JOURNALISTS CHARGED ON INTENTIONAL REPORTING.
Journalists have been advised to always be intentional on their reportage to ensure Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other harmful traditional practices affecting women and children are eliminated in the society.
Speakers made this call at the one-day training organised by the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), NUJ -NTA Head quarters Chapel in collaboration with Female Reporters Leadership Programme FRLP- WSCIJ recently in Abuja.
Comrade Ladi Bala, President of NAWOJ, said that the media has a role to play in ensuring GBV and other harmful traditional practices affecting women and children were eliminated in the society.
She stressed that journalists need to amplify GBV cases in their reportage with a view towards ensuring that policies and programmes targeted at the cause are implemented.
She described the role of the media, as the voice of the voiceless, adding that when GBV cases were amplified in the media space, relevant authorities and the society will partner to ensure that perpetrators were prosecuted.
The convener of the programme Mrs Bassey Ita Ikpang, who is a 2021 FRLP cohort and NUJ-NTA Chapel secretary, said the exercise was to broaden knowledge of female journalists on GBV reporting, gender Inclusivity, cyber bullying in the face of Artificial Intelligence and mental health.
She encouraged the media to collaborate with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to expose the gaps on the elimination of GBV and ensure government takes action.
According to her, “there are certain places we cannot enter; there are certain steps, especially for those of us that work with the government medium. So we should collaborate with the CSOs because they can get to where we may not be able to get to . There are so many gaps, so we should be exposing the gaps, write and let the government take action.Let us continue to project women in good light .
It starts from when you are on the field ,if you are interviewing five experts ,let two be women if not three .
When women assume leadership position our problems are half solved. Let us not be deterred, but keep writing because that is the only thing we have,” Bassey said .
In the same vein, Ms Inimfon Etuk, Founder, She Forum Africa, urged the media to also focus on the needs of GBV survivors in their reportage and not continue to promote and provide a fore background for perpetrators.
In her words:
” We should avoid sensationalism our headlines, GBV reporting is not something you use to trend or get loud margin for our media houses.
” It Is a crime that has been committed, someone has been violated, someone’s human rights has been violated.
” And the media, more than anything else has the responsibility of advancing the narrative in a way that brings perpetrators to book that should be the focus and priority of every report.”
In their separate goodwill messages ,Mrs Halima Musa, Director News, NTA and other top management staff of NTA headquarters, stressed the need for the media to use their various platforms to continue to champion the fight against GBV and other harmful traditional practices affecting women and children.
She charged journalists not to rest on their oasis until the perpetuators of gender based crimes are brought to book.
Mrs. Ene Ede, Buttressing on 35% affirmative action, she lamented that only three slots were allocated to women out of the fifty Ministerial position of the Federal Executive Council. She advised that women should also be included in the management of the government agencies and parastatals.