
Francesca Donner, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Persistent
From WomenHeard by New York Women in Communications
August 19, 2025 · 59 min · Episode 100
About this episode
Francesca Donner discusses the importance of prioritizing women's stories in mainstream news and shares her insights on AI's impact on journalism.
“In most mainstream news, women’s stories are not prioritized. They’re not centered. Women are often covered as an afterthought, as a sidebar to the main event, as if women are not an integral part of the story.” In this episode, WomenHeard host Julie Hochheiser Ilkovich interviews Francesca Donner, the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Persistent . Dedicated to amplifying women’s voices and stories, the platform’s mission is to "cover women for a change". Francesca honed her storytelling skills and newsroom expertise at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes, launching initiatives that brought together a rich variety of perspectives. Listen to this episode for Francesca's thoughts on AI's effect on the newsroom and hear her perspective on what it means for allies to step in.
People in this episode
Host: Julie Hochheiser Ilkovich
Guest: Francesca Donner
Topics covered
- women's stories
- media representation
- AI in journalism
Keywords
- The Persistent
- storytelling
- newsroom expertise
- women's voices
Mentioned in this episode
Products: The Persistent
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