Media women should rub shoulders with men -Acquah-Hayford

** Accra, (Greater Accra) 25 Feb. '99,

Mr Tim Acquah-Hayford, Chairman of the National Media Commission, today urged media women to strive to attain heights that would enable them to rub shoulders with their male counterparts. He said in spite of the socio-cultural hindrances to the growth of women in the media profession, there are no legal limitations to the height that they can attain. Mr Acquah-Hayford was speaking in Accra during activities to mark this year's observance of the International Day of Women in the Media. The day marked the launch of a 'study of women in the media in Ghana' undertaken by PANOS Institute in co-operation with the West Africa Media Network, Association of Women in the Media, and Women in Broadcasting. Mr Acquah-Hayford said, often times, women in the media have taken for granted the socio-cultural hindrances or have either compromised their existence and are unwilling to live up to the challenges He and urged women journalists to strive to improve their journalistic practice as a first step to improving the status of Ghanaian women as a whole. Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the Ghana Journalists Association, said gender imbalances in the media as characterised by the low representation of women in media management and decision making positions has been a major contributory factor to the poor reflection of women in the media. She, therefore, called on the Ministry of Communications to facilitate the process of affirmative action to all media houses and training institutions "that GJA strongly believes in affirmative action as a positive step to increase the current small number of media women at the top and bring in more women into the profession." Ms Margaret A. Novicki, Director, United Nations Information Centre, said for women in the media to be able to rise up to desirable heights, they first and foremost need to network among themselves. "We can take strength in our numbers and, as a group, put pressure on our bosses and other colleagues in the newsroom to see to it that we are represented in a positive fashion." She said media women should also remember to lay down the ladder for other women to climb after they are at the top. Mrs Eunice Osei-Bonsu, acting head, Information and Documentation Department of the Ghana News Agency, urged women in the media to start identifying women role models in the field and emulate them. They should also support fully, through coverage and interviews, campaigns to uplift women and promote their human rights.