Augusta Akparanta-Emenogu, a senior editor at the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, is the highest ranking woman at her company. She attended CSLI because she wanted skills to battle the obstacles in her newsroom. “[I] have never been given the opportunity to go on foreign postings, cover the presidency or other such prestigious jobs,” she said. The excuse she is given is that these types of assignments would mean that her family would be neglected. She adds that there are no such worries if “our services are needed” for a not-so-plum assignment.
Kamara and Akparanta-Emenogu are two of the 22 women journalists from Ghana, Nigeria, Swaziland and Sierra Leone, who attended the three-day CSLI program held in Accra in December. As a group, they were drawn to CSLI, they said, because they hoped to strengthen their leadership skills, develop better stress reduction techniques, get tips on balancing work and family life and learn how to effectively report on HIV/AIDS.
Several participants said that African women in the media face discrimination against them by male bosses and that sexual harassment is prevalent in their newsrooms. “There are many instances where male bosses ask for sexual favors for promotions or even job placement,” said Kamara. A ten-year veteran of a male dominated newsroom, she found the CSLI sessions on assertiveness and stress management relevant to her work and her life. She also learned the importance of being an effective manager. “I am one person who does not believe that somebody else can do my job as well as I do, but I learned you have to delegate responsibility … and that will take the stress off you,” she said.
Charity Binka of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, said that at CSLI she learned that if she wanted to become an effective leader, she needed to become more considerate of others’ viewpoints. “I’m not a very good listener and I learned it’s good to listen to others to know that I’m not the only one who has the ideas,” she said.
Participants said CSLI gave them new ways to assess their newsrooms’ coverage of HIV/AIDS. For example, the sessions on using proper language when reporting on HIV/AIDS helped demonstrate how reporters who use improper language can perpetuate stereotypes and write judgmental stories.
“I never knew I had to report HIV/AIDS stories differently from the way I report on everyday issues. I have started introducing my colleagues [to] the acceptable terminologies on HIV/AIDS reporting,” said Janet Dabire, a broadcast reporter for Joy FM radio station in Accra.
The sessions also emphasized the importance of proper training for reporters who cover HIV/AIDS. Fatmatta Kamara said that the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service gives special attention to health issues. She also acknowledged that reporters could use additional training to better inform their audiences. “The main concern is that reporters really don’t know how to convey the message properly, and they need some training,” she said.
“Lots of people get scared away by the whole notion of HIV.… The media do focus attention on it, but not as fully as they can,” said Charity Binka. “We should actually give the disease a human face.” Binka noted that Ghana Broadcasting has staff that specializes in HIV/AIDS reporting, which is unusual.
Several CSLI participants planned to take what they learned back to their newsrooms. Fatmatta Kamara will share what she learned at a week-long workshop organized by the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service. Augusta Akparanta-Emenogu conducted a training for women at the News Agency of Nigeria in January, based on what she learned in Accra. Some of the participants in Akparanta-Emenogu’s training also plan to replicate the course for some of their own colleagues. She also hopes to conduct a more extensive training course for other women journalists, if she can obtain funding. Charity Binka will write a guidebook for women journalists. She also intends to push for more stories on women, youth and development and health issues.
“I want to bridge the gap between politics, women and development,” said Binka. “We need to show how development and women’s issues go together.”
Erin Henk is the communications assistant at the International Women’s Media Foundation.
The Carole Simpson Leadership Institute and HIV/AIDS Training in Ghana was funded by veteran U.S. television journalist Carole Simpson and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previous CSLI programs have been held in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia and Senegal.