RSF & NWMI train 60 women journalists for election coverage in India

RSF & NWMI trained 60 women journalists across India with election coverage skills

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), a Paris-based press freedom advocacy organisation and the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), have collaborated to equip 60 women journalists across India with election coverage skills. According to a press statement by RSF, amid declining press freedom, this initiative aimed to enhance diversified election reporting.

RSF says that the 60 women journalists, predominantly freelancers representing diverse regions, engaged in training sessions emphasising electoral coverage with a gender perspective, combatting disinformation, and solutions journalism. The training was delivered through a series of online workshops tailored for women journalists from April 7 to May 4, adds RSF.

Swati Sanyal Tarafdar

The statement adds that the training workshops facilitated by RSF and NWMI delved into five key areas crucial for comprehensive election coverage. Journalists were encouraged to adopt a gender perspective in election reporting, focusing on women’s participation and analysing government policies on gender equality. Emphasis was placed on avoiding stereotypes when reporting on women.

“The content and the applications answered many questions, empowered journalists with various necessary tools and techniques – such as deeper and nuanced interview methods, ways to cover an issue from all angles and narratives, tell the whole story and not just fluffy constructive news, and also ways to include marginal and ignored voices, and women’s perspectives into elections and political coverage,” says Swati Sanyal Tarafdar, Trainer, freelance journalist specialising in social and climate justice.

It adds that the workshops explored elections and gender through the lens of solutions journalism, advocating for constructive perspectives in investigative reporting and combating disinformation during elections was  also addressed, acknowledging the prevalence of viral misinformation online and equipping journalists with fact-checking techniques, including the use of artificial intelligence.

RSF says that innovative audio and video formats were  also introduced to help journalists navigate the media landscape and engage audiences effectively amidst the influx of information during elections and  technical training was also provided on utilising data for election coverage, enabling journalists to process, analyse, and present numerical data to investigate critical topics such as election campaign funding.

“As press freedom has suffered a continuous erosion during the past ten years in India, and few independent media remain, it is essential to support those journalists who nonetheless continue their mission to inform. The training provided by RSF and its local partner NWMI to women journalists during this electoral period responded to this goal and to the needs expressed by media professionals in the field,” says Célia Mercier, Head of RSF’s South Asia Desk.