Gender in Journalism – Page 3 – Pakistan Gender News

January 19, 2017

Emotional well-being essential for journalists’ sanity and safety: TV reporters

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in a group discussion regarding safety of TV journalists

Karachi, Jan 18 (PPI): Majority of journalists witness traumatic events and should get regular psychological counseling and medical check-ups to ensure their physical as well as psycho-social safety and productivity. Media houses also need to develop implementation of safety protocols in the field and anti-sexual harassment policies for female journalists.

These were some of the key points raised at the round table discussion on ‘Safety of Television Journalists,’ organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in collaboration with the Open Society Institute (OSI) here.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in group photo with participants of workshop on "Safety of TV Journalists." (S. Imran Ali/PPI) — PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in a group photo with participants of workshop on “Safety of TV Journalists.” (S. Imran Ali/PPI)

The discussion, attended by television journalists from across Pakistan is part of a series of consultations with electronic, print, radio and digital journalists as well as other stakeholders to improve the safety of media professionals.

Journalists agreed that they themselves need to take steps to ensure their safety. Impartiality in reporting, clear distinction between activism and journalism, editorial discretion, cultural sensitivity, and awareness of safety measures were cited as key factors.

The role of media houses and owners also came under scrutiny during the discussion as participants pointed out issues including inadequate compensation, lack of medical coverage, job insecurity, focus on ‘breaking news,’ lack of safety equipment, unprofessional and underpaid support staff were cited as some of their biggest failings.

TV journalists demanded adequate and timely compensation for district reporters as well; regular arrangement of awareness sessions on hostile environment, first-aid, medical coverage; proper safety gear. One of the participants suggested use of equipment like drones for coverage of dangerous assignments such as fires in buildings.

Participants also discussed the role of other stakeholders like press clubs, journalists’ unions, the government, law-enforcement agencies in improving safety standards.

Press clubs need to weed out non-journalists from their member base as such individuals’ compromise credibility and safety of actual journalists. Press clubs should also open or resume induction of new members to increase unity and ensure safety of journalists. Regular medical camps also need to be arranged by press clubs for journalists, and there shouldn’t be nepotism or favoritism in the selection of journalists for training.

The government was cited as another key stakeholder that can improve and ensure journalists’ safety. Implementing labor laws, monitoring safety measures in media houses, investigating attacks on media, and passing effective safety bill are some of the areas where the government can play a key role. Identifying and banning dummy publications will also greatly improve safety standards, it was discussed. The government also needs to properly investigate attacks on media and journalists to bring an end to the culture of impunity.

Journalists, media houses and unions should also focus on better coordination with the government and law-enforcement agencies to improve communication and better understand one another’s point of view. Law-enforcement agencies also need to properly investigate and prosecute cases of attacks against journalists.

January 2, 2017

Female journalists face gendered forms of surveillance, study finds

By IKRAM JUNAIDI

ISLAMABAD: Female journalists face more surveillance by their audience and readers than by the state and intelligence agencies, research on the ‘Surveillance of Female Journalists in Pakistan’ has found.

The pilot study of gendered surveillance, conducted by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), found that this surveillance begins when they start their professional careers, as audiences try to keep more of a check on female journalists than male journalists. The focus of this surveillance remains on their gender and appearance rather than their work.

Seven journalists from various media platforms were interviewed during the course of the study.

The research focused on the gendered forms and various sources of surveillance – from the state to the audience to political groups. Women interviewed by the study said they were surveilled by state authorities and subjected to constant social surveillance in the form of abuse on social media.

In addition to mapping the kinds of surveillance female journalists face, the report also explores the impact of this kind of constant monitoring in terms of its psychological toll, self censorship and retreat from digital spaces.

Saba Eitzaz, who works for BBC Urdu, said social surveillance online has had “a tremendous psychological effect [and] I felt violated”.

Award-winning journalist Kiran Nazish said: “It’s not just one person telling you that you don’t belong here, it’s a number of people, and that constant refrain can be very intimidating and one starts to feel cornered.”

Maria Memon, an anchorperson, said: “Even if I was told that I could tweet about anything without repercussions, I don’t think I would do it because I don’t think that surveillance is completely avoidable.”

