Why investing in young female journalists strengthens media and democracy
Thomson Foundation (TF) Deepening Digital Reinforcing Resilience project ran a one-year internship programme that provided structured and focused support to young female journalists across the CEE region. Its goal was to contribute to quality journalism and to the increase of representation of female journalists in the news desks Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. This article summarises the main lessons learnt from the programme.
The internship programme aimed at empowering young female journalists, providing general training and specific one in producing gender-sensitive content. It also provided mentorship in identifying topics, development and production of stories highlighting the role and position of women in society. At the same time, the programme secured a training programme providing the interns with key skills that contributed to their overall professional growth: combined with leadership training and networking that helped them exchange experience, recognise industry barriers and discuss how to overcome them.
Our experience confirmed that providing internship to young female journalists is vital because it offers practical experience and networking in a field where women historically have faced barriers to career progression and leadership roles.Feedback provided indicate that programmes like TF Deepening Digital internship are crucial for professional development, confidence building, and helping to close the gender gap in the media industry.
It also bridges the gap between academic study and professional practice, allowing young female journalists to work on real newsroom tasks like research, interviewing, writing, and editing under mentorship approved by the editor, providing additional intern-specific professional guidance.
This hands-on experience is essential for improving their skills and becoming “newsroom ready”. Structured internship programmes such as this assign mentors, providing a valuable opportunity for personalised feedback, support, and learning from seasoned professionals. This guidance boosts confidence and helps navigate challenges in a male-dominated industry where women may face a lack of female role models in senior positions.
- Throughout my journalism career, I have attended many webinars, including ones outside the Thomson framework, but I can honestly say that these sessions were the most useful for my professional development.
- The training in cutting-edge tools (data visualisation and investigative techniques) was a game-changer for me. The programme provided the necessary skills, connections, and motivation to transition into a more modern, focused, and entrepreneurial journalistic career.
Nurturing female talents in the CE region
Today women in the CEE face gender pay gap and gender-based discrimination. Adding to it is the dilemma of reconciling society’s expectations for a woman as mother, caretaker, and wife – reinforced by the strong role and influence of the different churches and newly born conservative political parties that encourage traditional, paternalistic visions of society – with Western trends and initiatives that promote equal opportunities and gender equality.
Countries like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, show stark polarisations to different extent: populism, strong male-dominated politics and corruption on one hand, and efforts to strengthen civil society on the other.
The internship nurtured the idea that women need to recognise that they can and should be involved in shaping society. At the same time, it contributed to initiating and formulating that discussion in the media.
Therefore, the overall aim of Thomson Foundation’s internship programme was strategic, with a focus on the medium to long term effects. By engaging with emerging media actors, Thomson Foundation identified talents and built sustainable professional capacities among young female journalists. These individuals have the potential to become agents of change, as well as future editors and leaders in their countries’ media markets in the coming years.
To achieve this aim, Thomson Foundation intended to continue to strengthen capacities of the selected young female journalists through a customised and flexible internship programme developed in line with feedback, experiences and lessons learnt from the previous iterations.
Invest in her
Our ten interns were young female journalists with a couple of years (1-2 years) of experience in journalism, working for a smaller or a bigger media outlet as an employee or a regular contributor with contract. They were at entry level with professional working proficiency in English (the internship working language) and they worked for online or offline newspapers with strong social media presence.
While the internship envisaged their commitment to topics and stories related to gender-based disinformation, no specialisation was needed to join the programme: interns came from various area of interests (politics, public life, human rights, health, social issues, tech issues, sport, culture, etc.).
Gender-based disinformation is a form of identity-based disinformation that threatens human rights worldwide. It undermines the digital and political rights, as well as the safety and security, of its targets. Gender-based disinformation is used to justify human rights abuses and entrench repression of women and minority groups.
This meant that they had great freedom in choosing topics. The expectation was to write one article per month in their mother tongue on topics of their own choosing, with the only criterion being that it had to be related to gender disinformation. As a result, the interns wrote about a wide variety of topics: violence against women, femicide, energy poverty affecting women, introducing and championing female leaders across different areas such as business, science, politics and army but also about fighting against breast cancer and the gender pay gap. This latter topic was covered as a part of cross-border cooperation: the interns worked in pairs, adding comparison between the gender pay gaps in their respective countries.
In the framework of the cross-border collaboration, interns covered other important topics such as nurses labour migration from Slovakia and Bulgaria to the other EU countries, the changes in minority language education in Romania and Slovakia. and the topic of domestic violence through differences between countries that have and have not ratified the Istanbul Convention.
