The management of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in Akure and the Ondo State Radio Corporation (OSRC) have established gender desks in their newsrooms as a direct effect of the training for news journalists in Ondo state organised by a cohort of the 2023 Report Women! Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP), Champion building edition, Olufisoye Adenitan on the need for gender mainstreaming. The one-day training titled ‘Gender mainstreaming in the media’ held on Thursday, 6 June 2023, at the Nigeria Union of Journalist press centre, Adegbemile, Akure, had 25 journalists in attendance. The FRCN reporter focused on how newshounds can intentionally use women as news sources and guests.
Guest speaker- Titi Fola-Adebayo from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, shared strategies for female Journalists to promote gender-inclined stories and be more visible in media. The professor of communication suggested a gender audit and data sourcing that would provide insights into shaping media content. The Ondo state Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, spoke on the need for the media to be at the forefront of gender mainstreaming in society to achieve equity between men and women. Represented by his Special Adviser on Gender, Olamide Falana, he advised female Journalists to promote women-angled stories to encourage more women participation in politics.
The chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ondo state chapter, Catherine Ogunjebi, advised journalists to be intentional in their reports. She stressed the importance of female sources in the news, women mainstreaming and the need for professional training to equip female journalists with leadership skills. She emphasised their roles as female journalists in leading the campaign for gender mainstreaming. Adenitan also created a WhatsApp group for participants to aid knowledge sharing and facilitate data sharing for journalists who need women sources for their news reports. Meanwhile, the management of Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun state, has requested training for its mass communication students.
Participants were reporters, editors and news managers from OSRC, FRCN, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Orange FM, Hope Newspaper, Adaba FM, African Independent Television (AIT), TVC News and some staff from the Ondo State Ministry of Information. Also present were Nike Busari, Director News, OSRC/ Orange FM; Bunmi Olalere, FRCN General Manager; Dupe Isename, Head of Department News at FRCN, alongside Bunmi Oke, General Manager of the NTA. Others were Tola Gbadamosi, Chairperson of the Ondo state chapter of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo state chapter, Leke Adegbite. The training was part of her leadership project under the 2023 Report Women! Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP), Champion building edition.