2023.Oct.30

EVENTS

The 2nd MeDi-B’AI Symposium
“Media and Diversity: Have Women’s Voices Reached the Media?”

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Media and Diversity Forum (MeDi), established in May 2017 and became a subsidiary group of the B’AI Global Forum at the Institute for AI and Beyond, the University of Tokyo in 2020, has been engaged in a fundamental examination of media representation and diversity for the past six years.
On November 25th, 2023, the MeDi will be holding a symposium titled “Media and Diversity: Have Women’s Voices Reached the Media?” to reassess the results of its six years of activities. The details are as follows.

 

◇ Date & Venue

・Organizer: Media and Diversity Forum (MeDi)
・Co-organizer: B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo
・Date: November 25, 2023 (Saturday), 12:00~15:10 (JST)
・Format: On-site only
・Venue: Daiwa House Ishibashi Nobuo Memorial Hall, 3F, Daiwa Ubiquitous Computing Research Building, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo
・Language: Japanese
・How to register: Please register below by Monday, 20 November.
https://onl.tw/KPtB1RB　（This symposium can accommodate 100 guests.）
・Inquiry: medigender[a]gmail.com （Please change [at] to @）

※Please note that there will be a draw when we are oversubscribed.
※Please note that there may be changes to the presenters due to scheduling conflicts.

 

◇ Program

12:00〜12:05　Opening Remarks （Kaori Hayashi, Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo）

12:05〜13:15　Part 1 “Is Progress Being Made in Closing the Gender Gap in the Media?”
ー　　　　　　　　Keiko Hamada (Journalist) ★Moderator
ー　　　　　　　　Hanako Kishida (Chairperson, Japan Federation of Commercial Broadcast Workers’ Unions)
ー　　　　　　　　Yayoi Nakatani (Board Director, TBS Television)
ー　　　　　　　　Shiro Nakamura (President and CEO, The Asahi Shimbun Company)
ー　　　　　　　　Kaori Hayashi (Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo)

ー　　　　　　   Report “Current Status and Efforts in Domestic and International Media”
ー　　　　　　 　　　　(Touko Shirakawa, Project Professor, Sagami Women’s University)

13:15〜13:40　Break Time

13:40〜14:50　Part 2 “How Does Gender Become an Issue in Digital Media?”
ー　　　　　　　　Yuiko Fujita (Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo) ★Moderator
ー　　　　　　　　Misook Lee (Associate Professor, Otsuma Women’s University) “Gender Discrimination and Sexual Violence in Media ー　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Culture”
ー　　　　　　　　Shintaro Kono (Professor, Senshu University) “The Proliferation of Popular Misogyny in Japan”
ー　　　　　　　　Yuko Itatsu (Professor, The University of Tokyo) “Media Representations of Gender in AI Robots”

14:50-15:05　Report: “A Review of MeDi Activities and Future Challenges”
ー　　　　　  　　（Keiko Kojima, Essayist; Renge Jibu, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology)

15:05-15:10　Closing Remarks (Tohko Tanaka, Professor, The University of Tokyo)

 

◇ Part 1 “Is Progress Being Made in Closing the Gender Gap in the Media?”

In Part 1 entitled “Is Progress Being Made in Closing the Gender Gap in the Media?”, we will have speakers involved in traditional media such as newspapers and television to discuss recent efforts made to address the gender gap, the current status of organizational diversity promotion within media companies, and the challenges in promoting it. In particular, the gender ratio of managers and employees, the current state of diversity promotion, and the effects on the workplace and media content if there is an increase in women in decision-making positions will be discussed.

 

＜Moderator＞
Keiko Hamada
Journalist; President, Digital Journalist Training Organization; MeDi Member

 

Hanako Kishida
Chairperson, Japan Federation of Commercial Broadcast Workers’ Unions; Executive committee member, Fuji Television Workers’ Union; Administration and Planning Manager, LIVE STUDIO, Fuji Television Network, Inc.

 

Yayoi Nakatani
Board Director, TBS Television

 

Shiro Nakamura
President and CEO, The Asahi Shimbun Company

 

Kaori Hayashi
Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo; MeDi Member

 

 

◇ Part 2 “How Does Gender Become an Issue in Digital Media?”

In part 2 entitled “How Gender Becomes an Issue in Digital Media?”, we will have presentations by three researchers addressing the representation and discourse of gender in digital media. They will discuss the following issues: media culture and gender-based discrimination and violence, third and fourth-wave feminism and popular misogyny, and the gender representation of AI robots. Through these discussions, we aim to clarify the unique challenges of the digital media era and engage in constructive dialogues.

 

＜Moderator＞
Yuiko Fujita
Associate Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo; MeDi Member

 

◇ Closing Remarks

 

Tohko Tanaka
Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo; MeDi Member