Section 4: Get Involved!
a) Who Makes the News? Campaign website
b) Share your experiences as part of the Who Makes the News? Campaign
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1) GETTING INVOLVED ON-LINE
a) Who Makes the News? Campaign website
The Who Makes the News? website will be launched at the end of January 2006. The website aims to (1) provide resources to support gender and media activists in their work to promote the fair and balanced representation of women and men in the media and (2) create a community of gender and media activists who can work together online to promote gender equality in and through the media.
The resources that will be available on the on the Who Makes the News? website include:
- WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit
- Who Makes the News? GMMP 2005 report (available in English in February 2006 and in Spanish, French and Portuguese in March 2006)
- National GMMP 2005 reports
- Key findings of the GMMP 2005 global report
- Existing research and articles on gender and the media
- Events calendar
We hope that these resources will support you and other activists worldwide during the Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media and beyond to both raise awareness of gender and media issues and develop a constructive dialogue between civil society and the media on the need to for change.
Gender and media activists will also have the opportunity to come together online through the Who Makes the News? website using a variety of tools including blogs, polls, surveys and discussions. This collective effort will culminate on the 8th March with the release of the results of a Journalism and Career Advancement Survey and a call to all media to take up the UNESCO challenge as a first step to promoting gender equality in and through the media.
You will be able to post directly to many of our blogs and share your opinions and ideas on a wide variety of articles that will be uploaded daily to the website. Please also send us your own electronic materials, from articles and press releases to audio files by writing to us at: info@waccglobal.org
b) Share your experiences as part of the Who Makes the News? Campaign and get tips and advice from partners worldwide on our listserve.
We invite you to join hundreds of other gender and media activists on our discussion listserve. This list will help you get in contact with activists worldwide to collaboratively develop themes and strategies for the Who Makes the News? Campaign. To register, click here.
c) Stay informed
In the run up to and during the Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media, WACC will be gathering information on a many of the campaign activities that will be taking place worldwide. To stay informed with what is happening around the world and to get involved at various stages in the campaign (in blog discussions, polls, surveys, debates, comments, etc) simply register to the Who Makes the News? information list clicking on here or send an email to: whomakesthenews-subscribe@gn.apc.org
d) Submit your materials
Participants in the Who Makes the News? Campaign can be instrumental in bringing gender and media issues to the forefront in local, national, regional and international arenas. WACC asks that all participants of the Who Makes the News? Campaign send documentation of their events i.e. posters, pictures, T-shirts, video footage, poems, songs, statements, reports etc to WACC for the Who Makes the News? website.
If you have photographs, documents or other examples of your work that you can send in electronic form, please do so. Otherwise hard copies are fine. Your submission will also enable WACC to refer other individuals and organizations that are interested in your activities to you. Please send your materials for the Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media to:
info@waccglobal.org
or Who Makes the News?, WACC, 357 Kennington Lane, London, SE11 5QY, United Kingdom.
2) SUGGESTED ACTIONS
The following list of suggested actions represents a collection of ideas for Who Makes the News? campaign events, many of which can be adapted and used for different themes. Please e-mail us with any additional ideas you may have that are not represented on this list.
Don’t forget to report your activities and send your materials to WACC at info@waccglobal.org for inclusion in the Calendar of Activities! Thank you!
EDUCATE!
Educate your community about gender and media issues by raising awareness and promoting gender equality in and through the media. Proper education around an issue is critical to tackling it.
The GMMP 2005 Key Findings document is a clear and easy way to communicate the issue of gender representation in news media to all types of audience. Distribute the document to the general public at awareness raising sessions such as a discussion breakfast, open meeting, workshop, roundtable discussion or by visiting schools and universities etc. You might want to invite organizations from the media, civil society and government or intergovernmental institutions (such as local UNIFEM agencies and others) concerned with gender issues to co-sponsor the event. This will help in establishing a dialogue and building relationships between your constituencies and the media with the ultimate aim of promoting the fair and balanced representation of women and men in news media.
More ideas for educational activities are available in the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit.
PARTICIPATE!
Attend an event which focuses on either the media or gender issues and contribute by sharing the results of your national GMMP 2005 report or the global GMMP 2005 results (the key findings of GMMP 2005). Look to organizations that are already engaged with the issue for guidance. Raise the issue yourself if there is no dialogue already by bringing it up to the organizers of the event, distributing your own materials or using the GMMP 2005 materials available on the Who Makes the News? website.
