Published work
Published reports and news articles authored by Luba Kassova
News coverage of systemic gender gaps is virtually nonexistent. We can change that.
In this first in a series of three solutions-based articles, Luba explores one of the news industry’s main blind spots: failing to recognize or report on the longstanding systemic gaps between men and women that grant men unfair advantages over women. She explains why this is the case and offers ideas about how to change it based on interviews with dozens of senior editors across the globe.
Women in Politics and Access to Media in Nigeria
This opinion piece for TVC News explores news media’s role in amplifying women’s severely marginalised voices in Nigeria ahead of the general elections. Luba finds that in all the countries researched, including Nigeria, news operates more as a mirror of society than a megaphone for marginalised voices. Audiences feel increasingly disenfranchised but there are solutions to changing this.
Why this song could never have been written about a man. The high price of being a woman in politics
This article, published by a leading online news provider in Bulgaria, tackles the asymmetrical treatment of women politicians by the news media and the media’s ability to undermine/destroy female politicians’ careers by amplifying pro-male/anti-female biases. Bulgarian news media has played a devastating role in Lena Borislavova’s political career. The article offers solutions for what can be done to intercept news reporting biases. You can find a version in English here.
Newsrooms improving in putting women in editorial positions. Now they must consider race
South Africa may occupy a leading position in terms of women's representation in newsrooms and news leadership compared to some countries but when considering the issue of race, a different picture emerges, writes Luba Kassova.
Does the media play its role well when addressing violence against women?
Indian women are almost completely locked out of the highest levels of political and news editorial power, with the result that women’s struggles and perspectives are excluded from public discourse, writes Luba Kassova.
Pro-male social norms muting women’s perspectives in news
In her research, Luba sometimes speaks with women who have endured violence from men, usually ones they knew. The consequences are always devastating — destroyed self-worth, demolished lives, anguish that reverberates through generations. But how much attention does the news coverage in Kenya and globally pay to this structural problem? Not enough, concludes Kassova.
From Outrage to Opportunity
This is the third report in the successful Missing Perspectives of Women in News series commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and hosted by Internews. Highlighting the impact of race for women in news leadership and coverage in multi-racial populations, Luba adopts a solutions-focused perspective to explore how this sector can include the long-standing missing perspectives of women of all colours. It also contains a chapter, authored by Richard Addy and much-desired by the news industry, about the business benefits of gender-equitable journalism. The 12 solution areas it presents, which contain numerous practical ideas about unlocking progress, have been co-created with 41 senior editors and news experts interviewed for the report.
How Africa’s first Gender Desk succeeded
This is the story of the birth and initial three years in the life of the first Gender Desk in Africa, launched in 2019 by the Nation Media Group – the biggest news provider in Kenya – in partnership with The Fuller Project for international reporting on women.
“We will rebuild": Ukraine`s women journalists look towards the future
Part two of a two part article series: As the Russians hit civilian targets in different cities around Ukraine, you wonder how Ukrainians live under this constant threat. In this second part of Luba’s conversation with three courageous women journalists - Angelina Kariakina, Ірина Славінська and Nataliya Gumenyuk - we learn that the Ukrainian in the room is always the biggest optimist. We also learn how the war can age one in a snippet and how looking beyond the war to rebuilding Ukraine keeps them moving forward.
Defiant and resilient, Ukraine’s women journalists navigate journalism’s deadliest war
Part one of a two part article series: While countries, including Britain and Bulgaria, are turning increasingly inwards - grappling with the mounting public pressure over the increasing cost of living and political scandals - the war in Ukraine is keeping momentum, causing death and trauma. It has been deadlier for journalists than the ten other deadliest conflicts or wars globally. In this conversation Luba turns the focus on three prominent Ukrainian journalists about their lives during the war. Their perspectives help to sift through the weed and appreciate the important yet ephemeral things in life.
