27th & 28th October 2022
The Hotel Excellency -Bhubaneswar
On October 27th and 28th, twenty journalists from Odisha came together for a two-day program at Bhubaneswar. Second, in the series of three on-site workshops, it was aimed at providing them insights into reporting on various issues from a gender perspective. It was supported by UNFPA and The Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. Six sessions and two-panel discussions took the attendees through topics as diverse as gender-based violence, media and gender representation, post-Covid media and challenges for women, and more. Acclaimed faculty shared their experiences and latest trends with the participants. Ritu Motial, program director, Laadli Media Initiatives, Population First, welcomed the attendees. She shared statistics on the status of women in India in the next session Status of women in India: Striking Stats and noted, “There are many stories that lie beyond what is evident. While examining the figures, care has to be taken that one looks at the sample groups, the methodology, and the ground realities. For instance, while the overall sex ratio in India may have apparently improved, one has to be careful about interpreting the data correctly as the sex ratio at birth continues to be low, which means that we still have a long way to go.”The second session on Sex, Patriarchy, and Gender acquainted all present with the complex concepts. Rukmini Panda, a gender trainer elaborated on the difference between sex and gender and helped the participants in clearing their concepts. She said, “It is important that we develop a nuanced approach while looking at gender and questioning patriarchal mindsets in reporting various instances. One has to be wary of the many myths, biases, and stereotypes that abound in the society, it critical to question those and have as many diverse voices as possible.” Professor Swarnamayee Tripathy, former head of the Dept. of Public Administration, at Utkal University, presented various aspects of diversity, equality, and inclusion and their importance in her session titled Diversity and Inclusion in Media. She noted that social exclusion is a rupture of social bonds which leads to the closing of doors on sections of the society without giving any weightage to their perspective. This is where the role of media becomes critical as it can highlight these inequities by including diverse perspectives. Inclusion is not just about more gender representation but even the shift in the roles assigned to them.
Talking about women in media in the session Women in Media and Women and Media, Ritu Motial, shared several examples of how women were ill-represented in the media. The participants shared their views and robust discussions urged them to look beyond the apparent.
A robust panel discussion on Challenges and opportunities to promote gender sensitivity in the media saw the panelists deliberated on what ails the media when it comes to gender sensitivity. They highlighted how the media houses were increasingly becoming lax and lacked content development. It was important that the hunger for knowledge be developed, and the need to look at various aspects of reporting. Gender sensitivity should not be limited to reporting but should be a part of the corporate culture of the media house. The panel discussion was deftly steered by Supriya Dash, well-loved and awarded TV presenter at Naxtra Media, Mrinal Chatterjee, head IIMC, Dhenkanal Elisa Patnaik, columnist and communication expert, Kasturi Ray-Senior News Editor, TNIE and Dayanidhi Dash, a veteran journalist.
The day ended with the screening of Mumbai 400008 - A Story of Betrayal, Pain and Desperation, a documentary by Santoshee Mishra, a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and investigative researcher. The narrative captures the plight of nearly 7000 sex workers of Kamathipura, Falkland Road, and Faras Road during the trying and devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The film has traveled the globe as an official entry to many film festivals.
Day two commenced with a recapitulation of the previous day’s learnings. Ritu Motial took the participants through an understanding of stereotypes and unconscious biases. In her session Stereotyping and Unconscious Biases, she elaborated on what was stereotyping and how it stymied cogent information flow. She also looked at the types of stereotypes, how they are formed and the detrimental effect they have on society. She also provided insight into various kinds of biases and how they colored the way we look at various issues. She demonstrated the unconscious biases we all carry through a series of group activities.
Ghasiram Panda, Programme Manager, Action Aid conducted the next session- Reporting on Gender-Biased Sex Selection. He spoke of sensitivity in reporting on GBSS and highlighted the importance of not criminalizing abortion and ensuring that its integrity as a legal right of women under certain circumstances in India is not compromised at any point. Rakhi Ghosh, an independent journalist spoke about reporting on GBV. She shared a comprehensive list of mandatories while reporting on various aspects of Gender-Based-Violence including Intimate Partner Violence, child sex abuse, and sexual assault.
The next session was a panel discussion that looked at how COVID has affected women journalists. Titled Women in Media: Covid and After the panel comprised Jyotshna Dalei, Video Journalist, OTV, Dhrutikam Mohanty, GM, Sambad Digital, Itishree Nayak, News Anchor, News 7 and was moderated by Dr. Manoj Dash, Founder, Forum for Odisha Dialogues. The panelists noted how women reporters were at the receiving end of the pandemic in more ways than one. They not only were burdened with the increased workload, but they also had to weather stark working conditions without access to proper facilities while reporting from the field. They also spoke of their personal experiences while on the field or in studios.
The final session of the day entailed presentations of ideas by the participants. Attendees were grouped on Day 1 and assigned their topics. They deliberated over two days and came up with their strategies on how they would like to report on these topics. The panelists gave their inputs on how could they make their reports more nuanced. The topics were: STEM from a Gender Perspective, Women and Dress Code, Gender and Politics, and Property Laws and Rights from a gender lens.