18 Jan 2018

Women in the media industry are faced with different challenges hence the need to assist them to compete with their male counterparts for higher positions.

Speaking during the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WIN-IFRA) graduation ceremony, Ms Batsho Dambe-Groth, Women in News coach said women in the media industry faced many difficult situations.

She said men always get an upper edge compared to women during recruitment.

Ms Dambe-Groth further said in spite of having the required qualifications, talent and expertise, women find it difficult to get selected for some positions as they were viewed as emotional, physically and mentally weak.

She cited pay inequity as one of the major issues that women employees faced at the workplace, adding that in most cases women earn less than their male counterparts.

“Absence of role models at work is one of the problems faced by women in this industry and communication style also hinders women’s growth as there is no mentorship,” she added.

Ms Dambe-Groth also highlighted gender biasness as one of the challenges that women in the media industry faced.

“No matter the qualification they possess in this male dominated society, where men are considered more intelligent, efficient and hardworking than females,” she said.

Therefore, she urged participants to work hard in the workplace and ensure that they perform to their level best.  

Meanwhile, Some women journalists were awarded media management certificates from WITS University as a way of empowering them to contribute to the editorial agenda and progress to greater levels of decisionmaking.

Also, it  aimed at the advancement of media executives by creating champions from within the media industry. ENDS