PCOO Roadshow pushes for
gender-fair media reporting
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, October 5, 2019 (PIA)—The call for gender fair reporting to motivate people to form social values and further elevate equality of gender resounds at the recent Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Roadshow at the Bohol Island State University last week.
In a presentation prepared by no less than PCOO Assistant Secretary for operations and legislative Atty. Ana Marie Rafael-Banaag shared during the one-day forum attended by local government officials, national government agencies, social studies teachers, representatives of the academe, media and students, government authorities called for balanced reporting and skipping off stereotypes when reporting.
Stereotyping, as defined by the United Nations, is the practice of ascribing to an individual woman or man, specific attributes, characteristics or roles on the sole basis of her or his membership of the social groups of women and men.
Starting the advocacy, PCOO called on the media to start making the difference.
Media feed the consuming public with messages that end up making people form their social values, and this can perpetuate the inequality which many have pointed out now, PCOO said.
Over this, PCOO pushes for media to do away from stereotypical portrayal and rigid gender roles.
All we need to ask is for the media to strive to show a multi-faceted representation of men and women, do away from sexist language, and language that disparages women, the PCOO speaker who read Atty Banaag’s statements.
Instead of sales girls, use sales women, or language that perpetuates unfair and unequal gender relations like man and wife to mean husband and wife, she said.
And address people in a gender-neutral manner, PCOO suggested.
Finally, the PCOO, which is now carrying the Philippine Council for Women’s new edition of Media and Gender Equality Guidebook on Gender Fair Media Guidebook to Bohol, said there are already a long list of non-sexist language, one which the book contains.
Let us start putting the equality in gender in the proper perspectives, and maybe, we can advance real gender fair society, a roadshow participant echoed after the topic on gender fair media reporting. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
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