Diana Nastasia, PhD, Faculty Fellow at the NCERC at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, presented research on gender and the media at the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) of the United Nations (UN) on Wednesday, March 14 in New York City.
At SIUE, Nastasia works on the project management team of the Building Illinois’ Bioeconomy Consortium, a U.S. Department of Labor grant having SIUE as its lead institution. The consortium provides educational programs leading to careers in the growing bioeconomy, with a focus on training underserved populations, including laid off workers, veterans and minorities.
Nastasia’s presentation was featured in the panel “Beyond a Pretty Face: Tackling Gender Bias in Media Industries,” co-sponsored by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) and Zonta International. The panel also included Patricia Sierra-Sampson, the founder of Voice Latina, Vanessa Tyler, anchor and reporter for FIOS1 News, and Michelle Ferrier, PhD, from Ohio University. The panel was moderated by Sonja Hönig Schough, president of Zonta International.
“I was delighted to be a presenter at UN CSW 62, especially this year when one of the themes was participation in and access of women to the media,” Nastasia said. “Another important theme was information and communications technologies, and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women.”
Nastasia’s presentation focused on the unequal distribution of narrative resources, with a gender bias, which continues more than two decades after the adoption at the UN of the Beijing Declaration for increasing the participation of women in the media and eliminating the stereotypical portrayal of women through the media. The presentation is based on media monitoring research in eight countries on four continents. At SIUE, Nastasia has presented her research to women’s studies, anthropology and international studies classes.
At UN CSW 62, Nastasia also represented IAWRT as one of the organization’s elected board members, and as a member of the Research and Policy Committee of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender (GAMAG).
About UN CSW 62
The 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City through March 23. Representatives of member states, UN entities, and non-governmental organizations from all regions of the world are attending the session.
About SIUE
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
About IAWRT
IAWRT is a global organization with a mission to strengthen initiatives towards ensuring women’s views and values are integral part of media programming and to advance the impact of women in media. IAWRT has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).