3rd Oct, 2020
Online Event
A Roundtable on ‘Reporting the pandemic with a gender perspective’ with Network of Women in Media India (NWMI), as a partner, was organised online on 3rd October, 2020. It was conducted on Zoom, and live streamed on the YouTube channel of Population First. We had a group of esteemed panelists which included Durba Ghosh, senior journalist, PTI, Guwahati; Jayanti Buruda, reporter, Kalinga TV, Odisha; Kavitha Iyer, former associate editor, The Indian Express, Mumbai; Safina Nabi, independent journalist, Srinagar, and Nandhini Vellaisamy, sub editor, Hindu Tamil Thisai, Chennai. Padma Priya, the co-founder of Suno India, Hyderabad moderated the discussion. Thus, the panel brought in experiences and insights from across the nation.
Invitations to watch the event were shared with the past winners, past and present jury members associated with the Laadli Media Awards, media contacts, media schools and media students etc. via whatsapp and email. The invitation was shared on Facebook and Twitter for over a week. The YouTube video has been watched by more than 600 viewers till date.
The panel of women journalists led the discussion on the media coverage of this continuing crisis from a gender perspective. Some of the questions they tried to find answers for were –
1. How have Indian journalists reported on the pandemic's impact on healthcare, work and education for women in general and for the marginalised communities among them?
2. What have been the challenges and how can we now learn to tell better stories?
Dr Sharada welcomed the panelists and observed that the media always spoke about women as victims, or recipients of the relief measures. But, their role in crisis response and management of relief activities is hardly written about thus undermining their leadership and decision-making roles. Women play an important role in calamities. Their struggles and conflicts demand our attention, she added.
Key highlights of the roundtable discussion on reporting the pandemic from a gender perspective
• Important to ensure that women’s perspectives and diverse needs are taken into account in responding to any crisis.
• Increased vulnerability of young women in terms of livelihoods has robbed them of their freedom and choices.
• Harmful practices like child marriage have increased because of the loss of livelihoods and increased poverty. Response to pandemics should include a multisectoral approach looking at livelihood regeneration, access to health, food security to ensure women are at the forefront of the response.
• Need to amplify voices of women while reflecting their diversities and inter-sectionalities
• Gender norms have led to an increased burden of unpaid care work on women and girls, this is likely to further impact their health and mental health.
• Collectives of women, like the Self-Help Groups, have played an active role in responding to the crisis. Their efforts need to be highlighted by the media.
• Compromised access of women to jobs and livelihoods has further compounded the economic impact of the pandemic felt by women and girls.
• There has been limited coverage on the needs and concerns of people in vulnerable situations like transgender persons.
• Media can highlight and bring to the forefront the concerns of frontline workers and nursing staff, including difficulties faced by them in responding to the pandemic.
• Violence is linked to the increasing burden on unpaid care work on women and girls and their inability to reach and access protection mechanisms.
• Need for greater collaboration to keep reinforcing the needs and concerns of women and putting them at the forefront in response to any humanitarian crisis.
• Regional electronic media needs to apply a gender lens while reporting on the pandemic and bring local issues to the fore.
• There is a need to look at gender equality in workplaces in the context of work from home which has become the new normal.
Click Here to watch all the full session on our YouTube Channel.