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As Nigeria approaches the 2023 general elections, the United Nations Women (UNWomen) in partnership with Women Radio and funding from the Canadian government has trained 20 political reporters on gender sensitive reporting.
Political reporters were drawn from major news media including the prints, broadcast (TV and Radio), and the new media from across the country.
The two day training held in Lagos is aimed at equipping journalists on how to report women issues in the right perspective before, during and after the general elections.
The United Nations Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong noted that so many things would go wrong if newsmen fail to rightly report gender issues.
She added that the socio-political and economic development of the country is hinged on how positively issues of gender equality is brought to the fore.
“Gender equality is not targeted at the men, but advocating for equal representation and opportunities at all levels of our lives.
“It doesn’t mean to topple the men, but to give them more powers if the women are also recognized in the scheme of things” she added.
Meanwhile, speaking on the 50-50 strategy, the Chief Executive Officer, Women Radio, Toun Okewale Sonaiya stated that newsmen must be deliberate in an inclusive, responsive and balance report at all news beats.
Sonaiya emphasize the need to ensure equal representation of all gender in news reporting, adding that, “the best practices in reporting women issues would be to avoid generic pronouns, stereotypes and assumptions.
“Avoid gender specific words, give equal representation as news sources or news content, and be mindful of unconscious biases targeted towards women”, Sonaiya stated
Other speakers at the event includes Seyi Soremekun, the National Information Officer, United Nations Information Center (UNIC), the Executive Director, Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), Motunrayo Alaka and veteran journalist, Ene Ede
