The Publisher of BONews Service, Blessing Oladunjoye and a 2023 fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Programme of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), has trained students of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) on Gender Mainstreaming in Reporting.
The one-day training is part of the Leadership Project of The Report Women! News And Newsroom Engagement Project, implemented by WSCIJ With Support from The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation.
Oladunjoye, during her presentation, explained that mainstreaming gender in media reports is about empowering women’s voices in issues that affect/ concern them, as well as recognising and incorporating diverse perspectives in storytelling.
She also noted that mainstreaming gender in media reportage would help to “ensure fair and equal representation of both genders in media coverage.”
The journalism students were urged to begin to promote gender equality through their reportage, adding that it can only be achieved through intentionality.
“Mainstreaming gender in your reports won’t just happen, you have to be deliberate about it and plan before you commence your story. All you need to do is to balance the representation of men and women,” Oladunjoye added.
A Senior Lecturer at NIJ, Mrs Maureen Popoola commended Ms Oladunjoye, a graduate of the Institute for holding the training, which according to her would be of immense benefit to the students.
She also admonished the students to make judicious use of the teachings and begin to promote gender equality through their reports.
Daniel Okeke, who spoke on behalf of all the participants, explained that the training was timely and would help them to shape their reports as budding journalists.
Other lecturers in attendance were Mr Cami Ezenwa and Mr Oluwatosin Gbemile. The training session also featured practical examples of how to mainstream gender into day-to-day stories and activities.
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