By Babirekere Clothilda
Meet Byamukama Patrick, a News Editor with Liberty FM in Hoima district who attests to enhancing women voices in his stories and diverse media work. After ten years of considering ‘powerful’ sources in society regardless of gender, Byamukama recognizes that majority of which were male thus gender imbalanced reporting.
“I had worked with the media for over ten years before getting an opportunity to participate in UMWA’s training sessions on gender sensitive reporting. Previously, I’d source comments from those people who are fast and important in society, usually the men and key persons in government (Civil servants, the Police, Members of Parliament, and Local Council Five Chairpersons). This has changed after participating in the UMWA/DGF training sessions. Today I deliberately ensure that my stories include women’s voices, and people living with disabilities. It does not matter if they are slow, because I learnt to be patient and appreciate their socialisation process. After the training, I now report including women’s voices and other marginalized groups to ensure they are heard. I also plan to prioritize women issues in News and programs” recalls Byamukama.
The Liberty FM News Editor reveals that a number of products have changed for women politicians in his media house, especially during this electoral period that is digital based.
He says that Liberty FM has subsidized the women politicians’ fees. The DJ mentions and announcements, which used to cost between UGX 25,000 – UGX 15,000 cost UGX 10,000, and the radio has encouraged women politicians to participate in political meetings, rallies and dialogues. These are pre-recorded and aired out on Liberty radio. The station’s performance and revenue has improved, and the number of announcements has improved by about (60%), who are mostly women candidates.
Byamukama applauded the efforts of UMWA that through its strategic engagements with the media and women politicians in Hoima district, it has contributed to building self-confidence among the women leaders and strengthened the relationship between women leaders and the media.
“More women contested for various leadership positions. They have also started to use other platforms other than the radio talk shows to reach their communities. I have seen Many women politicians who were not initially on social media are now using Facebook to campaign. I also received phone calls from some ten women politicians requesting for media coverage, which was not the case before. I request UMWA to continue with the commendable work they are doing since change of attitude/mindset requires time and persistent” said Byamukama.
