Changing Cultural Biases: The 51 Percent's Annette Young on How Everyone Stands to Benefit From Gender Equity
By Julia Gamolina
Annette Young is a senior journalist and news presenter for France 24. Originally from Australia, she has reported from parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She is the host and creator of The 51 Percent, an award-winning show about women reshaping the world. She won the Ricardo Ortega Gold Medal for broadcast journalism in 2018 and was a 2023 Global Australian Awards finalist for her work in gender journalism.
JG: I admire so much that you started the TV program, the 51%. Tell me what you've learned through the episodes you've broadcast and the interviews you've done so far. Has anything surprised you?
AY: The 51 Percent promotes gender equality and challenges societal norms through insightful discussions and field reports on France 24 English. It is the only show of its kind on a global TV news network and has been in existence for more than eleven years. We have travelled as far afield as Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Jordan, Laos, Italy, Spain, United States, Ethiopia, or Senegal and a variety of other places in between.
The women we have met in the course of our reporting never fail to amaze me in terms of what they do every day. The same goes to our guests who we meet every week in the studio. Regardless of their backgrounds, careers or where they live, one inevitable common strand is their commitment to making the world a better place. Be they reproductive rights activists in Kentucky; agricultural workers in Laos; or female politicians in Jordan and Mexico; nurses in Senegal; farmers in Italy or women’s activists in Argentina; or even architects in Paris. And it’s not just women but men as well; all of whom understand that everybody stands to benefit from gender equity.
Annette Young reporting on the Pelicot trial in Avignon, courtesy of Annette.
Now let's go back a little bit — you studied journalism! Why this degree and what were you hoping to do in the world?
When I was fourteen, my school sent us home with a career guidance questionnaire. I remember asking my late father what he thought I should do and he replied with a smile, “Well, you’re good at English, you always pinch the newspaper off me in the morning. Most importantly, are very nosy, so why not be become a journalist!”
His best friend, John, was then a journalist with the UK Guardian and I suspect Dad was always envious of John’s life. The irony being for your audience, that my father was an architect! But my father was completely spot on with his suggestion and now, all these years on, I can’t even contemplate doing anything else which says a lot about the level of job satisfaction. In any case, I applied and was accepted into the journalism degree course at the University of South Australia.
Tell me about your various work experiences before joining France 24. What have you learned that you still apply to your role today?
After university, I ended up with a cadetship, which is like a traineeship, at the Melbourne Age, and did a stint reporting on Australian federal politics in Canberra before joining the Sydney Morning Herald. Six months later, I made the switch to television and joined SBS Television Australia where I worked first for World News before joining its flagship show, Dateline, as a producer.
In 2000, I headed to Paris — my mother was French and from Paris and so it wasn’t a completely random choice for me — and in 2001, I started working for Agence France Presse. My first years in Paris were tough; my French language skills were far from great and for foreigners who live here, it can be far from easy. The culture was not then particularly foreigner-friendly; not to mention, the bureaucracy, and the long cold and gloomy winters. After relocating to Jerusalem, I ended up working as a Middle East correspondent for France 24 English but by 2010, I had was ready to return to France. Since returning to Paris, I’ve been working as a news presenter for the network and also went on to create and host The 51 Percent in 2013.
“I like to think it’s our job to make the unfamiliar, familiar; to challenge those cultural biases that we all have about the role of women in society.”
Tell me now about your time at France 24, and how the 51 Percent show came about. What are your priorities for it as we look ahead to 2025?
I created the program along with a French colleague in 2013. As senior journalists, we both passionately believed about the need for a different take on the news. A take reflecting that women do indeed make up 51 percent of the population but are still way behind, even in the most progressive of societies, in terms of being represented in all fields. Just thinking about the gender pay gap, or the extremely low number of senior female politicians and CEOs in Europe and the US, for example.
I like to think it’s our job to make the unfamiliar, familiar; to challenge those cultural biases that we all have about the role of women in society. We have a very long way to go before true equality is reached. And sadly, women’s rights across the globe are now facing a backlash with the rise of authoritarian leaders especially with the rollback of reproductive rights and DEI programs. That is something we certainly did not envisage when we created the show eleven years ago.
Annette Young interviewing Roxana Maracineanu, a former French Olympic swimmer and sports minister, for The 51%, discussing gender equity in the sporting world ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Courtesy of Annette.
Annette Young in Ethiopia for The 51%, courtesy of Annette.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
There have been difficult times. In the course of my career, I’ve covered war, an intifada, and violent protests. I was on-air hosting the France 24 news during the shootings at the kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015 and then incidentally, on-air again in November 2015 as news started coming through of the terrorist attacks being carried out at a number of Paris restaurants, the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France. We did not know it at the time but one of those killed at the Bataclan was a studio technician who had just ended his shift at France 24 and was walking out of the studio as I walked in to begin mine. As you get older, reporting or covering violence for me has become tougher. The professional distance that you use to keep a level head, starts to shrink. You begin to understand and appreciate just how fragile life is.
What have you also learned in the last six months?
For us at The 51 Percent, the Gisele Pelicot case which went to trial last September is undoubtedly one of the most consequential stories to emerge from France in recent years. Her bravery in going public as a victim of mass rape and the fact that those found guilty were scores of men from a variety of backgrounds; tells us so much about the work that needs to be done in changing male views towards violence against women.
Yet despite her courage in waiving her anonymity during the trial; French rape laws still do not include a definition of “consent”. That hopefully will change later in the year as the French parliament votes on an amendment .
“Our ability to challenge the way people think is itself, is a true gift and one of the greatest powers we have as journalists.”
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
On my first day at journalism school, a lecturer told us that for those who are natural journalists will find that “newspaper ink gets into your blood.” He was right. Journalism is more of a lifestyle choice than anything else. I sometimes joke that it’s like signing up for a religious order with the long hours, the shift work, the stress, the low pay. But this is still over-shadowed by the professional joy I receive. I’ve interviewed people from all layers of society be they world leaders, Hollywood actors, West Bank settlers or Palestinian militants, through to poverty-stricken parents in a village in southern Laos determined to carve out a better life for their children or a Bangladeshi trade unionist who took on the global garment industry and vastly improved working conditions for her fellow female workers.
My father was right; I am very curious by nature and always wanted to know what made people tick. We journalists are given a rare, privileged access to people’s lives and to hear what they say and think. For that alone, I am truly grateful. And if along the way, I inspire and challenge our viewers with our reporting, that’s definitely an added bonus.
Annette Young interviewing Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia’s first woman president, for The 51%, courtesy of Annette.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Journalism is a tough gig these days and even tougher for women, as the profession is still not family friendly. Remember that it’s okay for us as women – and young women in particular – to be as forward and outspoken as we need to be. We are often put down for being too bossy or too forward where our male counterparts would simply be “driven” or “ambitious”. Rather than allowing these qualities to be treated as criticisms, we need to embrace them because those qualities are needed to do our job.
Keep your eye on the goal, and learn to roll with the punches because there will be many. Our ability to challenge the way people think is itself, is a true gift and one of the greatest powers we have as journalists. Which is also why we are not popular with autocratic leaders. And finally, this is why you should not lose your sense of humor. You will need it.