All is set for the African Women in the Media 2018 Conference scheduled to hold June 21-22 at the University of Ibadan Conference Centre.
The event according to the organizer, award-winning journalist, Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, has visibility as its theme and promises to empower delegates through panels, workshops and networking.
Attendees will experience keynote presentations, industry panels with leading names like Eugenia Abu, Lola Shoneyin, Stephanie Busari, Kunle Afolayan and others along with academic panels and numerous training workshops.
“There are three tracks running simultaneously at any one time during the conference”, said Dr Akinbobola. “We don’t want to just talk about the issues, but through the workshops, pitch zone and networking opportunities, we are putting actions into place to empower attendees”.
The African Women in the Media group aims to impact positively the way media functions in relation to women, both in the industry and media’s representation of gender issues.
“Action is key here and we are so grateful to all our sponsors for their support”, adds Dr Akinbobola. “We are particularly excited to launch the AWIM/NRGI Award which comes with a $1,000 cash prize.”
AWIM18 Conference Highlights include
- CNN’s Nima Elbagir as Keynote Speaker
- Prof Abigail Ogwezzy as academic Keynote Speaker
- Three industry panels: Gender, Security and Election Coverage; Women in Media Leadership; Role of Fictional Content on Society’s Perspective of Women in Leadership
- Three academic panels: Break the Silence: Health, Violence and Media; Women Behind and In-Front of Camera; Women in Media: Participation, Advocacy and Youth
- 10 Training workshops: Data Journalism, Digital Marketing, Reporting in Conflict Zones, Newsroom Leadership, Vlogging for Change, Oil and Gas Reporting, PR, Rethinking Content, Self-editing, and How to listen, engage and tell stories on social media to grow female audiences
- Pitch Zone: Hosted by BBC and the Natural Resource Governance Institute who is funding the AWIM/NRGI Award where delegates can win £1,000 to produce their gender focused natural resources story
- Dinner parties and networking on both nights
- Roundtable discussions with speakers
African Women in the Media (AWiM) is a Facebook group that convenes annually.
The first convening event held in Birmingham, UK with panels from both academia and industry.
Akinbobola is an award-winning journalist, academic, and media entrepreneur.
A Nigerian living in UK, her work is Africa focused, covering stories from rape culture in Nigeria, to an investigative and data story on the trafficking of young West African football hopefuls by fake agents. The latter won the CNN African Journalist Award 2016 (Sports Reporting).
She holds a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies from Birmingham City University where she is the Course Director for MA Global Media Management, and her research interest is in digital journalism and African feminism.
Akinbobola is the founder of Stringers Africa, which connects freelance journalists in African countries with newsrooms worldwide, and she runs the African Women in the Media group.
She is also Founder of IQ4News, a multimedia production company, has freelanced for publications including the UN Africa Renewal magazine and has several years’ experience in communication management for charities.
