Capacity building and
training initiatives on media coverage of elections can contribute to promote
gender equality, raising the awareness of journalists on their role as agents
of change to build more equitable societies and “helping them move away from
visions of reality that highlight men while failing to portray the presence and
contributions of women in the different areas of social life”.[1]
National civil society and authorities and international partners have often
delivered trainings on gender, media and elections to promote gender-sensitive
media coverage of the electoral process, fighting stereotypes, prejudice and
bias against women.
Example: In the lead-up to the 2015 local elections in Timor Leste,
Search for Common Ground organized a workshop on gender-sensitive reporting, in
collaboration with the Association of Men against Violence and UN Women. A
total of 20 radio journalists from across the country took part in this
initiative. Participants committed themselves to interviewing community members
after the training, including women candidates to the succo (village)
elections.[2]
Example: In the 2013 electoral process in Madagascar, the Independent
National Electoral Commission for the Transition (CENI-T) organized a series of
three-day workshops for journalists, in partnership with UNDP, UNESCO, Médias
en Action pour la Formation (MAF) and the National News Agency (ANTA). The main
goal of this initiative was to “deepen the professional and ethical skills of
journalists from the written press, radio and television”. A total of three
workshops were held across the country, in the cities of Antsirabe, Mahajanga
and Fianarantsoa. The training sessions covered the topics of media ethics, the
role of media in the electoral process, conflict prevention and gender, media
and elections.[3]
Example: In Jordan, the Jordan Media Institute organized in 2013 a
five-day open forum with journalists and media professionals, in collaboration
with UNESCO. Through open debates, participants discussed “topics such as a
review of elections and democracy practices in Egypt and Lebanon in comparison
with Jordan, Jordan election laws vis-a-vis international standards, elections
from a gender-sensitive perspective, and guidelines to independent and
professional elections coverage.”[4]
Example: In the lead-up to the 2018 local elections in Sri Lanka, the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) organized a two-day
training on principles of election reporting for 37 journalists from across the
country. This workshop allowed participants to review the new legal framework for
local elections, explore principles of election coverage and examine key
aspects of gender-sensitive reporting.[5]
Example: The civil society organization Gender Links has conducted
trainings on gender, media and elections across the Southern Africa Development
Community, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. This initiative aims
at bridging the gaps between women politicians and the media, “bringing them
together to deliberate on the gendered nature of elections coverage.”[6]
[1] Llanos, Beatriz and
Nina, Juana (2011): op. cit.
[4] UNESCO (2013):
“Awareness and debate sessions emphasize the role of the journalists during
elections”, in Media and Elections
Journal. Edition 1, 1 July 2013.
