Pass the Mic: Putting the experiences of women of colour at the heart of research and practice to change Scotland's news media landscape.

Pass the Mic (PtM) works to improve the representation of women of colour (WOC) in Scottish news media working with academic, third-sector, media and communications partners – as well as with individual WOC experts – to map, challenge and change news content and journalistic practices. This programme - funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute - aims to disseminate and build on the learning from PtM’s first years in order to support longer-term change. It will do this firstly by gathering data relating to the experiences of WOC involved in PtM, and then by sharing this and other existing research with key stakeholders. Through this programme, we seek to expand the range of key stakeholders working with PtM, retaining existing collaborations with media partners and complementing this with direct engagement with communications teams who can play an important gatekeeper role in bringing research by women of colour to a wider audience (e.g. through working with research funding bodies, universities, trade unions and third-sector organisations). The events will all be led by WOC and provide unique opportunities to bring the diverse and dispersed community of WOC involved in PtM together for the first time to facilitate networking, skills development and capacity building. Through this programme we also aim to expand the PtM network, in particular by involving more WOC academics working in diverse disciplinary contexts across Scotland. Outcomes from the programme will include the development of commissioned commentary and analyses pieces by WOC to be shared through partnerships with not-for-profit media platforms and third-sector organisations.