Feminist campaigner and journalist Caroline Criado-Perez will guest edit The New European as it becomes The New Feminist for one week only to showcase women’s voices and stories.
The takeover edition will replace The New European’s 31 May issue and will feature a line-up of female journalists, authors and thinkers, commissioned by Criado-Perez to take on a range of topics from a feminist perspective.
The New Feminist will feature writing by New Statesman deputy editor Helen Lewis, BBC Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed, TV presenter Konnie Huq, playwright and novelist Bonnie Greer, cookery writer Claudia Roden and journalists including Helena Kennedy, Afua Hirsch, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Suzanne Moore.
Criado-Perez (pictured), who recently campaigned to see the first statue of a woman, Millicent Fawcett, in Parliament Square and previously successfully fought to get women on British banknotes, said women are “woefully underrepresented” in the media.
She quoted the latest study from the Global Media Monitoring Project which in 2015 found that women make up just 24 per cent of people heard, read about or seen in newspaper, TV and radio news, despite making up half of the population.
Criado-Perez said: “This is a product of two biases: first, that women aren’t seen as relevant to the stories we have traditionally thought of as newsworthy, and second, that stories that affect women more than men are somehow niche.
“I’m so excited to have this opportunity to showcase not only the breadth and talent of female writers working in Britain today, but also to demonstrate that women are as impacted by, and involved in, mainstream stories as men are. You just have to remember that they exist.”
Criado-Perez has previously written for the Guardian, New Statesman, Grazia, Independent, Times, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire on a number of social issues but particularly focusing on women.
The New European initially launched as a four-week “pop-up paper” for Remain voters after the EU referendum in June 2016, but within three weeks owner Archant announced it would continue to publish on a rolling basis as it had exceeded sales targets. It relies mainly on contributors.
Editor Matt Kelly said: “The New European embodies innovation in print and this is a great new experiment we are already very proud of.
“We’re resting most of our regular male journalists for the week, myself included, and I can’t wait to see what Caroline makes of it.
“One thing I already know – it will be exciting, challenging and dazzlingly well-written.”
Picture: Reuters/Luke MacGregor
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