South State TV and Radio has joined the media houses that recognized the efforts of the female journalists. The management has promoted Kaltun Mustaf Noor as the Head of programs of Southwest state TV.
Kaltun, a female journalist born and bred in Mogadishu joined the media in 2017, worked with various media houses as a reporter and a producer and gained experiences which encouraged the management to promote her to the head of programs.
“Initially, I was not expecting this abrupt change that female journalists will receive equal opportunities with male due to the restrictive and negative stereotypes but now it is evident that there are waves of changes that are recognizing the women journalists and their efforts” says Kaltun. “I am happy with the promotion and I believe it will boost my ability and uplift the image of female journalists in Somalia and Southwest in particular. I am capable of accomplishing my assigned roles diligently without supervision”
Kaltun who took her primary and secondary studies in Mogadishu is now studying public administration at Bai University in Baidoa. She believes that education is the only tool that can boost the level and the role of women journalists in the competitive and male dominated industry.
“After powerful thinking, I found out that women lag behind in terms of education and this allows the male journalists to reach the top positions unopposed. This neglect and inequality in the industry will continue if women journalists don’t improve their education and skills, therefore as a powerful tool of change, education can boost the role of women in media”
Kaltun was confronted by many challenges in her path, first her family objected her decision to join the media in 2015. Just like the other members of the community, the parents believed that media is not a profession fit for a woman. Also, she highlighted that the society which is male dominated perpetuate unrealistic and stereotypical perceptions which contribute to normalizing violence against women journalists.
“The community looks down upon female journalists and try to discourage them not to make tangible changes in media. Initially, my family and I were not reading from the same script on how a woman can work as a journalist. They opposed my decision severally but finally in 2017 they allowed me to join media after they got satisfied with my ambition” she added “If we [women journalists] are discouraged by these issues, we will not go far and the equality will be a story of the past”
Kaltun blames lack of cooperation and connection among the women journalists as the main reason behind the inequality and discrimination in media sector.
“There is no cooperation and connection among the female journalists in Southwest state and this has undermined the other female journalists in the region who could have emulated us as role models and their lack of cooperation will reduce the chances of competing the male counterparts in media. The women journalists have to speak with one voice and face the challenges that undermine them as a unified body” she confirms “My first role will be uniting the women journalists in the region so that they can be in better position to fight for their rights”
“The challenges facing the women journalists can be solved through enactment of equal opportunity legislation which will ensure women journalists get the same access to jobs, promotion and training opportunities as men” she adds “Also, I believe if women journalists speak up with one voice for equal treatment they can overcome the problems”
According to Kaltun, the female journalists welcomed her promotion and viewed it as a rightful and equitable position which female journalists longed for. She highlighted that their full support and advices have already impacted her work.
The female journalists have to rally behind, support and give advice to their fellow sisters in top management.
“A female journalist who is in a male dominated industry can meet challenges and will not be easy to manage without the support advice from my sister who we share a lot – I am happy they already welcomed me. I have some plans that will help me overcome challenges partly if they arise. First, I will not pretend to be a boss but I would like them to see me as a co-worker who share responsibility with them and needs their advice and support”
Promotion
The director of Southwest state TV, Omar Mustaf said the management of the TV has taken the decision to promote Kaltun as head of programs due to her commitment and hard work. Mustaf underlined that the TV hires and promotes the competent employees who exemplify effectiveness without discrimination.
“We work for a government owned TV station, and every journalist- male or female work for the government, therefore they are all equal when it comes to salary, job and responsibility and we don’t discriminate on the basis of race, sex, colour or gender, that means our hiring and promotion system in based on merit. If the female is educated and can execute her work professionally, there is no point of discriminating her, she will get the same opportunity with the male counterparts”
“Kaltun has showed pride in her work and epitomized productivity and efficiency and this encouraged the management to take the bold decision of her promotion. Currently four female journalists operate in Southwest TV and radio as reporters and producers”
Since the TV signed the gender declaration, they redoubled their efforts of empowering the female journalists working in the station and made a number of changes.
“We encouraged the female journalists to work hard and compete with their male counterparts and reach their ambitions- they have started a gamechanger tactics, many have joined Universities and I am sure they will challenge the status quo and make differences. I am happy to confirm that a number of them are playing an active role in career development which in turn boosted their work at the station”
As a means of boosting the capability of women journalists, the director stated that the TV has made efforts to send female journalists to attend trainings that will help them develop decision-making roles.
Kaltun is among was among many journalists who attended many trainings conducted by Somali Women Journalists Organization (SWJO) in collaboration with IMS-FOJO. The important trainings Kaltun and the other female journalists attended were Somali media women for change and threats against women journalists in workplace.
The objectives of the trainings which accommodated 15 female journalists each were
to portray the challenges faced by women journalists, transform the predominant culture
and create a concreate change for female journalists in Somali media sector.
In December 2018, media across Somalia signed the SWJO-driven Gender Respect Declaration advocating the need to respect the rights of women in media, and create equal opportunity platforms where female journalists have the same access to jobs, promotion and training opportunities.
This move has given a positive feedback to the tireless efforts of SWJO and IMS-FOJO to create a conducive working environment for female journalists in media.
Leave a Reply