The event was attended by representatives of sports federations, journalists, public relations specialists, athletes and members of LTeam, a sports team brand created by the LTOK to unify all Olympic sports and athletes in Lithuania.

Its highlight was the introduction of the adapted International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Portrayal Guidelines, based on the national Lithuanian case, to the media.

It was introduced to the attendees by LTOK President Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, an IOC member and Olympic gold medal-winning trap shooter at Sydney 2000.

The first event of the project took place in Druskininkai in April 2019.

"Today gender balance and equal opportunities is a very relevant topic," Gudzinevičiūtė said.

"The more you do well on it, the more significant it becomes. 

"As I mentioned in the first part of this project half a year ago, by suggesting change we do not attempt to cause a revolution. 

"Together with the Lithuanian Sports Journalists' Federation and other partners we aim at improving ourselves, at consistently changing established stereotypes and standards, and at educating the society. 

"We encourage athletes and the media to communicate among themselves, to try and understand each other’s needs and goals, to analyse and understand global tendencies and to incorporate them into their everyday lives."

The LTOK embarked on initiating change during the IOC Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires in October 2018.

It was there that Gudzinevičiūtė received the European trophy as part of the IOC Women and Sport awards, for her contribution to fighting for gender equality in sport. 

The LTOK developed the "Recommendations for Lithuanian Media on Sports Topics and Athletes Portrayal" based on the national Lithuanian case and the IOC’s "Olympic Agenda 2020" and "Gender Portrayal Guidelines 2018" documents, and in collaboration with the Lithuanian Sports Journalists' Federation.

The analysis of the current situation shows stereotypes are still highly prevalent in the media, which tends to portray female athletes based on their appearance instead of their achievements. 

Male athletes are also often depicted by putting emphasis on their vehicle, salary or significant other, it is claimed. 

The Lithuanian media is said to provide far less information about female athletes than about male athletes, and there are six to seven times fewer female journalists than males.

All of this is not helped by the fact that the Code of Ethics of Lithuanian Journalists contains no mention of principles or standards regarding portrayal of gender equality, gender-based discrimination and sexism, or the display of uncovered body parts.

For these and other reasons, it is stated that the "Towards gender balance with media" project is the first step towards equal opportunities for men and women in sport.

"Projects like this help to draw the attention of everyone – from sports reporters, to athletes themselves – to the current situation, and to search for solutions together," Tautvydas Vencevičius, President of the Lithuanian Sports Journalists’ Federation, said.

"One of the major problems is the significantly smaller portion of news on women’s sport. 

"Here there is room for improvement for both sides. 

"During the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, female athletes comprised only 25 per cent of the Lithuanian Olympic delegation. 

"Therefore, it is only natural that viewers and readers had far less access to information about women’s sport.

"However, the dissemination of news is not always determined by objective factors."