BY PAT MITCHELL | Newsrooms and media journalism have historically been white male-dominated spaces—and despite vast amounts of progress for women and people of color, inequalities between genders persist and representation is declining. In 1972, I was among some of the first women who got the opportunity—and the challenge—to prove better representation meant better news, more inclusive programming and more viewers.

A recent report from the Women’s Media Center found that in media prime time weekday evening news broadcasts are the most equitable, while print newspapers are the least.