2020.Dec.11

EVENTS

MeDi Symposium
“Closing the Gender Gap: Challenges for the Future of Media in the Digital Information Society”

MeDi is a group that was launched by a group of researchers and practitioners who are concerned with issues of representations in various media including the television, newspaper and internet. MeDi will continue with its research and activities to explore and establish a network to investigate the relationship between the media and society so that economic gaps and other gaps between the majority and minority in the information/data society can be eliminated, with support from the University of Tokyo’s Institute for AI and Beyond and B’AI Global Forum Project. This significant event celebrates the updated version of MeDi. It is an online symposium open to everyone.

 

【Date & Venue】

 

❖ Date: Saturday, December 12, 2020, 4:00-7:00pm (JST)

❖ Venue: Online (MeDi YouTube Channel, CLP (Choose Life Project) YouTube channel)

❖ No registration required

❖ Language: Japanese

❖ Organizer: B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo / Media and Diversity Forum (MeDi)

❖ Inquiry: Kayoung KIM (Project Researcher, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo) / kayoungk[at]g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Please change [at] to @)

 

 

【Program】

This event consists of two parts. The first part is titled “What changes with more women? — Major media start addressing gender issues.” The second part is titled “Is the online space safe for women?” For each part, critics, journalists, and scholars will take part in discussions.

 

◎ Opening Remarks

・Kaori Hayashi (Professor, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, University of Tokyo)

 

◎ First Session (16:00〜17:15)

“What changes with more women? — Major media start addressing gender issues”

 

＜Speaker＞

・Moderator: Keiko Hamada (Business Insider Japan)

・MeDi: Renge Jibu (Journalist), Keiko Yamamoto (NHK)

・Guest: Sawa Okabayashi (Asahi Shimbun), Tae Fujita (TBS)

 

＜Abstract＞

This fall, Asahi Shimbun launched a major project that focuses on the issues of gender. The major media in Japan have traditionally not paid significant focus on issues of women and children. But more reports are seen recently.

This can be attributed to the fact that the number of women working in the major media corporations, long known as a very masculine world, has increased over the years. Moreover, there are more women in positions of power such as “caps” and “desks.” Nevertheless, the media in general and the major ones in particular have not been able to solve gender gaps within, including how to solve the long hours required of their employees. Furthermore, new media and SNS are posing serious questions as to the significance of the major media in this society.

Amidst all this, gradually more women are beginning to voice their opinions and changing the labor environment. The meaning of newsworthiness itself is beginning to change.

This session focuses on what has changed and what hasn’t or can’t be changed as a result of the increase in the number of women in the media industry.

 

◎ Second Session (17:30〜19:00)

“Is online space safe for women?”

 

＜Speaker＞

・Moderator: Keiko Kojima (Essayist)

・MeDi: Misook Lee (Rikkyo University), Toko Shirakawa (Showa Women’s University/Sagami Women’s University), Toko Tanaka (Otsuma Women’s University)

・Guest: Ema Arisa (University of Tokyo), Hioka (Writer), Genichi Yamaguchi (Attorney at Law)

 

＜Abstract＞

The world of internet has much shorter history and faster pace of change than the conventional media. The online space is not a safe place for anyone. In the second session, the members of MeDi will reflect on the time since the collection of their essays (Ashiwo Dokasete Kuremasenka) last year. They will consider various debates over the state of online communication as well as the examples online violence among women and limited of legal and institutional attempts to contain such violence, as they reflect on various topics on gender within the online sphere.  Furthermore, they will explore the potential for using AI while also paying attention to the impact of gender gap in the field of science technology. By doing so, they will discuss means for seeking a safer and more meaningful online sphere.