World Association of News Publishers


WAN-IFRA Extends Ground-breaking Leadership Programme to Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa

WAN-IFRA Extends Ground-breaking Leadership Programme to Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa

Article ID:

17500

The World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) launched Women in News 2014 in Lusaka, Zambia, today (10 March), as part of a series of national events that coincide with International Women’s Day.

This year’s programme also marks an industry first: WIN South Africa will be conducted in partnership with WAN-IFRA member association Print and Digital Media South Africa, representing more than 500 newspaper and magazine titles from the country's leading publishers, and the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media.

In addition, participants who complete the WIN South Africa programme will receive accreditation from the Department of Witwatersrand University.

Women in News works with newspapers and their high-potential female employees to overcome the gender gap in management and senior editorial positions. More than 60 media professionals from 30 media companies from Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe will participate in comprehensive skills development, career coaching, mentoring and networking in their national markets. The group will come together in Johannesburg, South Africa in August for the regional WIN Summit.

WAN-IFRA will also launch the Alliance for Women in News, a working committee that partners with media houses to collectively help widen the opportunities for management and executive roles for their women employees through education, training and awareness raising.

Studies show that a higher representation of women in decision-making positions in media leads not only to better coverage of women in the news but also to better financial results. Financially and editorially solid media stand a bigger chance of being strong voices in their communities: promoting good governance, transparency and fighting corruption.

WIN goes beyond traditional approaches to media development by incorporating professional development techniques from the corporate world such as career coaching, facilitated networking and peer mentoring into a robust and highly effective capacity building curriculum.

The initiative is conducted under a strategic partnership to advance media development and press freedom worldwide between WAN-IFRA and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). More on WAN-IFRA’s media development initiatives can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/media-development

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Deputy CEO and Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 07. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org

Author

Andrew Heslop's picture

Andrew Heslop

Date

2014-03-10 11:26

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When Imelda Libanga first started working as a sub-editor at the Sunday Mail in Zambia, she was at the receiving end of content and quality control. Recently she reached her three-year career goal to become Editor of the Sunday edition, getting to directly manage staff and content: “My new role involves a lot of decision-making on what should be published. I get satisfaction when lives get transformed because of a story we published.”

Author

Andrew Heslop's picture

Andrew Heslop

Date

2014-03-06 16:32

Women in News works with newspapers and their high-potential female employees to overcome the gender gap in management and senior editorial positions. It does so by equipping programme participants with sustainable strategies, skills and support networks to advance their careers and contribute to the growth of strong local media enterprises. In 2014 Women in News will run in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, reaching more than 60 media professionals from more than 30 news media companies throughout Southern Africa. For the first time, WAN-IFRA will partner with member association Print and Digital Media South Africa as well as the South African Editor's Forum to bring the programme to South Africa.

Author

Andrew Heslop's picture

Andrew Heslop

Date

2012-11-12 12:18

In its media development work, the WAN-IFRA strategy focuses on bringing a new way of thinking to the sector. WAN-IFRA has become a key player in the field of financial independence and management capacity building, conducting groundbreaking research and developing subsequent media development policies. Read more ...