Use gender-specific terms — experts charge journalists
By Anthonia Duru
Journalists have been urged to use gender-specific terms in all gender-related reports. This charge was given at the opening session of the Gender Reporting for Media Professionals (GRFP) workshop organised by TechHer which held on the 6th and 7th of March 2020, with funding from Ford Foundation and supported by the European Union and the British Council in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Media entrepreneur and founder of Datphyte, Joshua Olufemi, while speaking at the event, said gender-balanced reporting will amplify the voices of both women and men. According to him, the media should “stop stigmatizing women” in their reports, while recommending a gender-balanced vocabulary for all newsrooms to guide journalists to deconstruct the social barriers built against women.
Also speaking, the Head of Operations and Editorial Manager for the digital division of The Guardian Newspaper, Lolade Nwanze, urged media practitioners to be sensitive in their reporting and to stop blaming rape victims in their reports.
“It is the authority behind our stories that makes it different even though we need to censor ourselves if we have to practice journalism we need to be ready for it because there is always heat in the kitchen,” Nwanze said.
She enjoined participants to involve women in the management of newsrooms and decision making to address imbalances and pledged commitment towards improved and adequate reportage for the vulnerable in society.
Earlier, TechHer GRFP Project Lead, Kawthar Ahmed said the objective of the workshop was to create and mobilise demand for the fair and balanced portrayal of women in Media. She said the at least 60 media professionals will be trained in gender-balanced communication across the country.
She further said that it is expected that the media should lead the vanguard to transform social commentaries and to contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in Nigeria. The Abuja leg of the workshop had 30 journalists in attendance, selected from across the country.
Facilitators trained the journalists on appropriate terms to be used when reporting gender-sensitive stories — identifying “good and bad” representation of women in the media, as well as the challenges journalists, encounter while reporting gender-related stories.
The first leg of the workshop took place in Owerri a week earlier. Other facilitators at the workshop included Toketemu Ohwovoriole, investigative journalist and actress Dorothy Njemane and Africa Features producer of CNN, Aisha Salaudeen.
This story is part of a series highlighting the work of journalists who participated in TechHer’s Gender Reporting for Media Professionals Workshop. Find out more about Anthonia Duru.