Use the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit for further ideas.
DISTRIBUTE / COMMUNICATE!
Join a listserve discussion or set up your own to increase online dialogue about the connection between the media and gender equality and to keep people informed of new developments. Do not forget to join the Who Makes the News? Campaign information list and encourage others to do the same.
If your organization has a listserve or you are already part of another listserve, be sure to send out a message about the theme and your particular Who Makes the News? Campaign activities to raise awareness and get people involved. One activity you could try is sending out one short message per day for the entire Three Weeks of Action providing resources, quotes, information or event announcements.
INVESTIGATE!
Investigate any research that has been done in your region or country on the representation of women and men in the media. Obtain copies and distribute them to local organizations or hold awareness raising events such as a panel discussion based on the conclusions of the reports.
Use the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit for more ideas.
ORGANISE!
Hold an event to launch the GMMP 2005 global report or your national GMMP 2005 report (if one has been produced). Send out press releases and invite key media figures to attend.
LOBBY!
Advocate for your government to uphold the commitments it has made at the national and international level to respect, protect and fulfill women’s human rights especially with regard to gender and media issues.
Learn about what these commitments are and whether your government has committed resources to fulfilling them. Relevant resources that can help you find out more about this are included at the end of this pack.
Connect with other groups who are working on similar issues and publicize your efforts in the media. Target a specific sector of society and look for promising practices in these areas to suggest ways that the government can strengthen policies and programmes. Use tactics such as petitions, public discussions, rallies and meetings with government officials.
Use the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit for more ideas.
KEEP WATCHING!
During the Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media from 16th February - 8th March, monitor your national media for the way in which it represents women and men in the news and then release the results to your media, relevant government institutions and your constituencies. Monitoring your media during the Who Makes the News? Campaign is one way to see whether the media is responding to your demands for the fair and balanced representation of women and men by changing their coverage during the campaign. You could approach the media or gender departments of local universities or journalism schools to see if they would like to monitor the media with you. They are often open to this kind of collaborative research.
Check out the GMMP 2005 media monitoring methodologyis. A simpler way to monitor the media is also available in the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit.
PUBLICISE!
Use the media as an agent for education and social change.
Alert them to the issues that will be highlighted throughout the Who Makes the News? Campaign and see if they will focus some attention on these issues. Promote the work of your group through different media. Here are some ideas for doing this.
- Write directly to your media and media policy makers to ensure that they become aware of the issue.
- Highlight specific stories that either injure efforts towards greater gender equality or on the contrary show best practice.
- Use various media to convey your planned activities and the key findings of the GMMP 2005 report.
Write a press release about the Who Makes the News? Campaign and your planned events. Be sure that it is brief and answers the questions who, what, where, when and why in the very beginning. See how to write a press release in the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit or use the pre-formatted press release at the end of this pack.
·Write a letter to the Editor during the Who Makes the News? Campaign highlighting the marginalization of women in the media in your country. Include your calendar of activities and ask them to publish it or, if you can, pay for an advertisement. For more information on how to write a letter to the Editor see the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit.
·Be prepared to give interviews about the campaign and your activities either live or as background information for a future story on television, radio or in the newspaper. See how to give an interview in Amnesty International’s ‘Tools for Activists’.
·Contact your local radio or television station to see if they would be willing to donate a few minutes of time for a public service announcement on gender and media issues.
·Make a list of all gender and media organizations in your area. Contact them and request that they include a piece in their newsletters addressing the marginalization of women in the media.
See the WACC Gender and Media Advocacy Toolkit on how to get your message into the media, and see the Who Makes the News? Campaign pro-format press release at the end of this pack to advertise your event to your media.
CELEBRATE!
Celebrate the positive steps that your local or national media have taken to promote the fair and balanced representation of women and men in the media. You could hold an awards ceremony for the media to celebrate examples of best (and worst!) practice.
Take the Poll
Related Info
Whatever you decide to do, no matter how big or how small your event or activity is, don’t forget to let us know! Write to: info@waccglobal.org or Who Makes the News? Campaign, WACC, 357 Kennington Lane, LondonSE11 5QY, United Kingdom.
Remember! Send us all your information (photos etc) and your website address so that we can link to your organisation and promote your activities.
