It’s the 50th year of celebrating National Women’s Equality Day which commemorates the greatly significant adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920 which granted women the right to vote.
To celebrate this awareness day, we have created a list of 50 women in journalism who are inspiring others, striving for diversity and equality and are ultimately driving positive change.
Journalists striving for diversity in the media
These inspiring female journalists have worked with PressPad and have led Instagram Q&As and masterclasses to help educate aspiring journalists and to raise awareness and to ultimately help diversify and lower the financial and social barrier of entry into journalism.
Christine Ochefu – Freelance journalist and editor
Christine Ochefu is a writer and editor at W Magazine, The Guardian, Nylon Mag, Vice UK, The Face Magazine and Crack Magazine. She specialises in music, race, popular culture and their intersections, as well as archival work tracing Black history. Christine joined our Junior Sales Executive Mark Oloya for a Q&A on Instagram Live to discuss her work, tips and experiences as a woman in the media.
Isabella Silvers – Integrated Associate Editor at HEARST Studio and is the Chair of Hearst Heritage
Isabella Silvers is multi award-winning journalist known for her work at HEARST Studio and publications such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE and Harper’s Bazaar. She was named a Rising Star in the creative industries by We Are The City, one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 in 2018 and was shortlisted for Hero of the Year at the European Diversity Awards and BAME Workplace Hero at the Investing In Ethnicity Award. She recently joined PressPad Remote for a masterclass entitled ‘How journalists from marginalised groups can create their own spaces in journalism’ where she shared advice on how journalists of colour and those from marginalised groups can carve out a career in the journalism industry.
Iris Pase – Digital Engagement Editor at Bella Caledonia and a freelance multimedia journalist.
Iris Pace is a Digital Engagement Editor and her work has appeared on several media outlets – including VICE, BBC, The Social, openDemocracy and The Independent. She is passionate about gender with a focus on women’s rights, mental health, and sexuality. She recently joined our Community Manager Laura England for an PressPad Instagram Q&A and discussed her experiences as a woman in journalism.
Amber Sunner – Freelance journalist and BBC R4 Student Journalist of the Year finalist
Amber is a talented young journalist and was a finalist for BBC Radio 4’s Student Journalist of the Year. Her work as the Commissioning Editor at PressPad included writing and editing weekly blogs, managing the newsletter and running masterclasses and workshops in conjunction with completing her first-class journalism degree.
Daniella Theis – Freelance journalist, Editor in Chief at Strathclyde Telegraph and Editorial Assistant at PressPad
Daniella is a talented young journalist who is completing her final-year BA in Journalism, Creative Writing, Politics, and International Relations. She is driving positive change at PressPad as an Editorial Assistant; she also has been shortlisted in the “Best Student Journalist” category for this year’s Scottish Press Awards.
Teresa Xie – Freelance writer
Teresa is currently studying a degree in Political Science and Cinema Studies but works as a freelance writer. She has written for publications such as Pitchfork, Teen Vogue, Business Insider, Huffington Post and The Observer. She has also founded her own media startup The Q to provide a different narrative to mainstream media about race, female artists and the LGBTQ+ Community. She discussed her experiences as a young writer and journalist on the PressPad Instagram Q&A with Mark Oloya.
Daniella Ekundayo – Producer and Founder of INTHEWRITERSMIND
Daniella Ekundayo is a producer and founder of the publication INTHEWRITERSMIND. She has interviewed well-known public figures and musicians for publications such as Wordplay Magazine, and successfully scripted, pitched and produced video projects for digital brands. She discussed her flair for compelling stories within underground culture on her PressPad Instagram Q&A with Mark Oloya.
Olivia Gagan– Journalist
Olivia Gagan is a journalist specialising in digital and in print. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Raconteur in The Times and The Sunday Times, Stylist, Psychologies, Refinery29, Grazia, Time Out London, and Wonderland. She writes a monthly interview series entitled Emotional Labour, which discusses how their emotions are impacted by work. She discussed her experiences and gave some industry tips for young people in her PressPad Instagram Q&A.
Nicola Slawson – Freelance journalist, writer and speaker
Nicola Slawson is a freelance journalist and has work published regularly in The Guardian where she specialises in news, culture and social affairs. She ran a PressPad masterclass in an effort to demystify freelance journalism, where she discussed being self-employed, organisation, researching, networking and how to pitch effectively to employers.
Donna Ferguson – Freelance journalist
Donna Ferguson is a multi award-winning freelance journalist, who specialises in personal finance, education and lifestyle pieces for national newspapers. She has written for publications such as The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Times. She joined PressPad for a Q&A to educate people on the world of freelance journalism and provided tips and advice on how to break into this competitive industry.
