24th & 25th March 2021
Online Event at Zoom
A two-day round table was organised in collaboration with the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad (MANUU) on March 24th and 25th on ‘Gender Reporting in Urdu Media - Opportunities and Challenges’. The event was organised on Streamyard and live streamed on YouTube channel of MANUU.
The speakers were: Dr. A.L. Sharada, Director, Population First, Prof. Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, MANUU, Dr Shahida Murtaza, Director, Centre for Women’s Studies (CWS), Ms Aarfa Khanum - The Wire, Mr. Fazil Parvez – Gawah, Mr. Amer Ali Khan, The Siasat Daily, Ms Farhat Rizvi – Senior journalist, Rashtriya Sahara, Ms Ayesha Khanum – Doordarshan, Bengaluru, and Prof. Mahmood Mohd. Siddiqui, Registrar, MANUU on the first day.
On day two, the speakers were: Mr. Gowhar Geelani, eminent journalist and political analyst,
Mr. Qurban Ali - Eminent journalist, Ms Seema Mustafa – President, Editors Guild of India and Editor in Chief 'The Citizen', Ms Rasheda Hussain - IRS (Rtd), Mr. Mohammad Azam Shahid – Salar, and Prof. Rahmatullah, Vice Chancellor, MANUU.
Day one:
Prof. Shahida Murtaza, Director, CWS delivered the welcome address. She said there was less material available about women in the media and their representation also needed attention. Dr. AL Sharda, Director Population First introduced the guests. Prof. Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, Dean, School of Mass Communication and Journalism was the Moderator. Prof. Mohd. Fariyad, Head, Department of MCJ convened the programme.
“Representation of women as journalists in media houses is lacking along with the coverage of the women issues, both needed to be improved. Women activism in leading various peaceful protests is a sign of healthy democracy.” These views were expressed by eminent journalists on the first day of the webinar organized by the Centre for Women’s Studies and Dept of Journalism and Mass Communication, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in collaboration with Population First, supported by UNFPA and the Norwegian Embassy.
Prof. Siddiqui Mohd. Mahmood, Registrar I/c presided over the round table.
Ms. Aarfa Khanam believed that women at front lines of protests are like a ray of hope in the darkness. The market demands the presence of women on the screen. Everyone talks about empowering women, but the important thing was how do the women exercise their empowerment, she asked.
Mr. Amer Ali Khan described social media as a new field for women to express their views. The number of Muslim women is relatively low in Media including Urdu Media because it is difficult for them to maintain balance between the professional requirements and domestics compulsions. Muslim women, although educated, find it difficult to take up jobs, especially after marriage. He also spoke about the efforts by Siasat Urdu daily in the economic upliftment of minorities, especially women.
Mr. Fazil Hussain Parvez spoke about the history of Urdu journalism and said that Indian media diminished the status of women in the name of development. He referred to the women who have published and are also the editors of the magazines.
Ms. Farhat Rizvi while talking about the difficulties faced by women journalists suggested that the NGOs, Urdu Newspapers and MANUU’s Center for Women Studies can bring some concrete results by conducting seminars on Women Empowerment.
Ms. Ayesha Khanum said that there is a need to increase gender sensitivity in Urdu journalism. Women's news was given less space in Urdu media but now things were changing.
Prof. Siddiqui Mohd. Mahmood in his presidential remarks said, democracy allowed differences in opinion. The media should become the voice of the voiceless. We needed to educate people so that they can understand the news and can analyze it realistically. Not only women but also the oppressed classes should be empowered through education, he added.
Day two:
“Gender sensitization of media is the need of the hour. Gender reporting in media does not exist per se the scenario of Urdu media is no different. We need to change this condition. We only talk about women when some violence takes place against them otherwise they are ignored.” These views were expressed during the second day of round table “Gender Reporting in Urdu Media - Opportunities & Challenges” by eminent media personalities in the panel discussion.
Dr. AL Sharada, Director Population First in her opening remarks described gender sensitivity as an integral part of journalism. Media should be inclusive in nature. Prof. Shahida Murtaza, Director, CWS said that the media can play a large role in changing the mindset of the masses. Visibility and content in the media houses has to be gender sensitized, she remarked. Prof. Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, Dean, School of Mass Communication and Journalism delivered the welcome address.
Ms. Seema Mustafa, President, Editors Guild of India and Editor in Chief 'The Citizen', Ms. Naghma Seher, Editor & News Anchor, NDTV, New Delhi, Mr. Qurban Ali - Senior Journalist, Mr. Mohammad Azam Shahid, Salar, Bangalore and Ms. Rasheda Hussain- IRS (Rtd) were the panelists. Prof. S M Rahmatullah, Vice-Chancellor I/c presided over the discussion. Mr. Gowhar Geelani, Eminent Journalist, Political Analyst was the moderator.
Ms. Seema Mustafa expressed dismay over the state of affairs of present day media and exhorted it to come out of it as the fourth pillar of democracy. Contrary to general impression, Urdu media is prospering, she claimed. Language media is not going to die, she added.
Ms. Naghma Saher expressed the need to accommodate women journalists at decision making level. We are promoting gender stereotyping unconsciously in the media specially through advertisements, she pointed out. There is a need of sensitivity while reporting women issues, she added.
Mr. Qurban Ali spoke about the commercial value of Urdu language and identified various opportunities for upcoming journalists.
Mr. Mohd. Azam Shahid stressed the need to treat Urdu language as an Indian language by the government.
Ms. Rasheda Hussain said concrete steps are required to stop misleading and false news. Newspapers should have content for young people too.
Prof. S M Rahmatullah in his presidential remarks said whether Media leaders are paying attention to the welfare of the society or are they ignoring it, that need to be addressed. Similarly in case of education, we as an authority have to introspect and improve our work so that we can help in building a better society.It is the responsibility of those involved in the media to work towards improving women's representation. Journalists should provide authentic information only. Work impartially regardless of religion, nationality, language or region. He recommended that the news be given space not only on commercial value but also in view of its importance.
Mr. Gowhar Geelani while referring to the women of international reputation in Urdu broadcasting said that the issues raised in the discussion were the need for serious journalism. The programme was webcast live on youtube channels of IMC and MANUU.
Click here to watch the 24th March Session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVXhi-KmwJQ
Click here to watch the 25th March Session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDYFr0taRr0