A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Women Situation Room Nigeria (WSRN), has charged media practitioners, especially journalists, to be gender-sensitive in reporting political activities.
The group also charged media practitioners to be fair in their reportage when it comes to reporting both the male and female politicians running for political offices.
The organisation gave the charge at a Capacity Building Training for Media Personnel on Gender Reporting, held at the Residency Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu.
Speaking, the coordinator of WSRN, Ngozi Eboh, who said the training was organised in conjunction with Women International League for Peace and Freedom Nigeria, urged media personnel to report the forthcoming elections through the gender lens.
“The essence of the training is to give women a voice as regards this election. When a woman deserves a position, let it be given to her, not because she is a woman but because she deserved it,” she said.
Eboh said that they were only appealing to the media not to be biased in their reportage but to give all the candidates equal opportunity to win irrespective of their gender.
Also, a resource person and the acting zonal director of NTA, Enugu, Mrs. Nwadi Elobuike, speaking on Gender Sensitive Reporting in the 2023 General Elections, said the training was meant, “to build the capacity of journalists; to ensure that women/female politicians are covered as much as the men during the election and to promote best practices for responsible and ethical reporting of the female and male politicians.”
“You can see that instead of asking a woman what she could do if elected, questions often focus on how she can cope with the family and the office whereas the men would not be asked such questions,” she said.
