A Place for Media Activism

This section of the fourth edition of the Gender and Media Diversity Journal, published by the Gender and Media Diversity Centre, explores various aspects of a place for media activism including: a narrative of an activist/journalist; a PANOS London article on communication for development; and media participation for marginalised communities.



It contains the following articles:

An Activist and a Journalist? by Zarina Geloo

This author is the owner and editor of a Zambian newspaper who discusses how journalists consider drawing the line between activism and a their profession, which calls for a certain amount of detachment. She narrates her work and involvement in actively advocating for victims of gender violence and writing about their stories as well.

At the Heart of Change: The Role of Communication in Sustainable Development by Kitty Warnock

This article from PANOS London describes the document At the Heart of Change: The Role of Communication in Sustainable Development 2007) as a call to development thinkers and planners to put communication at the centre of all development thinking - with more resources, planning, and expertise. "Panos London believes that flows of communication, or lack of them, can make the difference between success and failure in achieving development goals."

Diverse Voices: Media Access and Participation of 15 Marginalised Communities by Deborah Walter

This article by the journal's editor describes "[s]trategies to increase access and participation of marginalised communities in media as part of poverty reduction and addressing human rights and health issues. This may include training media to be more aware of diverse voices, as well as working with communities to create participatory media products. Such strategies can result in new and interesting perspectives on news and current events, as well as opportunities for diverse voices to speak out on issues that affect them." She discusses a range of media-related issues, including the structural problems of media finance affecting working journalists, the lack of knowledge and practical skills to gather and decipher the growing range of information and analysis (including the "juniorisation" of newsrooms), one-dimensional reporting based solely on government sources of information, and a lack of the presence of the voices of marginalised groups. She makes a case for media training, particularly for journalists who report on social and human rights issues, and describes the training called Business Unusual, run by Gender Links (GL) in collaboration with media training institutions in Southern African countries. The article describes participatory media using rural women's radio and Musicians Against Xenophobia as examples. The challenges to participatory media, as stated here, include reaching and engaging marginalised voices, the extra planning and funding needed, making productions of a high technical standard, and including accuracy and good reporting.