelined in sports and society. Their stories have merit too.

Particularly in sports, representation and inclusion of women, both in bylines and in coverage, is not great. The inclusion of women in our newsrooms brings a diversity of thought and experience, broadening our offerings to our audiences and workplaces. Gender equity can boost organisational morale and culture, help attract and retain talent, and help break down traditional stereotypes that impact women (and men) negatively.

While Aotearoa might be a global leader when it comes to women's sports coverage, we still have a long way to go. Only about 10 percent of sports stories are written by women, and only about a quarter of our sports stories are about women (according to the latest Sport NZ data), down from 28 percent in 2022. The U.S has just hit 15 percent.

Read Zoë's full interview here.