Media Urged to Work with Women To Build Their Resilience, Confidence in Political Participation
Published by Borderless Media
Media personnel in Nigeria have been said to be encountering challenges when it comes to interviewing and getting the perspectives of women in politics.
This was made known at a one-day gender-sensitive reporting training held in Lagos. The seminar was organised by Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) in partnership with Women Advocacy Network, and drew 25 participants from various media stations including broadcast, print, and online.
Bukola Idowu
The training was organized in response to the low turnout of women during the last 2023 general elections.
During the seminar, KDI’s Executive Director, Bukola Idowu spoke on “Rethinking Women’s political participation in Nigeria” and emphasized the need to encourage women’s participation in politics.
He pointed out that while men have a good number of positions in government, the number of women in Nigerian politics remains a major concern.
In his keynote speech, the Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, Lekan Otufodunrin, spoke on the “Media Portrayal of Female Political Candidates”.
Otufodunrin stressed that the media plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion and urged the media to portray women in politics in a positive light. He also encouraged women to be ready to go through the rough roads of political journey.
At the end of the seminar, participants recognised that the media have been involved in the coverage of women in politics in the country, but only very little has been done to positively portray women in politics through reportage to highlight the value that women bring.
“The media personnel lack the requisite tools to cope with the challenges and new realities thrown up by the country’s current political instability”
“There has been inadequate training for media personnel in Nigeria as far as gender-sensitive reportage is concerned, therefore the reportage of politics in the country through a gender lens remains largely unexplored”
The communique also highlighted that media personnel encounter challenges in interviewing and getting perspectives of women in politics because of their reluctance.
Violence against women in politics and other barriers hold women back from participating in the media space. To address these issues, participants resolved that the media should endeavor to give greater prominence to female candidates during elections campaigns to amplify their voices and build popular support for them.
The media was also urged to work more closely with civil society organizations, faith-based groups, women movements, women in politics and other critical stakeholders to enhance gender-responsive reporting.
Participants recommended that the media deploy new strategies to execute their work, engage in gender-sensitive reporting, write more local stories and provide the human angle to every report.
Participants
The communique also called for more capacity building training, like the one provided by KDI, to equip reporters with the necessary skills needed to strategically address gender inequalities and build citizens’ support for women.
The media was urged to work with women to start early enough in the electoral cycle and provide free and accessible platforms for women to draw attention to the issues that affect them. Finally, the media was called upon to work with women to build their resilience and confidence in political participation and to support intergenerational learning and catch them young.
By Temidayo Anthony for Lagos Traffic Radio