Other journalists interviewed included Amber Shamsi, Sarah Eleazar and Ramish Fatima.

DRF Executive Director Nighat Dad said the study took around two months to complete.

She said: “Gendered surveillance is a free speech issue – it lets women know they are being monitored, and discourages them from reporting and participating in digital spaces.”

Luavat Zahid, one of the authors of the study, said: “The issue was very close to my heart because I have worked as a journalist and faced the same kinds of problems. People try to do character assassinations of female journalists, but male journalists are barely affected by character assassination.”

Main findings

DRF’s study found that the experience of surveillance for female journalists is gendered, and therefore different from the experience of their male colleagues. While there is no conclusive evidence of whether women face more surveillance, the form the surveillance takes include sexualised threats and attacks on character and appearance. The report said this gendered form of surveillance is true for both state and social surveillance.

The report identifies the first form of surveillance as surveillance by the state, government institutions and intelligence agencies.

State surveillance is troubling given that it is backed by state machinery, which makes for effective, systematic and efficient monitoring.

On the other hand social surveillance, experienced by all the journalists, is carried out by the audience, political parties, non-state actors, fellow journalists and personal contacts. Some journalists reported that they experienced more social surveillance than state surveillance.

Many of the journalists observed that when it comes to controversial matters, both women and men face equal levels of surveillance, but the form tends to be gendered.

Some journalists said that when the state is attempting to intimidate or discourage them from publishing or reporting particular matters, sexualised threats and personal revelations are often employed.

DRF also found that surveillance has a profound psychological impact on journalists, leaving them paranoid and, at times, traumatised. Many of the journalists said they are guarded about what they say online for fear of surveillance, and thus had to self-censor their opinions and at times, their reporting.

Recommendations

The report recommended that the state and media houses take concrete steps to protect female journalists from particular kinds of gendered surveillance.

It also said that social surveillance needs to be identified as a serious issue, so steps can be taken to control it and to support journalists who face it on a daily basis.

Dawn

June 26, 2016June 27, 2016

‘Women need to be accorded greater role in media’

By Anil Datta

Karachi: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday said there were so many complaints about the state of women in the media, and there was a need for giving them a greater role.

They were speaking at a national consultation titled ‘Women, Media and Ethics: Bridging the Gap’, which was held at a hotel. The event was organised by Uks, a research, resource and publication centre for media and women.

Participants who included mostly women from various journals, television channels and websites highlighted the present-day trends, changes needed and problems facing women in the field.

Addressing the audience, Tasneem Ahmer, executive director of Uks Research Centre, said: “We don’t see very many women in the newsrooms at the top. Their [women’s] representation in the media is relatively small.”

“The portrayal of women in the media remains largely negative, stereotyped and biased,” she further said.

Ahmer talked about an audience survey, which brought together 300 respondents. She said 91 men and 23 women journalists had been trained from all across the country from the print and electronic media.

She said found it rather sad that Ayyan Ali and Qandeel Baloch became sources of entertainment despite the serious nature of the stories published against them.

“Each one of us needs to play our role proactively for ensuring a better portrayal of women in the media. We need to bridge this gap and help the media adopt gender sensitivity,” said Ahmer.

Other speakers complained that working women were not portrayed in a positive light in our media.

Nabeela Aslam, project manager, Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy, commenting on the minorities, lamented that there was no representation of Christians in the media.

She said the media were now becoming a commercial entity, which was affecting their moral aspects. She suggested that there should be special workshops for crime reporters.

Professor Dr Tauseef Ahmed of Karachi University stressed the need for bringing about of a change in the mindset of teachers, which in turn would change the mindset of the mediafolk.

Mehnaz Rehman of the Aurat Foundation lamented that the institution of the professional editor in the newspapers had finished. “Our institutions should be professional,” she said, suggesting that “we need to tell society what gender implies”.

Another participant said that the tragedy was that the concept of media had gone to the multinationals. The media, for increasing their revenues, catered to the whims of the multinationals as regards advertisements and policies.

