‘Ingredients to excel as female journalists’

THE Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of New Telegraph newspaper, Mrs Funke Egbemode last week in Lagos said any woman who hopes to make a success of her journalism career must be discipline, determined and chose the right spouse, maintaining that the newsroom does not recognise gender.

Egbemode gave this advise at a workshop that had as theme, ‘Who’s Marginalising Women in the Nigerian Media?’ put together by the Journalism Clinic. She further stated that if a female journalist has a good story, an editor would find it hard to ignore.

Also oil and gas consultant and writer, Dr. Ibilola Amao, stressed the importance of value-creation and continuous learning for women while Ugonma Cokey, a broadcast news director, argued that marginalisation could be self-inflicted. She, however, stated that having clear goals and being focused from the outset are key ingredient of success.

“Women tend to associate the media with glamour and celebrity without thinking deeply about the sacrifices to be made along the way,” said Cokey, disclosing that even though agricultural science was one of her least favourite subjects at school, she ended up covering agriculture and reporting the environment.

Financial journalist and analyst, Kanmi Ademiluyi, in his contribution, said it was unfortunate that not a lot has changed from over 30 years ago, when, a newsroom he was a founding member of, made no provision for childcare responsibilities aside from the prevailing macho culture.

There was however, a consensus among the participants that the three Ds – Determination, Development and Discipline were the way out of the logjam for females not thriving and reaching the top echelon in the media industry. “Women need to meet challenges head on, seek mentorship and retain a deep sense of self-belief,” it was also stated.

The discussions also dovetailed into how media entrepreneurs, particularly the females, can access funds. Toki Mabogunje, lawyer and business support advisor, said there was need to formalise the business through incorporations, institute robust business processes and keep records of everything.

Olaosebikan from the Bank of Industry (BoI) said, “Finance is the least of the problems that an entrepreneur faces.”

In her view, a good business plan has nothing to do with gender, adding, “By translating your passion into the business plan and doing your research on the business angle, rather than working on the presumption that being in the media will automatically translate to success in a media related business”.