07.05.25

Within a few hours, the Hungarian-language Wikipedia was enriched with dozens of new articles about women

The Switzerland-headquartered Media company Ringier has been committed for years to improving both - the quantity and quality of women’s representation in the media. This commitment stems from global data showing that women appear in only 25% of media content. The initiative, named EqualVoice, aims to change this through a range of editorial tools and by fostering a shift in mindset. As part of this effort, focus has now turned to one of the most widely used online encyclopedias — Wikipedia — where only 15.6% of Hungarian-language biographical entries are about women who have created something of lasting value. The EqualVoice Edit-a-thon series seeks to improve this ratio, with the first local event taking place yesterday in Budapest.

When certain stories are not told or made available to future generations, we inevitably imply that these stories are less valuable. While the global population is nearly evenly split between men and women, Wikipedia reflects a striking imbalance, with an 80–20% split in favor of men. The situation is even worse on the Hungarian Wikipedia, where only 15.6% of biographical articles are about women. As a result, we lack information about many professionally successful women whose work and achievements influence our everyday lives. The EqualVoice Edit-a-thon aims to change this – an editorial workshop carried out by volunteers, held twice a year in Switzerland since 2017, and now launched in Budapest as well at the initiative of Ringier Hungary media company.

The event kicked off on May 6 at Goethe Institut Budapest with a team of around thirty volunteers. The preparation was supported by members of Ringier Hungary and the Wikimedia Hungary Association, who provided a pre-compiled list of women either entirely missing from Wikipedia or with entries that were incomplete or in need of revision. Several Hungarian media outlets and organizations were represented at the edit-a-thon. In addition to Ringier’s publications – GLAMOUR, Blikk and Kiskegyed – representatives of HVG and Kreatív also participated, along with representatives from the Egyenlítő Foundation, Nyitottak Vagyunk, ELTE Media, Női Érdek Alliance, Women in Law, Swisscham Hungary and the FernUniversität in Hagen.

During Hungary’s first EqualVoice Edit-a-thon, the Hungarian Wikipedia was enriched with over thirty new or significantly expanded entries highlighting women’s stories. These included profiles of film producer Barbara Hámori; athlete and businesswoman Viktória Szilasi; digital expert and equality advocate Edina Heal; actress Dia Nyári; international and climate law expert Dr. Katalin Sulyok; and Adél Zay, a Transylvanian educator who was one of the region’s earliest feminist figures in the early 1900s.

The program was part of an international collaboration: parallel with the Budapest event, an EqualVoice Edit-a-thon was also held in three Swiss cities, Zurich, Davos and Chur, organized by the Ringier media group and its professional partners. Thus, in these four European cities a total of more than 100 participants created about 90 new Wikipedia articles in a matter of a few hours.

Ringier’s goal is to maintain and further strengthen this tradition, with the event attracting more participants year after year who wish to make female success more visible.

© 2025 Ringier. All rights reserved.