Developing women’s voices in East African media

The CBA is to run a programme addressing gender issues in the media, in Tanzania this December. Strengthening the Representation and Portrayal of Women in the Media in East Africa runs from 8-12 December, and participants will include female and male journalists and NGO workers from Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

The project aims to reduce gender stereotyping and bring about changes in social attitudes and equality through enabling greater participation of women in the media. It recognises the role that mainstream media has in maintaining narrow roles and portrayal of women, but how the media, and particularly public media, can be harnessed to combat this. The programme is designed to kickstart further work aimed at improving the position of women working in the media and the portrayal of women by the media.

The training will see participants discuss topics such as women’s participation at a policy and political levels, violence against women and children and how it is reported, how reporting contrasts around the world and key issues affecting women in East Africa. The discussion and debate will feed into practical work – generating ideas for new content that is gender-sensitive and gender-specific for existing programmes and publications. Participants will receive training in interviewing, camera work, radio broadcasting, photojournalism and writing for print and online.

The course is also designed to build ongoing relationships between mainstream broadcasters and local women’s organisations. Media organisations and NGOs will be involved in the planning, production, monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Funded by Unesco and hosted by CBA member, the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation

Image: participants at our successful women’s media workshop in Malawi in 2012

See also:

Putting gender on the media agenda in South Asia