Media is considered to be a potentially powerful channel of information in a society. The messages media transmits can change or reinforce social customs and behaviours and mobilise citizens to take progressive actions. While, ideally, media should strive for accuracy and impartiality, in reality there are often imbalances in coverage, including how women are portrayed. There tends to be a strong preoccupation in the media to show women as victims. Media has also for long stereotyped the image of women as homemakers and limited to private spheres only.

Media engagement and advocacy on the issue of women’s participation in politics and governance has been limited. Only to some extent, media has proved to be a strong medium of making women politically empowered and helping to build a sense of who they are and who they aspire to be.

It has been observed that media often overlooks the values, beliefs and experiences of women candidates and is sometimes also critical of their participation. Media, which is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy and the best medium for creating awareness in society, needs to play a more proactive role in this sphere.

Development Alternatives-C4D Strategy

Over the last three decades Development Alternatives has designed and implemented communication strategies on various development issues. Development Alternatives proposes to leverage its experience of engaging with rural communities through community radio in collaboration with UN Women for an initiative to promote ‘women’s participation in leadership and local governance’. Community radio is a critical enabler for empowering women representatives as a strong local media to create discussion spaces that will help identify concerns regarding policies and legislations that impact women in local governance and leadership in rural India.

A body of knowledge gathered through secondary research will produce a series of articles, case stories and photo essays on the subject. Besides a strong communication strategy will be used to engage media at various levels for increased reportage that encourage discussions and debates on various policies, norms and conditionalities that either promote or impede women’s participation in local governance, consequently informing policy and decision makers about both impacts of impeding legislations and potential of change that women in local governance can bring about.

It has been observed that media puts feminine characteristics over and above political insight and policy making experience of women, giving their male competitors an edge on them in public discourse. Though the frequency of coverage of women politicians has increased but this increase could be made more meaningful if achieved with the right communication strategies for advocacy.The need of the hour is to build capacities of various media platforms (national, print & online) that can support in positioning this cause at a larger level and also facilitate the process of influencing government and policy makers by upholding the affirmative actions that are guaranteed in the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. ■

Mariyam Majeed
mmajeed@devalt.org

Reference
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/media-analysis-of-womens-participation-in-politics-2165-7912.1000183.php?aid=25513