The net result of all the discussions could be summed up thus:

* There should be a balanced coverage of women as well as men in the media;

* There should be a gender-based perspective;

* Avoidance of content that promotes stereotypes;

* Portrayal of women as targets or objects must be stopped right away;

* There should be equal opportunities for women who constitute 50 percent of the population;

* Concrete policy efforts to encourage the entry of more women into the media;

* Inculcation of a conducive environment in the media where women could aim at both horizontal and vertical growth;

* Focus should be on content that contributes to a greater understanding and awareness of issues pertaining to violence against women as well as other relevant topics like women achievers, education and health perspectives.

The News

March 1, 2016

Sharmeen does it again

HOLLYWOOD: A documentary about a Pakistani girl shot in the face by her family won an Oscar on Sunday, after helping persuade the government to commit it would fight “honour killings” in the country.

‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness’ won the Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the star-studded ceremony in Hollywood.

The Oscar win was the second for director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who recently called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif amid the growing global spotlight on the film.

“This is what happens when determined women get together,” Chinoy said as she accepted the golden statuette.

Chinoy praised “all the brave men out there, like my father and my husband, who push women to go to school and work and who want a more just society for women”.

The film follows 19-year-old Saba, a survivor of an attempted honour killing who was beaten up, shot and thrown into a river by her father and uncle for marrying a man without their approval. At the last moment, she tilted her head, meaning the bullet grazed her cheek instead of shattering her skull.

In a rarity for such attacks, Saba not only survived but went to police.

But under a law in Pakistan, men who kill female relatives escape punishment if they are “pardoned” by relatives through blood money.

After meeting Chinoy recently in Islamabad, Prime Minister Sharif in a statement vowed to “rid Pakistan of this evil by bringing in appropriate legislation”.

“That is the power of film,” Chinoy said at the Oscars.

She earlier had said that a victory at the Oscars would build momentum for change.

“I think if the film were to win an Academy Award, then the issue of honour killing, which doesn’t just affect women in Pakistan but affects women around the world, would really gain traction,” she said.

Chinoy in 2012 won Pakistan’s first Oscar for `Saving Face’, a 40-minute documentary on the horrors endured by women who suffer acid attacks.

It focused on two women, Zakia and Rukhsana, as they fight to rebuild their lives after being attacked by their husbands, and British Pakistani plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad who tries to help repair their shattered faces.

President Mamnoon Hussain in a statement on Monday said that Chinoy had highlighted an important social issue in her film for which she deserved congratulation.

Prime Minister Sharif hailed the win, with activists calling for changes in laws to punish those who kill women deemed to have disgraced their families.

Mr Sharif reiterated that his government was in the process of pushing a law to stop the killings.

“Women like Ms Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are not only a pride for the Pakistani nation but are also a significant source of contribution towards the march of civilisation in the world,” he said in a statement.

More than 500 men and women died in honour killings in 2015, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

Most were never prosecuted.

But on Monday, after a six-year trial, a court in Lahore sentenced two brothers to death for killing their sister in 2009 for marrying a man of her choice.

“She (Chinoy) has been able to motivate the prime minister of Pakistan who until her film has not taken any step on this issue,” said Sughara Imam, who last year introduced a bill in the Senate to change the law on honour killings.

The bill did not pass, however, and it is not clear exactly how Mr Sharif proposes to change the law.

“He will have to take some bold steps… Words from the PM are really not enough,” said Zohra Yusuf, chairman of the HRCP.

The foreign ministry in a statement said Pakistan welcomed the Oscar, saying the film was a source of `national pride’.

Dawn

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015

PEMRA warns TV channels against revealing identity of rape victim

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Wednesday issued the first ever advice in Urdu to all news channels in compliance of the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan declaring Urdu as official language.

This advice was issued to TV channels for violating “Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015” by revealing particulars and identity of a rape victim girl in Lahore.

In its Urdu advice PEMRA said that one reason of not effective implementation of code of conduct was lack of editorial control, monitoring and non-availability of monitoring committees in the channels.

The notice also said that as per rules all license holders would ensure effective editorial control and would not broadcast any live event without installing delaying mechanism.

All licence holders were bound to set up institutional monitoring committees and inform PEMRA about compliance.

The TV channels were told that violations of such clauses was a criminal act, so all electronic media organizations should avoid violations in future, otherwise action against the violating channels would be taken under the prevalent regulations.

Pakistan Today