The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China propelled international concern and action on the role of media in perpetuating women's subordination. The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) gave an overview of problems and issues surrounding women and the media and spelled out specific strategies for governments, media organisations, non-government organisations and other civil society actors. More than four years later, WomenWatch, an initiative of the United Nations to assess progress and obstacles on BPFA held an online-discussion. The discussion concluded that there have been few improvements in media portrayal of women both in advertising and news coverage.