A new database of female contributors for broadcast media has been launched by Women on Air, an organisation that campaigns for greater gender balance on programmes.

A new database of female contributors for broadcast media has been launched by Women on Air, an organisation that campaigns for greater gender balance on programmes.
The initiative, launched to coincide with today’s Nollaig na mBan, has been welcomed by Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin.
The minister encouraged women to join former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, pharmacist and former TD Kate O’Connell, and designer Sonya Lennon on the database.
She also appealed to media outlets to increase their number of female contributors.
“We are making progress in Ireland, but there are still many areas where women are, unfortunately, the minority, including in politics and, unfortunately, on our airwaves,” she said.  
For more, visit: www.womenonair.ie
“If you are a member of the broadcast media, please do your part and invite more women to take part in your programmes so that together we can achieve gender balance on our airwaves.”
“Coverage on Covid-19 is just the latest example that we can point to where, unfortunately, women’s voices have again been in the minority,” added the Chair of the Women on Air board, Róisín Duffy.
“There is no doubt that the direction of public policy is influenced by commentary and debate on broadcast media and therefore if women’s voices are absent or in the minority, this has a serious impact on wider society.”
The initiative has been welcomed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which is among those funding the work of Women on Air.