| Campaign on Media Literacy for Women |
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The just-completed media literacy campaign for women implemented by ASMITA Women’s Publishing House in Banke and Sunsari districts, Nepal is to be credited for a new consciousness in media consumers and Nepali media on the imperative for gender sensitive media. The campaign’s success is demonstrated in additional support to roll it out to 10 additional districts across Nepal, with funding from the Embassy of Finland in Nepal. The project replicated similar work undertaken in 2007 in Morang and Rupandehi districts. Both projects were supported by Women's World Day of Prayer (WWDP) through WACC.  One output of the recent project is a Media Literacy Package which fills the vacuum of a simple Nepali language publication about media for women and ordinary citizens in general. The package consists of reading materials and practical exercises. It includes a media monitoring manual developed based on the GMMP monitoring methodology. Facts and figures from the GMMP, 2005 report are included to clarify the subordinate representation of women in media throughout the world. The booklet continues to be widely disseminated in Nepal.Evidence of unfair gender representation in Nepali media was collected through a 10-month monitoring period: Very little news directly related to women are published or broadcast in media; Other news are not presented from a gender perspective; Most of the news directly related to women pertain to violence against women; Negative news about women is given prominence over positive news about them or their achievements. The findings informed the edition of 70 in-depth and critical media monitoring reports . A comprehensive database for further policy advocacy was compiled. 3 concept papers on women and media were written,10 articles and several letters to the editor were published in local newspapers. Large groups of female gender-aware media consumers were constituted as a result of workshops on media literacy from a gender perspective and 8 citizen/media interaction programs. 626 women attended the interaction programs. The media consumers internalized the need of regular feedback to media producers to make media useful in their lives. Some send feedback to media when they come across content they feel is either offensive or inspiring. They acknowledge the contribution of consumer feedback to increase media accountability. Several journalists and media producers attending the interaction programs expressed lack of adequate and balanced coverage of women and pledged to adjust their reporting accordingly. Journalists and programme producers have started to quote and invite women as resource persons for their write-ups and broadcasts. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites       |
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