11th December 2021
Online Event at Zoom
A web-based Masterclass Integrating Gender Perspectives in Media Reporting with the noted journalist, author, and a columnist, Kalpana Sharma was held online on 11th December, 2021. Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist, author and a columnist. She had studied all the winning entries and articles submitted under the fellowship programme to develop pointers on how to elevate them further and make their work more gender nuanced. The interactive webinar saw a robust flow of questions from the participants. Ms. Sharma, also singled out some writings for their noteworthy content and style. A total of 101 registrations were received.
Key points discussed:
• Writing on gender doesn’t mean developing a story around some gender-specific data. Statistics have to have a human angle. It is important to bring out the people’s story, represented in these numbers. It was good that articles on domestic violence increase were presented through a human angle and not just as a statistical report.
• Stay clear of the stereotyping- The farmers’ protest has brought to the fore that the idea of a farmer is not just ‘male’ but also ‘female’.
• Gender-reporting should not be a separate entity – like women’s columns. Gender aspects affect every facet of the modern socio-economic fabric; for instance, infrastructure can also be seen from a gender angle. If resettling of slums included the issues of the women, broader concerns of safety, security, housing, amenities could be achieved. Sanitation is a women’s issue as they often have to wait until dark to relieve themselves in many parts of the country. Writing about gender-based stories is not just about writing about women.
• There has been a change in how men and women are covered in the media, over the last 50 years. That is because there are more women writing in the media; women’s movement in the 80s also contributed to it; campaigning by women’s groups and journalists, who took up issues on sexism in the media further gave the required impetus.
• Do not report the obvious. For example, what are the different aspects one can focus on when it comes to domestic violence? Domestic violence stories have to be told from the perspective of one individual – to give a human-interest angle.
Checklist for a more gender nuanced portrayal:
• Situations are different for each journalist; therefore, strategize accordingly.
• Because spaces for specific stories have shrunk, we have to look for innovative angles and methods to write these stories
• Don’t write the obvious
• Take an issue one wants to write about and base it on a person. The story should be about what they are going through and why
• No shortcut to writing and reading to be a journalist
Link to view: https://bit.ly/3rluAqs