News From You

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Week ending April 7, 2006

RNW - Gender and Politics: Project Challenges Media to Put Women in the Picture - April 7, 2006

from Marjolein Klaassen-Hulst Radio Netherlands
 
Although the number of women in European politics is increasing, they still lag far behind men when it comes to figuring in the news headlines say media specialists who this weekend are launching a video toolkit aimed at improving the portrayal of women in audiovisual programming.  
 
“Broadcasters and journalists need to rethink their attitudes on how they see the role of women in politics,” said Arne Konig, Chair of the European Federation of Journalists, which is meeting in Slovenia this weekend where the portraying politics toolkit will be launched. “Media play a key role in shaping people’s perception of political life and we need fairer representation of women in the political process both on the news agenda and what we see on screen.”
 
The toolkit, which will be launched at the meeting in Bled on 8th April, consists of a DVD (90 minutes of video material) and guideline material for journalists, trainers and programme makers. Eight selected modules compiling video clips from European broadcasters address gender portrayal in politics from different perspectives. The toolkit is available for free in German and English on www.portrayingpolitics.org until 20th April.
 
The initiative is in response to growing evidence of media failure to reflect accurately the role of women on the political scene. Although women represent 24 % of politicians in Europe, the Global Media Monitoring Project 2005 report says that only 20 % of politicians in the news are women. Women experts and politicians remain largely invisible and only get to speak on specific issues often seen as “soft issues.” They are repeatedly identified in term of their family status.
 
“These results stress the need for broadcasters and journalists to address gender portrayal from a different angle and to take specific account of the lack of women representation in the news,” says the EFJ. “We are convinced this toolkit will encourage media professionals to reshape gender perspective in their works to promote quality journalism.”
 
Portraying Politics is an EU funded project. Partners include the European Journalism Centre (EJC), Radio Netherlands Training Center (RNTC), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenberg (RBB), Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) (NRK), the EFJ, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA), the University of Malta.
 

WAN - Stop Jailing Journalists! - April 6, 2006

from Larry Kilman WAN

The numbers are staggering -- more than 500 journalists were arrested last year, simply for doing their jobs. Even more extraordinary are the personal stories of endurance, pain and determination of the men and women arrested and imprisoned.

Newspapers around the globe will be able to tell those stories on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May. The World Association of Newspapers is once again offering a package of interviews, articles, essays, infographics and advertisements to publish on 3 May to commemorate the sacrifices their colleagues make every day. The materials, some of which are now available, can be downloaded, free of charge, at http://www.worldpressfreedomday.org .

The theme of the 2006 campaign is "Don¹t Lock Up Information: Stop Jailing Journalists."

WAN - Local Newspaper Creates New Web Model - April 5, 2006

from Larry Kilman WAN

Ever hear of Bluffton, South Carolina? If you are a newspaper professional, you should know about this small US community of 15,000 people, where a new model for newspapers and newspaper web sites is succeeding.

Bluffton Today, published by Morris Communications Corp., is a free tabloid-format newspaper with a tightly coordinated web site. Every reader is invited to log onto the web site and comment about stories, start their own blogs, upload pictures and even contribute recipes -- a high-tech tool for essential community conversation. And editors rely on the posts for some of the content of the daily.

"BlufftonToday.com is a grand experiment in citizen journalism, a complete inversion of the typical online newspaper model," says Steve Yelvington, Vice President of Content and Strategy for Morris Digital Works, and one of the USA's most innovative newspaper web strategists, who will present his work at the World Editors Forum in Moscow, Russia, in June.

RFE/RL - Radio Farda Launches New "Viewpoints" Program - April 5, 2006

from Don Jensen RFE/RL

Radio Farda this week launched a new weekly program to bring listeners in Iran news and insight from famous Iranians -- scholars and thinkers, former politicians and current opinion leaders, living in exile.

"Viewpoints" is a 12-minute conversation that follows the news every Tuesday at 6:00PM Iranian time (10:30AM EDT) that aired for the first time yesterday.  The inaugural "Viewpoints" program featured an interview with former Minister of Culture Ata Ollah Mohajerani.

Mohajerani, who now lives in London and spoke by phone to Radio Farda, served in the government of former Iranian president Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami. Asked whether a confrontation between Islam and the West is inevitable, Mohajerani said confrontation is possible between radical extremists on both sides, but the focus should be on the larger bloc of moderate centrists who are working hard in the East and the West to avoid a clash.

The featured speaker on next week's "Viewpoints," with a different perspective, will be well-known secular Iranian writer and intellectual Bijan Hekmat, who left Iran six years ago and now lives in Paris.

Radio Farda, a joint project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA), is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service. Produced in Washington and Prague and transmitted to listeners via AM, shortwave and satellite and Internet, it features at least 8 hours of news and current affairs programming daily as well as Western and Persian music aimed at a younger audience. Radio Farda programming is also available via the Internet, at the service's website http://www.radiofarda.com and at http://www.rferl.org; English-language news about events in Iran can also be found on the RFE/RL website, at http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/iran.html  To learn more about Radio Farda and its coverage of events in Iran, read and subscribe to "Focus on Farda," at http://www.rferl.org/reviews/farda.aspx

Previous News From You

Week ending March 31, 2006