On May 8th, news stories from across Sweden were put under the microscope — and not just any microscope. As part of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), volunteers, researchers and media professionals came together to analyse how men and women are represented in the news.
This global initiative, coordinated in Sweden by Fojo Media Institute, happens every five years and is the world’s largest and longest-running research project on gender in news media. Sweden’s coding day took place with help from our partners at JMG (University of Gothenburg), the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, and dedicated volunteers in Kalmar, Umeå, Lund and Gothenburg.
So, what exactly did we do?
We looked at who gets to speak in the news, who’s quoted as an expert, who’s shown in images and what roles are women and men given in the stories. All of this helps build a detailed picture of gender equality in media — both in Sweden and around the world.
Over 115 countries took part in the same exercise on the same day. Together with our partners in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Bangladesh and so many more in countries across the world, we’re asking big questions:
- Who defines the news?
- Whose voices are heard?
- How far have we come since the last GMMP in 2020?
In 2020, Sweden scored better than most, with women making up 38% of people seen or heard in the news — compared to the global average of 25%. Will the 2025 results show progress? We’ll find out this autumn.
This was the first year Fojo coordinated the Swedish effort (taking over from JMG) — and we were thrilled to be part of the global movement for more inclusive media, side by side with our partners in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
Want to be part of the change? Stay tuned — results will be released in the fall and we’ll be sharing what they mean for journalism in Sweden and beyond.
