New training manual for a gender-aware media

By NADINE WILSON All Woman writer wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, December 05, 2011

AS Internet access increases, the media landscape in Jamaica continues to experience significant changes, which compelled the Women's Media Watch (WMW) to last week launch the second edition of a training manual meant to enhance media literacy on gender related issues.

The manual entitled Whose Perspective: A Guide to Gender-Aware Analysis of Media Content is expected to provide media practitioners and owners with practical exercises and resources that are expected to make them more critical of media content.

"The manual allows us to be far more aware of our own thoughts about gender influence and the way we interpret the media, whether we are producers of the media, or whether we are a news reporter or a video producer," explained training co-ordinator for WMW Hilary Nicholson.

In pointing out that the media situation is not where it was about 20 years ago, Nicholson said the second edition of the manual was long overdue and could help to give a gendered lens to what is reported through both the traditional and social media.

"We have been using that (the first) manual all the way through and we realised about eight years ago that we desperately needed an updated, revised manual, because the media landscape has changed so much. We have social media and digital media which have made a huge difference," said Nicholson.

The gender advocate pointed out that the first edition which was launched in 1998 was used by students, media practitioners and corporate Jamaicans who interfaced with the media. She hopes this edition of the 120-page manual will find its way in the hands of educators, parents, children and citizens who are now uploading information on social websites such as YouTube and Facebook for others to see.

"The digital media means that messages can reach anybody very fast, so for example, what used to be considered pornography or even soft porn, now reaches school children on their cell phones and it has become so everyday that we don't even see it as soft porn, it's just considered sexy," she said.

"That is why we need upgraded levels of media literacy because it is very young people who are going to YouTube and Facebook to see what is going on in Jamaica, and sex and violence sells," Nicholson said.

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New training manual for a gender-aware media