The SRHR Media Lab at Women Deliver 2026 (WD2026) is built to meet that need.
Hosted by the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in partnership with Sex O’Clock News and the Family Planning News Network (FPNN), the SRHR Media Lab is a pop-up content and training hub designed to spotlight the power of SRHR and the solutions generated by the community.
The SRHR Media Lab will set-up this pop-up hub at WD 2026 in Narrm/Melbourne, April 27-30, 2026, and available to the over 40 WD2026 Media Scholars and the diverse group of accredited media.
Why the SRHR Media Lab, and Why Now
The result is a widening gap:
- Between what is happening in communities and what gets reported
- Between technical expertise and public understanding
- Between urgency and visibility
Many journalists attending WD2026 already cover gender and health broadly. The SRHR Media Lab gives them the opportunity to dig deeper into SRHR topics and build stronger familiarity with the news resources and voices supporting this coverage. The gap between what is happening in the sector and what gets reported is what the SRHR Media Lab exists to close.
What the Media Lab Includes
Led by Dina Chaerani, WD2026 Media Scholar and host of Sex O’Clock News, and the WHGI Media team, the SRHR Media Lab runs across four connected touchpoints:
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- Virtual Pre-Conference Briefing & SRHR Story Kit
Virtual & Open to journalists/reporters to RSVP (April 21)
Finding the SRHR Hooks at WD2026 is a one-hour session preparing journalists with story angles, data, and direct access to spokespeople from IPPF, MSI, Guttmacher Institute, FP2030, Population Balance, and IPAS before the conference opens.- Participants will also receive an SRHR Story Kit with each pitch, contact info, and supporting context.
- Skills Clinic with Sex O’Clock News
Onsite | April 27, 11:00 AM–12:30 PM | WD Media Lounge | Invite only
A 90-minute pre-conference training for media fellows, journalists, and sector communicators. Topics include ethical sexual health reporting, social media, mis/disinformation, and Solutions Journalism. - Fireside Chat: Who Gets to Tell the SRHR Story?
Onsite | April 28, 1:00–3:00 PM | WD Media Lounge | Invite only
Hosted by Dina Chaerani with journalists, digital storytellers, and SRHR movement leaders. The conversation examines narrative power, stronger media hooks in complex policy spaces, and what accountable, community-powered coverage looks like in practice. - Daily News Coverage & Production
Live throughout WD2026
Under Dina’s leadership, Sex O’Clock News correspondents will produce daily coverage throughout WD2026. Coverage and reporting will be published on a dedicated WD2026 page on the FPNN site.
- Virtual Pre-Conference Briefing & SRHR Story Kit
Built on What Worked at ICFP 2025
The Media Lab at ICFP 2025 showed that a disciplined approach to identifying solutions and embedding journalists closer to the storytellers yields richer coverage that more closely reflects sector realities. WD2026 is the next deployment of the SRHR Media Lab. We are looking to expand this to more moments in 2026 and 2027.
This is not a one-off activation.
It is part of a growing effort to build a year-round media infrastructure across convenings and platforms, with ICFP, FPNN, and partners at its core.