- The cross-border project was a highlight, teaching us invaluable teamwork skills and delivering a highly successful story.
- Cross-border production felt very natural – working with someone who is roughly the same age as me – we were on the same wavelength, which made the whole process much smoother. In the future, I will continue producing cross-border stories, as I think such collaborations are very beneficial for journalists from different countries
Three things were needed to produce all these articles. Essential to the success of the entire programme was the editorial support. It enabled interns to participate in the programme and ensured their availability to commit themselves. On Thomson’s side, recognising this effort and its importance, financial assistance for the publishers was secured to cover a share of interns’ salaries.
The third crucial element was providing mentorship and training. The mentorship included a combination of personalised 1:1 and group online sessions and consultations, training by the mentor and webinars with guest speakers, combined with the use of Thomson Foundation and other high-quality e-courses. The aim of the regular weekly or biweekly group calls was to facilitate exchange of experience, brainstorm about story ideas and topics. Additionally, these meetings and discussions helped the group bond.
- The absolute best part of the internship programme was the combination of deep practical training, the variety of topics and exceptional networking.
- The programme created a supportive environment where I could grow, experiment, and develop real confidence in my reporting and writing.
Topics of webinars and trainings range from general writing skills in different genres, basic investigative skills and fact checking, data journalism, podcast production, open-source investigations, solution journalism, interview skills, hybrid and newswire journalism, data visualisation, and use of new, innovative technologies and tools in journalism, such as AI, but they also heard about different networking opportunities in Europe. All training was contextualised bearing in mind gender disinformation.
As the programme closed, our interns produced more than 140 articles and social media related content focussed on national topics and 8 regional ones. The articles they produced were featured in newsletters and podcasts and they have gained additional recognition by their news-desk colleagues. They reported an increase of understanding how the world of media works and advancement of their skills. Finally, they also reported an increase in their self-confidence as journalists ready to pursue their journalistic career in an environment that has proved challenging for women.
- Professionally, I feel much more confident in my reporting, my ability to navigate complex topics, and my overall workflow. I’ve become quicker, more precise, and more aware of how to shape a story from idea to final draft. The environment was extremely motivating and positive, and it helped me realise that I can work at a higher professional level than before.
- I have developed a great deal. I am braver, more self-confident, and more prepared to tackle complex topics than I was before.
Engaging interns required a structured approach that provided meaningful work, robust support system, and opportunities for social and professional development. TF provided meaningful projects, including the cross-border collaboration, assigned mentors, offered networking opportunities, and delivered regular, constructive feedback, ensuring that the interns felt valued, connected, and were learning real-world skills, making them feel like integral members of their own teams.
From Intern to Leader
The internship moved beyond classroom theory to solidify technical, production, and interviewing and journalistic skills, and connected our young participants with experienced female role models who provide individualised guidance. It helped interns navigate challenges specific to women, such as gender pay gaps and newsroom discrimination. Exposure to real-world newsroom dynamics, combined with the support provided by an internship, helped strengthen young female journalists’ professional resilience that is necessary to stay in the industry, and increased their confidence to pursue senior leadership roles later in their careers.
TF internship increased their professional capacities that, in turn, benefited the media they belong to, and their audience. The outlet benefits from having more gender-related engaging content prepared by well-trained colleagues, enhanced innovation, and a streamlined talent pipeline. On the other hand, in the long term, society gains from more diverse and relevant information, raising awareness of the position of women in their communities, and its effects resulting in a more informed and engaged public.
Long-term changes for young female journalism interns are expected to include increased opportunities in the digital sphere and more women in leadership roles, though they will still face persistent challenges like pay inequality, workplace harassment, and work-life balance issues. The shift towards digital platforms means young female journalists will have more opportunities in areas such as podcasting, video production, media analytics, and the ethical application of AIwhich is why these topics have been a part of the training.
The ability to create independent platforms (blogs, newsletters) also allows for greater autonomy and the ability to cover issues important to them.
While women still make up a minority of top editors, the percentage is slowly increasing in some markets. There is a growing push from within the industry and by advocacy groups to increase female representation in decision-making roles, which could lead to more inclusive newsrooms in the future, and we can see some positive changes in the CE region in that regard.
The adoption of hybrid and flexible working models, partly accelerated by the pandemic, may offer long-term benefits for work-life balance, which has historically been a significant challenge for women with caring responsibilities. A heightened awareness of the online and offline threats women journalists face is expected to lead to better safety protocols, legal support, and internal policies within media organisations to address harassment and discrimination.
