By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
Accra, March 15, GNA – The Association of Women in Media (ASWIM) has called on Media practitioners to portray women in a more positive light, emphasising more on their exceptional achievements.
Mrs Mavis Kitcher, President of ASWIM, who made the call on Tuesday at the event held by ASWIM as part of activities marking International Women’s Day, said gender-specific features that presented women in good light would help strengthen the image of women.
She said findings from a study by the Global Monitoring Project, (GMMP) in 2019 indicated that while women made up 22 per cent of subjects seen, heard, and read about in the media, but only16 per cent of reports focused on women specifically.
Mrs Kitcher stated that 48 per cent of media reports reinforced gender stereotypes and only 8 per cent of the news stories challenged such stereotypes.
“Let us use our pens, keyboards, microphones, cameras, all other tools and equipment at our disposal to give women a voice and portray them in their true state and not the stereotypes that society presents them,” she said.
Mrs Kitcher noted that what people read and watched on the screens was an outdated perception that “men are providers and women the spenders.”
She said the social theory that women were not interested in science, Information and Communication Technology, or politics was also an outdated view.
“Men and women both earn incomes, support their families, are heads of households, are single mothers who fight tooth and nail to provide for their children, are heads of institutions and are also joining men, albeit in low percentages, in tough decision-making processes at the workplace,” she said.
Mrs Kitcher emphasized the need for society to accept the strengths of women and portray them as such.
She said it was time for the world to appreciate the significant role women played in the stability, progress, and long-term development of nations.
The ASWIM President called on the Government, as well as the mass media and advertising organizations, to retrain their employees to change the poor narrative of women in the media rather than maintaining the status quo.
She said women in media should work assiduously to change and portray women in their true status as partners for development.
She announced that ASWIM would provide funding for members to scout for stories of women making strides in their various fields of endeavour and project such achievements to motivate girls and other young people.
Mrs Yaa Oforiwaa Asare Peasah, a former Acting General Manager of the Ghana News Agency called on female journalists to push for the advancement of women in their various media platforms and ensure the needed change in society.
“We should highlight the great achievements of women not only in Ghana but all over the world to serve as a source of inspiration for our young girls to venture into the future and become great leaders,” she said.
GNA