Journalists must be open-minded on gender-related issues-WILDAF

Ms Melody Darkey, the National Programmes Coordinator of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) Ghana, has called on journalists to be open-minded on gender-related issues. Ms Darkey noted that it was important for journalists to understand the concept of gender, gender roles, and how they differed from sex or biology. She explained gender as the socially constructed definition of women and men or the socially constructed perceptions about men and women that are learnt. She was speaking at the Post-COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP) on the Advocacy on Health, Gender, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) training for staff of the Ghana News Agency (GNA). Ms Darkey noted that there was a misconception about gender-related issues where the society conceptualised gender roles of men and women by the distribution of tasks and responsibilities on a basis that was normally perceived by sexes and not capabilities. She said, 'It is mostly carefully impa rted and structured so well that we may think it is a natural thing.' She stated that journalists shaped the public's opinion and set the agenda for public discourse, and it was important that the content of their reportage and programmes be inclusive, presenting men and women fairly, and ensuring the voices of the marginalised are heard. She mentioned that journalists are not to produce or write articles in ways that reinforce gender stereotypes. Source: Ghana News Agency