European Federation of Journalists

Danish daily launches project to improve media coverage of women and minorities


In wake of the events taking place in Copenhagen last weekend, the Danish newspaper Politiken, launches today a project to improve diversity in the news and newsroom practices.

According to the chief editor, Anne Mette Svane, the projest is ” about making better journalism”.

We must be more aware of sensitive issues and question ourselves whether we have done enough in our reporting to reflect the reality;” said Mette Svane.

The goals of the project are to achieve an equal representation of women in its news and increase its media coverage of ethnic minorities for at least 10% by 2018. The paper also plans to introduce new ethical guidelines to improve diversity in the news.

The project is initiated by Mette Svane and supported by journalists working for the paper.

Bo Søndergaard, editor of Politiken, explained that the project will give journalists the opportunity to reflect and challenge their daily practices. In doing so, they produce better quality of journalism that give a balanced view and representation of the story to the readers.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed the initiative launched by Politiken. It has launched several projects in the past to improve ethical standards and diveristy in journalism. In its latest diversity project with the Council of Europe (CoE), the EFJ developed together with CoE a self monitoring toolkit called MEDIA Box for media professionals. Please check here for further information regarding the toolkit.

(Photo credit: Politiken)