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Gender Media Awards – A Step In Right Direction

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Wednesday, November 9th, 2016
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Last Friday, November 4, the Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA) launched the Gender Media Awards (see Daily Monitor November 7, “Uganda media women body launches gender media award”).

These awardAfrican Womens shall be held in May next year after a review period of more than six months, and of stories across seven TV stations, 15 radio stations and five newspapers.

According to Ms Margaret Sentamu, the UMWA executive director, the awards have been set up to recognise excellence in journalism that is gender sensitive, inclusive and all aware. There are many awards that recognise and appreciate journalists in the country today.

There are those that are general and coveted, such as the Uganda National Journalism Awards managed by African Centre for Media Excellence and the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards. These are good because they encourage journalists to continuously improve their craft. Then there are those that are smaller, and range from awards in environmental issues to hygiene and sanitation.

Despite the fact that they are smaller, these awards are just as important because they appreciate journalists who write about and highlight certain areas that have been forgotten or ignored by the government and the public, yet these areas are important for development, growth and sustainability. The Gender Media Awards fall in the second category.

On a daily basis, one is sure to read or listen to a story, or watch a news clip that casts either a man or woman in a terrible light. When women are cast as sexual objects or unfit to do certain kinds of jobs, the public continues to believe this is the case. When they are not actively sought out or given equal space with which to voice their opinions or concerns, the public will believe their voice is not necessary.

When men are cast as money-making objects to be milked or as always be dominant and rude, that narrative will only continue to spread. When they are cast as people uninterested in the affairs of women, people will form perspectives of them as such.

This is why it is important to raise the flag and be deliberate about reporting gender issues. Of course, it will not be easy and will not happen just because awards are in place. As the launch of the awards showed, training in newsrooms and journalism courses is essential for this to happen. Students must leave universities, well aware of what is expected with gender reporting.

Reporters must be trained continuously on how do this. And most importantly, editors must be trained on how to sensitively edit the stories that come their way. The awards are a small start. But they are a start.

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