Rural Women with a Nose for News

Women Make News

The Real Pulitzer Nominees

Good Morning, Britain

Sex and the "Seeti"

Child-Viewers & Violent Screens

Gloria Steinem-speak

'Porn & Mainstream Media Boundaries Have Become Blurred'

The Dark Side of Media Hype

Watching the Watchdog

India
Rural Women with a Nose for News
Geeta Seshu

'Khabar Lahariya', the country's first and only newspaper in Bundeli language is brought out by an all-woman team drawn from Dalit and the Kol tribal communities of Chitrakoot and Banda districts of Uttar Pradesh. Funded by an NGO, the eight-page fortnightly covers news, development and women's issues. The reporters, who double up as editors, proof-readers, production workers, marketing executives and even distributors, travel extensively to unearth stories of women at the bottom of the economic, social and political ladder. Now, as KL is set to become a weekly, it is expected to give bigger newspapers in the region a run for their money.

"Mainstream papers don't talk to everyone. Usually, they talk to the 'sarpanch' (village council head). But we talk to everyone. We are interested in everyone."

[Photographs Available]

India
Women Make News
Manisha Prakash

An all-woman news network in rural Bihar, called 'Appan Samachar' (our news), has taken on the role of the fourth estate in earnest. Armed with a handycam, tripod and gun mike, the crew of teenage reporters walks long distances into the interiors of villages to gather news that highlights local social and economic problems. The news bulletin, produced for a target audience that cannot afford to own a television set, is telecast at a common screening in the village once a month. Through their content, the enthusiastic broadcast journalists create awareness about rights, throw light on how viewers can improve the quality of their lives and even debunk myths.

"Lots of people watch this news programme and the poor are benefiting from it. Through this medium, their voice is reaching the people's representatives."

[Photographs Available]

India
The Real Pulitzer Nominees
Shuriah Niazi

A weekly Hindi newspaper brings out news with the motto: of the women, by the women and for the women. Not only does the newspaper report on issues of relevance to marginalised women, the publication also engages female volunteers, who are largely illiterate, as its correspondents. These journalists gather information and then narrate the facts to the editorial desk. The initiative has helped highlight the concerns of women, nudged authorities out of their slumber and has empowered women to find their voice, confidence and unconscious competence.

"I realised my potential only while working here. I believe I can do anything. I can approach any authority for my work now."

[Photographs Available]

United Kingdom
Good Morning, Britain
Barbara Lewis

Strong, glamorous, high-profile women presenters, such as the Indo-Anglian Nikki Bedi and Birmingham-born Sonia Deol, are helping Britain's Asian women radio listeners to assert their identity through the airwaves of Britain's Asian radio networks. While the radio programmes once provided a service for new arrivals to the nation in their own language, they now offer music and debate that reaches out to a wide audience.

"When you have the ability to have the megaphone like that, you have a huge responsibility to set an example and to lead if people are looking up to you. It has to be combined with sensitivity."

[Photographs Available]

India
Sex and the "Seeti"
Manisha Prakash

An entire music industry is thriving in Bihar by propagating women as nothing but sex objects; and with Holi round the corner, the Bhojpuri music industry is set rake in the cash with a combination of lewd lyrics and suggestive choreography. Top of the pops is the spin-off on the extramarital affair of a Patna University professor with a student half his age. While traditionalists are upset about the vulgarisation of Bhojpuri culture, the music shops, video stars and lyricists have no qualms about the crass portrayal of women in the songs. The burgeoning Bhojpuri film industry has also taken a cue.

"These songs are giving rise to a 'seeti' (cat call) culture and are doing nothing worthwhile for Bhojpuri culture. Bhojpuri is known for loud songs and eroticism to a certain limit. But previously, the songs were not played loudly in the open as a mark of respect for women."

[Photographs Available]

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