Day Women in Journalism held its first conference in Lagos
It was a gathering of women in journalism from all levels, media and ages as Nigeria witnessed its first Women in Journalism conference held at the Civic Centre, Lagos, recently. The Conference according to organisers was a brief reminder for women to come together and initiate a workable structure that will not only seek to break a timeless divide in the global quest for equality, but also to drive affirmative action in the pursuit of an authentic 21st century Media where female journalists, especially in Africa, signal to the world that more than ever they are ready to stand up as a formidable force in the profession.
Yomi Owope, initiator of the forum who runs media mobilising platform, AOL, said he’s been working with partners including UNESCO and the School of Media and Communication on improving journalism practice in Nigeria and encouraging younger journalists. “We decided to look for a niche area to start a conversation to provide training, access and opportunities for young female journalists. The niche area was female journalists and from there we’ll expand the quality of journalists in Africa starting with Nigeria,” he said.
With participation for the conference open to journalists from across the globe, there was a good representation of the international media including Thomson Reuters boss, Monique Villa, CEO Thomson Reuters, who reiterated the plight of female journalists while emphasising the indelible contributions they have made in the profession.
According to her, women substantially outnumber men in journalism schools and enrol in greater number. Thus they tend not to rise up the ranks as fast as men do.
“A challenge the industry continuously faces, is the lack of women in executive positions. Two of the world’s leading newspapers ‘Le Monde’ and ‘New York Times’ lost two executive female talents because they were let go for reasons which would not know. They both had relatively short tenures and were replaced by men,” Villa informed.
With more women pursuing careers in journalism and media,
With more women pursuing careers in journalism and media, there is a growing need for the provision of resources that can help them define their vision of success through education, training
and multimedia
there is a growing need for the provision of resources that can help them define their vision of success through education, training and multimedia.
On this, Villa said, “the digital revolution has created new opportunities which have considerably transformed the industry and have even created new forms of journalism. Stories today are multimedia. Women are now seizing this opportunity made available by the internet and now having discussion which they refer to as feminisation of journalism. Their reports are now entering mainstream media outreaches.”
Asking a pertinent question, she said do you think news changes when reported by women? To which she answered yes. “If you think of wars, conflicts and big human disasters that women have covered, instead of the focus being on arms and weapons and war, the perspective is on the human angle; the civilians, the refugees and the stories of their families. When reported by women, war becomes a peoples’ story.”
The day also included discussions on spreading excellence in journalism from few to many, through African eyes: reporting to the 21st century world, mobile women: enhancing journalism practice on the go. It also touched on the business side of journalism treating subjects like ‘ Accessing financing for media start-ups’. These were discussed in different sessions by panellists including Siene Allwell-Brown, Kadaria Ahmed, Mo Abudu, Issa Momoh and Kehinde Young-Harry, amongst others.
For veteran journalist, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, it’s about time such a forum took place. “I guess we’re finding there’s a gap between the old hands and the industry is bigger with many more people, trained or otherwise getting in. success a conference that brings people together to talk about concerns in the industry is fantastic especially being the initiative of a young man.”
Stating that it’s something she expected the Association of Women Journalist would have organised, Onyenokwe hoped that the first would not be the last as there was need for many more of such forays needed to help improve the lot of women journalists.