Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, the former President, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), has urged journalists to change the stereotype narratives of gender bias and dominance in the society.
Omowole, one of the facilitators at a three day workshop organised for female journalists in Osun on Friday, tasked journalists to be objective and fair in their reportage
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the training is ‘Gender Equity and Safety/Gender Sensitive Reporting’.
The training was organised by the Norwegian Union of Journalists and NAWOJ.
The former president of NAWOJ said that responsibilities were now shifting from men to women.
According to her, gender issues are not about the women or the girl child alone, but peculiar to locations or communities, because gender issues can affect or be about men or the male child too.
“Gender issue differ from community to community.
“We should first understand the community we report about and what issues they have and project the issues they have, give it a human angle, make it interesting, so that it will be interesting to read, it will educate and also liberate.
“We need liberation for some of these gender stereotypes that we have.
“We find so many obnoxious cultural practices that are still putting women down.
“Whether we like it or not , no matter how long we dance around it, a population that is not evenly developed is an under developed population.
“Everybody, male and female, must be carried along in development and governance so that there will be even development,” she said
Omowole said there were serious gender issues that journalists need to give serious coverage because of the negative effect they would have on the society in the future.
“We are having a tilt now where women are becoming over educated, over empowered, and the boy child is becoming docile.
“In the next 10 to 20 years we will be preaching boy child gender discrimination.
“We are beginning to breed a generation of young men that will marry an over empowered woman and start to feel bad, and that is where we are having issues of divorce.
“The media must continue to sensitise , advocate , point out issues.
“Journalists, who are trained, should go to communities and identify their problems and report them,till there are changes.
“The government too should make laws and enforce these laws to abolish discrimination.” she said .fgffç (NAN)