Lucy-Pasha Robinson – Opinion Editor and Chronic Podcast Host at HuffPost
Lucy-Pasha Robinson is an opinion editor and podcast host at HuffPost and discusses personal topics relating to motherhood and the self. She shared her experiences and tips on a PressPad Instagram Q&A where she educated others and helped advise them on how to make an impact and enter the exciting world of journalism and podcasting.
Laura Garcia – Journalist and author at First Draft
Laura Garcia worked as a multimedia journalist and photographer for a newspaper in Mexico. She now leads First Draft’s training and education across newsrooms and journalism schools. Laura ran a PressPad interactive masterclass entitled ‘How To Be A Mobile Journalism Wizard’ and used her experience to help aspiring journalists to use their phone to shoot, record, edit and publish.
Miranda Larbi – Freelance lifestyle journalist and Fitness Editor at Lifestyle magazine
Miranda Larbi is a freelance journalist and reporter and works as a Fitness Editor at Lifestyle magazine. She specialises in areas such as lifestyle, veganism and race and equality and writes work that continues to inspire the next generation of journalists.
Victoria Polley – Broadcast journalist at BBC Essex
Victoria Polley works at BBC Essex as a Broadcast Journalist and is known for her original local stories and her news reading and sports reporting. She ran a great Q&A for PressPad, covering the world of sports journalism and answered a range of questions concerning her ideas and tips and tricks for those budding journalists.
Portia Crowe– Freelance journalist
Portia Crowe is a freelance journalist based in Paris and her work appears in publications such as The Guardian, The Independent, Reuters, The Globe and Mail, and the BBC. She worked previously as a correspondent for the Dow Jones publication Financial News in London and a senior finance reporter for Business Insider in New York. She taught a fantastic masterclass on ‘How a niche in business journalism can help you pursue your foreign correspondent dreams’ giving her tips and tricks for aspiring journalists.
Jessica Evans – Journalist and Founder of Freelance Sessions
Jessica Evans works as a journalist and is the founder of Freelance Sessions, a platform that provides help and advice to ultimately diversify and help people in the north of England enter the london-centric media industry.
“I wanted to create something that would help northerners and working class people not only break into freelance journalism but flourish in it”
Jessica Bateman – Freelance Journalist and Correspondent
Jesscia Bateman works as a freelance journalist and correspondent and specialises in social issues centred around Europe. Her writing and photography have been published by The Guardian, BBC, The Telegraph, The Economist.
Tahmina Begum – Journalist
Tahmina Begum works as a journalist, editor, and creative consultant and also copywrites and consults for labels, brands and social media brands. She was the former Editor-in-Chief of XXY Magazine and has also written for publications such as The Independent, I-D, Glamour, iPaper, Metro, HuffPost UK, Riposte, AnOther, and Dazed.
Olivia Crellin – Head of Multimedia at openDemocracy, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and the Founder of PressPad.
How could we not mention our founder Olivia Crellin? Without her fantastic work and commitment to PressPad we would not have an award-winning social enterprise that is fighting to lower the financial barrier of entry into journalism. Olivia has worked as a journalist at the BBC before her role as Head of Multimedia at openDemocracy. She specialised in international and online broadcast news and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Economist, TIME Magazine, Reuters, the BBC and others.
Inspiring and influential women in journalism
These female journalists have and are making history and are positively influencing and empowering the next generation of women in the media.
Nicki Bandini – Sports writer and broadcaster
Nicki Bandini is a sports writer and broadcaster that specialises in European football and NFL and has worked with The Guardian, ESPN, Talksport and a range of international publications. Nicki is openly trans and had previously written under the name Paolo Bandini; she is a role model and strives for more representation of trans people in the media and is an advocate for the LGBTQI+ community.
Nadine White- Journalist and race correspondent at The Independent
Nadine White is Britain’s first and only race correspondent at The Independent; she solely focuses on reporting issues surrounding people of colour and amplifying Black voices. She has investigated anti-Black racism within the Labour Party, which had officials introducing new codes of conduct surrounding this form of racism. She was also the first Black journalist shortlisted for the prestigious Paul Foot Award in 2020 that honours investigative or campaigning journalism
Barbara Blake-Hannah – Journalist and Author
Barbara Makeda Blake-Hannah is a Jamaican journalist and author known for her promotion of Rastafari culture and history. She made history and was the first Black female reporter on British television in 1968; and positively influenced generations of women and POC in the media.
Abbianca Makoni – News reporter for the Evening standard
Abbiance Makoni is a reporter and was shortlisted for the NCTJ Award for Excellence in 2020 for the Top Scoop, and was also nominated for a Baton award in 2018 for her work on the impact of period poverty on homeless children in Zimbabwe.
