Context of She Owns Media Initiative
The inception of the She Owns Media Initiative stems from Jamii Media’s recognition of the stark gender disparity prevalent in Tanzania’s media landscape. Despite women dominating journalism schools, the professional realm reflects a notable gender gap, as the Glass Ceiling report indicates. Shockingly, only 40% of media workers are women, with a mere 28% occupying journalistic roles and 30% attaining senior management positions. Despite technological advancements promising to bridge this gap, the reality falls short.
The current technological revolution presents unique opportunities for change, exemplified by the contrasting initial licensing fees for Free-to-Air TV (TZS 32,000,000) and online TV (TZS 500,000). Additionally, a growing demand for agenda-based content opens new revenue avenues. This scenario sets the stage for increased opportunities for women to own and influence media, fostering diversity in the media landscape.
However, this potential remains largely untapped. In implementing the Digital Media Innovation Program, only 33% of the 430 content providers who applied were women, and a mere 25% of them were online media owners. Despite the technological disruption, women’s effective participation in the media landscape remains challenging. Conversations with women in online media highlighted vital obstacles, including a lack of knowledge about the ownership process, limited technical training, minimal understanding of media business, inadequate access to production tools, and financial constraints.
The She Owns Media Initiative addresses these challenges by actively contributing to increasing women’s participation in the online media space. The initiative focuses on supporting a greater number of female journalists to own their online media platforms in Tanzania through foundational technical and business skills training. This involves providing grants to support aspiring female journalists in their journey to own and operate online media channels, thereby empowering them to effectively shape and diversify the media landscape.
About the Program
The She Owns Media spanned two months from January 2024, with the overarching goal of increasing women’s ownership of online media platforms in Tanzania. Recognizing and addressing the barriers female journalists face, the initiative employs a multifaceted approach encompassing mentorship, registration grants, and specialized training.
The initiative aimed to:
a) Identify and Partner with 20 Female Journalists
b) Online Training on Foundational Technical and Business skills to 20 Female Journalists
c) Physical Training on online media registration procedures for 5 Female Journalists
d) Registration grants to 3 female-owned online media
What We Learned During Implementation
Several key insights emerged throughout the implementation of the She Owns Media Initiative, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities inherent in empowering women in the media industry.
High Interest and Demand: The She Owns Media Initiative response was overwhelming, with over 200 journalists expressing a desire to participate. This keen interest underscores the urgent need for initiatives that support and empower women in media ownership.
The Power of Ownership: Participants emphasized the transformative power of owning one’s online media platform. It allows for greater control over content, amplifying unique voices and agendas often overlooked in male-dominated editorial rooms. One participant interested in climate change highlighted how it is not a focus in their newsroom; however, it is a matter of public interest, but so many of her climate-related stories were not posted. This prompted her to desire to have her online media to focus on what matters to her.
Multifaceted Approach: The barriers to women’s participation in media ownership are multifaceted and intertwined with societal norms. Addressing these barriers requires a holistic approach beyond providing knowledge of registration processes to encompass ongoing support, mentorship, and skill development opportunities. The success of She Owns Media was based on the strategy to provide foundational training through a self-paced e-learning platform, followed by online training, practical exercises to apply learned skills, and face-to-face physical training.
In conclusion, the She Owns Media Initiative has provided insight into women’s interest in participating in media and proven ways to capacitate women while showcasing that they can create unique human interest stories and represent voices currently dimmed in mainstream media. The stories they made during the program have a unique lens on issues; thus, empowering women to own media is not just for them, it is for the society as a whole, ensuring that many voices are represented in media.