KATHMANDU, April 27

Editors and media stakeholders have expressed happiness at the increasing participation of women in media and the increasing awareness of gender sensitivity but stress that more needs to be done to have an acceptable situation.

Participating in the panel discussion organized by Media Action Nepal (MAN) on April 27 to look at the issue of gender sensitivity in Nepal's newsrooms and media content, Yashoda Timsina, Chief Editor of corporatenepal.com and former Commissioner of the National Information Commission; Sangita Khadka, Chairperson of the Minimum Wages Fixation Committee and Rajan Pokhrel, Editor of The Himalayan Times said that while there were more women in newsrooms than before, they still had not reached decision-making levels.

Using a mountaineering analogy, Timsina explained the situation as, 'We have reached the basecamp but we still have a long way to go before we reach the peak.'

The discussion was organized, via Zoom, with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). Earlier this year, MAN conducted a study on the gender sensitivity of Nepali media based on the number of bylines of female journalists, use of women and sexual minorities as sources of news and the coverage of their issues in editorials and op-ed articles. Priyanka Jha, Vice-Chairperson of MAN, moderated the discussion and used the results of the study, which showed minimum representation of women and gender minorities at all levels of media, to set the context for the virtual interaction.

Timsina talked about the societal challenges women journalists faced and the additional responsibilities they had to carry in their families which prevented them from solely devoting themselves to their profession like their male counterparts. 'Women professionals in all sectors face this problem which hinders their progress and promotion,' she said.

'Organizations, for their part, do not seek to fill these gaps and boost women employees and instead try to get rid of the female staff members,' she complained.

Pokhrel shed light on a culture of competition instead of cooperation present in Nepali journalism and stressed the need for media houses to consciously focus on training their female reporters, building their capacities and equipping them with the right resources to produce investigative stories, push their career forward and instill awareness of gender issues and gender sensitivity in newsrooms. He highlighted the role media owners needed to play to support women and gender minorities in journalism and expand their representation.

Presenting her views on the occasion, Khadka expressed concern over the fact that many media organizations did not pay their reporters the minimum wage fixed by the government and lamented that women reporters received less pay for the same work. However, while clarifying that her committee was working with all stakeholders to solve the issue, she said that one body alone would not achieve much and urged everyone concerned, including the journalists themselves, to unite for proper wages.

Timsina also advised the women journalists to stay updated on training and skill development opportunities, take initiatives and push the media houses. She also asked them to not tolerate any discrimination.

Answering questions from the more than 35 media professionals who directly attended the interaction, the three panelists also asked media houses to prioritize the formulation and implementation of gender policies. The whole session was also streamed live on MAN's Facebook page.

Media Action Nepal, a member of the Media Freedom Coalition-Consultative Network has been promoting a gender sensitive working environment and gender sensitive media content through capacity building and research initiatives in Nepal and across South Asia.