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu – Freelance Journalist and External Platforms Editor at the Financial Times
Yasemin Craggs Mersinogl is a talented young journalist and editor and has been commended for News Journalism for the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2020, and shortlisted for the Amnesty Media Awards 2020 for her contribution to journalism.
Amelia Gentleman– Journalist and Author of The Windrush Betrayal, Exposing the Hostile Environment.
Amelia Gentleman is an investigative journalist and author of The Windrush Betrayal, Exposing the Hostile Environment. For this publication she was awarded the Cudlipp award, Paul Foot award, an Amnesty award, and London press club print journalist of the year for her important work and exposing the truth through her Windrush investigations.
Roula Khalaf– Editor at the Financial Times
Roula Khalaf is the Editor of the Financial Times and she oversees a range of initiatives and award-winning editorial projects in the newsroom. She leads a global network of over 100 foreign correspondents and was named foreign commentator of the year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards in 2016. She has also been awarded the Foreign Press Association’s Feature story of the year in 2013 for her series on Qatar.
Clarissa Ward– CNN Chief International Correspondent
Clarissa Ward is an American television journalist and is the Chief International Correspondent at CNN. She has received numerous awards including seven Emmy awards, honours from the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association, a George Foster Peabody Award for her journalistic coverage of the Syrian uprising and a Murrow Award for international reporting.
Linna Attalah– Journalist and Co-Founder and Chief-Editor of Mada Masr
Lina Attalah is an Egyptian journalist, media figure, and is the co-founder and chief editor of Mada Masr, which is an independent online Egyptian newspaper. She has been recognised by Time as a ‘New Generation Leader’,and was nominated by the publication 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Vanessa Charlot– Freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer
Vanessa Charlot covers stories concerning how race, politics, identity, and economics intersect. She has been commissioned by the New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Buzzfeed, Vogue and many other international publications. She is recognised for her extensive coverage of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement after the tragic murder of George Floyd and the impact of COVID-19. Her work uncovers truth, drives change, and raises awareness on topics such as gun laws and immigration in America.
Lyra McKee- Journalist
Lyra Catherine McKee (1990-2019) was a brave and inspiring journalist from Northern Ireland who was fatally shot on the 18th of April 2019 during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry. She wrote for several publications on the consequences of the troubles in Northern Ireland and was also an editor for Mediagazer.
Daphne Caruana Galizia– Writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist
Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017) was a brave and talented Maltese journalist who reported on political events in Malta. She sadly died on the 16th October 2017 after a car bomb planted in her car detonated. Her inspiring work focused primarily on investigative journalism, covering government corruption, money laundering and links between Malta’s online gambling industry and organised crime.
Patrícia Campos Mello– Reporter and columnist at the daily Folha de S. Paulo
Patrícia Campos Mello is a reporter and columnist for one of Brazil’s most prominent news outlets and is a highly experienced international correspondent. Her work covers stories concerning public health and human rights in Brazil. She discussed her experiences and the discrimantion and danger of being a female journalist in Brazil at the 2019 International Press Freedom Award.
Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava) – Reporter for Belsat TV and co-author of Belarusian Donbas
Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava) is known for her courageous work as a reporter for Belsat TV in Minsk. As a correspondent she visited Ukraine and Spain and covered several high-profile investigations which led to the publication of Belarusian Donbas written alongside Ihar Ilyash in 2017. She was charged alongside journalist and reporter Darya Chultsova for violating public order for broadcasting the violent dispersal of a gathering in memory of murdered protester Raman Bandarenka and were both sentenced to two years imprisonment.
Darya Chultsova – Journalist and reporter for Belsat TV
Darya Chultsova is a brave journalist from Belarus who also worked alongside Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava) for the television channel Belsat TV. She broadcasted the event from the Square of Changes where Raman Bandarenka was beaten to death in 2020 and was arrested there on November 15, 2020, in Minsk.
Marie Colvin – Journalist and foreign affairs correspondent
American journalist, Marie Catherine Colvin (1956-2012), worked as a foreign affairs correspondent for The Sunday Times from 1985 until her death. She died while covering the siege of Homs in Syria; her memory lives on through her inspiring work and the Marie Colvin Memorial Fund through the Long Island Community Foundation, which was created by her family and celebrates her humanitarianism.
Marcela Kunova – Editor at Journalism.co.uk
Marcela Kunova is currently the editor at Journalism.co.uk where she covers media news, organising Newsrewired conferences and media training courses. She has also worked as a freelance journalist and has trained at CNN in London. Her work can be seen in The Guardian, The Independent, CNN and the Huffington Post, amongst other publications.
