Advancing Women in the Media: What Really Do We Want?

Fatoumata Nabie Fofana, the author

At the helm of a nation-wide campaign aimed at advancing women to reach the top in the media is a USAID funded Civil Society and Media Leadership Program, being implemented by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

At the crux of this initiative is the aim to sharpen, shape and strengthen women capacities to be forceful in transcending leadership disparities as reflected in the ratio of female reporters, editors or media owners to that of their male counterparts. The guiding principle is to ensure that women media practitioners are assertive and vigorous in bridging the gender gap in the Liberian media.

Let's quickly clarify that this is not anti-men, it is pro-everyone, a drive toward equity, industry-wide. Media practitioners across the country must note that advancing women in this field is not only good for women, but good for everyone. It also does not mean that women are not as smart as men. It is an effort aimed at leveling the playing field for each individual, regardless of gender, but by merit, to navigate their way to the top to make the difference they aspire to make.

On this note, a two-day workshop aimed at identifying and discussing the issues and challenges of women in the media was held in Monrovia by IREX and partners.

The keynote address was delivered by veteran broadcast journalist Olivia Shannon, now with the Angie Brooks International Center.

“You must be assertive. You must make it happen. You must be a thorn in their flesh,” said Mrs. Shannon in her speech. From these words, we can all see and understand how enthusiastic, passionate and interested Olivia must be, when it comes to advancing women journalists in Liberia. Her key word was “must”, emphasizing the dire imperative for us, Liberian female journalists, to be forceful and have moral courage to promote and highlight ourselves in this profession.

But why are women media practitioners not reaching the top? Is there any suppressive power emanating from the opposite end? Or, is it simply because we are too weak to push for our own advancement?

Labeling and prejudices of women's roles and abilities to balance work/family responsibilities have all been pointed out as major factors continuously pulling women back whenever they aspire to excel. Other stereotypes about women in the media can often lead to their exclusion from having a say and making an impact when key decisions about assignments, editorial or news judgment are made.

The Time Issue 

On another hand, however, a key point of contention has always been the issue of time. How much time are women willing to put in? Do we prefer applying the 9 to 5 work schedule when the media requires its professionals to be on call 24/7?

Sadly, female reporters are among the first batch of staff hurriedly packing their bags to head out as soon as the clock hits 4 p.m. We write and drop our stories and dash out of the newsroom. When back the next morning, we are either too lazy or impatient to take up time to go through the published version of our stories and do a comparative analysis between our raw work and the version published. Even such a brief review could help us identify our shortfalls and create room for improvement when tackling future stories.

Initiative Taking  

Also, are we willing to take up initiatives? Are we going in search of the news or waiting to be called by some PR officer for a prepared press release? Many female reporters can be found sitting around the newsroom, waiting to be called for a story or a release to do a story from. We are seldom willing to take up the challenge of composing think pieces or challenging news-makers with thought-provoking questions to find out what they really think. We are always after the “he said, she said” stories.

Again, we have to be assertive and have moral courage to advocate our own cause. Allotting insufficient time to this profession will continue to hurt the advancement of women in the media. This has been used as a tool to expand the barrier to women's advancement at some media institutions. And we must fight to erase that. But it starts with us!

It has been recommended that in order for women to advance in the media, we, ourselves, must be willing to expand our knowledge academically and through independent research, i.e. exploring available resource materials via the Internet and the art of interviewing.

Women must stand up and be fully prepared to do a better job at negotiating for themselves. We should do our homework and stop waiting to be told.

But of course, none of this is new at all to any female journalist who has been practicing in the Liberian media for the past five years or more. Did we need a grand symposium to tell us that women are often sidelined in the media? How many times have we discussed these issues and what options or possible solutions have been put forth? And what has been the assessment of those possibilities, if any?

Probably the only suggestion so far and it is fast becoming the latest cliché of women journalists for the fifth year running is that “Women must be assertive!” We hear it every year when female journalists get together, and it is time we moved beyond that. The question we need to ask is, “How?”
Here are a few ideas:

1. No amount of symposiums or marches through the streets of Monrovia will prove how assertive we are or want to be. So the next time someone wants to host or sponsor a women's day in the media, let's strive to elevate the conversation beyond the obvious, otherwise we might as well save our lamentations for an annual girls' night out at Cousin Stella's place.

2. The whole idea of being assertive must be a “self-to-self” endeavor. We tend to be so professionally aloof that as the industry evolves, we sit in the back seat waiting for the some NGO to advocate our cause. We need to look ourselves in the mirror and come to terms with who we are and for what we stand. Then we can determine who and where we want to be.

3. It follows that what we really need to do is challenge ourselves to be better. We must strive to be better than we currently are and then strive to be “more better”, measuring up with and beyond our male counterparts.

4. Barring a few isolated cases, the men are not really our problem. The problem we face is a perception problem; how seriously we are taken. Our male counterparts can already distinguish the pacesetters among us. Essentially, it means the more diligence we add to our work, the more seriously we will be taken.

5. Above all, this requires intentional and persistent practice. We need to be very intentional and persistent about the way we do our work; about the way we carry ourselves; about the way we discuss the issues; about the way we compose our lines; about the way we interact with each other professionally; about the way we aspire to the heights we so desperately desire.

And to those who seek to lend their assistance for the empowerment and advancement of women in the media, it is important to look a bit more carefully at the programs and issues you decide to support. Watch out for the “noise-makers” who will inundate your desks with proposals containing all those attractive statistics and figures, which they themselves can hardly defend, and which hardly speak to the real needs of the media landscape. How inclusive and innovative are they, and what really do they plan to do, besides the usual workshops, talk-shops and money-chops? It is imperative that media support organizations, both local and international, keep their ears to the ground to gather the valuable intelligence that will truly galvanize and enhance support for our noble profession. And it is equally imperative that those needs that are found out are prioritized.