By Maryam Afolabi
To promote and encourage women participations in politics, journalists have been urged to be international, in having a positive portrayal of women in politics.
The C.E. O Women Radio Toun Okewale Shonaiya made this call in Ilorin at at two day media training for political reporters,organised by Women Radio (WFM )in partnership with United nations women (UNwomen) and the government of Canada.
Sonaiya who is also a facilitator of the training, during her presentation tagged: “the 50:50 strategy an inclusive, Responsive and balanced reporting” reiterated the need for journalists to be balanced in their reportage of the achievements of both men and women in the society.
She added that editors and reporters should make it a point of duty to interview women when conducting a report or voxpop, in order to ensure balanced gender reporting.
On his own part Alhaji Abdulazeez Arowona CEO of MODISULT Media Concept, during his presentation tagged:”Best practices for reporting women before, during and after elections to sustain visibility for women in the media ” highlighted different methods of grooming women leaders in the society.
According to him to have credible women leaders in the society, it is important to catch them young and groom them on how to build careers that are void of scandals, or reports that can tarnish their image or characters as future leaders.
He added that journalist should also ensure they report the achievement of women candidates prior to electioneering period to make people more familiar with them before they start political campaigns.
Hajia Binta Mora of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Kwara state, who is also part of the facilitators, emphasized on the importance of men’s support for women candidate. According to her some women who are capable of leadership roles in the society are been held back by the men in their lives, in most cases their spouses and fathers.
She added that in their bid to portray women in politics positively, journalist should also include the men that have been supporting these women, in order to encourage other men in the society to follow suit.
The media training which was a two day event, held from to Thursday 17th of November to Friday 18th of November 2022,it was attended by journalist and correspondents from different