Caroline Wyatt – Journalist at BBC News
Caroline Wyatt made a great impact for over 25 years working as defence correspondent at the BBC until August 2014. She reported on war and conflict and then became the religious affairs correspondent until June 2016 until she revealed her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
Tara Gatewood – Host and producer of Native American Calling
Tara Gatewood hosts and produces the radio programme which discusses issues specific to Indigenous nations such as culture, health care and politics. She raises awareness on Native American lives nationwide.
Eileen Guo – Senior Reporter at MIT Technology Review and freelance print, web, and audio journalist
Eileen Guo is the Senior Reporter at MIT Technology Review where she covers tech policy, ethics, and social issues. She also worked as an independent print and audio journalist and was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation (2017, 2018), the Fund for Investigative Journalism (2020), and her work has been published in a great variety of international publications.
Shola Lawal– Journalist and filmmaker
Shola Lawal is a journalist in the African continent and is respected for her stories of humanity and injustice, and her support of the women’s rights movement in Nigeria. She has established herself as a young journalist and has received the prestigious 2019 Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism.
Jareen Imam – Content creator, storyteller and media leader
Jareen Imam works as a content creator and was part of newsgathering for the Peabody Award-winning Arab Spring reporting with CNN. She now leads a global team who find, verify and report on breaking and trending news stories at NBC. Jareen is also a part of the planning committee and initiative of #WomenDoNews, which is encouraging and changing Wikipedia to include more entries about women in journalism and the media.
Amanda Marcotte – Politics writer for Salon.com and author
Amanda Maarcotte is an American blogger who specialises in politics and feminism. She has written for a variety of online publications, including The Guardian, The Slate, and Salon, where she is currently senior politics writer. She also has written It’s a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments (2008), Get Opinionated (2010) and Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself (2018).
Amy Kaufman– Senior entertainment writer for Los Angeles Times and author
Amy Kaufman is a senior entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times, she is also an author of the New York Times bestseller Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure. Her journalistic work has been highly influential as she has uncovered and broken major investuagtive stories concerning sexual harassment in Hollywood.
Aura Bogado– Senior investigative reporter and producer at Reveal
Aura Bogado is a senior investigative reporter and producer at Reveal and has also worked as a freelance writer and blogger. Her work is inspiring and covers topics such as race, justice and the environment and strives for a world of equality.
Ellen Nakashima– National security reporter for The Washington Post
Ellen Nakashima is an American journalist who covers national security for The Washington Post where her work primarily focuses on cybersecurity, counterterrorism and intelligence issues. She is also the 2014 and 2018 recipient of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for her incredible journalistic work.
Farnaz Fassihi – Journalist for The New York Times
Farnaz Fassihi is an established and highly successful Iranian-American journalist who writes on Iran for The New York Times. She is also a recipient of many awards for her huge contribution to journalism such as the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best International Reporting, the Henry Pringle Lecture Award, the Marie Colvin Foreign Correspondent of the Year Award, the National Journalism Award for Best Reporting in Print and many others
Stacey Dooley – Journalist and presenter
British documentary presenter Stacey Dooley, known for her show Stacey Dooley Investigates which uncovers sensitive stories and issues occurring across the globe. She covered the situation of child labor in developing countries in her documentary which was aired on BBC Three in 2009.
Jodi Kantor– Investigative reporter and author
Jodi Kantor is an award-winning investigative reporter and best-selling author who specialises in power, gender, technology, politics and culture. She and Megan Twohey broke the story of the decades concerning the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein in October 2017. This incredible journalist work ignited the #MeToo movement and uncovered the dark truth of sexual harassment in the media industry; and she Twohey were awarded with the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for public service.
Kat Chow– Journalist and writer
Kat Chow was most recently a reporter at NPR and focused on stories concerning race, gender and generational differences. She is now a writer of Seeing Ghosts, a memoir that explores grief, family and racial identity and what we owe ourselves, our families and our ancestors. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic and on RadioLab and The Sporkful and other international publications.
Lisa Ling – Journalist, television personality, and author.
Lisa Ling hosts the CNN show This Is Life with Lisa Lingon but has previously worked as a reporter on Channel One News, a co-host on the ABC daytime talk show – The View, and the host of National Geographic Explorer and also was the special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show.
National Women’s Equality Day is a day devoted to celebrating the liberation of women and to highlight not only how far we have progressed – but to also acknowledge the distance we have left to go before gender equality. These inspiring women in journalism are not only breaking social boundaries but are eradicating unfair and discriminatory biases about women working in the media. They have all had a great impact on journalism and their legacy will continue to inspire and empower generations of women in the media.
Credit: Canva Pro image collage by PressPad
