Fourth National Meet of Network of Women in Media in India (NWMI)

Fourth National Meet of Network of Women in Media in India (NWMI)

The Media, War and Peace: Will the Media in South Asia Give Peace a Chance?

The Bengal Network of Women in Media will host the Fourth National Meet of the Network of Women in Media in India (NWMI) in Kolkata, from 3 to 5 February, 2006. NWMI is an autonomous nationwide body of women journalists working for the print, online and broadcast media. Set up in 2002, it aims to provide a forum for women in media-related professions to share information and resources, exchange ideas, promote media ethics, to work towards gender equality and justice in media and society.

Agenda and Schedule:

3 February, 2006

10.30 am – 12.30 pm: Documentary film show: A Day in the life of a Hangman by Joshy Joseph. Director Joshy will introduce the film.

1.00 pm – 2.00 pm: Lunch at Max Mueller Bhavan

5.00 pm – 8.00 pm: Inauguration and Panel Discussion. Venue: Gyan Manch, 11 Pretoria Street

Subject: Media, War and Conflict: Will the Media in South Asia Give Peace a Chance?

Chair: Kalpana Sharma, Deputy Editor and Mumbai Bureau Chief of The Hindu.

Speakers: Rehana Hakim, editor, Newsline (Pakistan); Manisha Aryal, radio director, Antenna Foundation ( Nepal); Sumi Khan, senior reporter, Daily Shamokal (Bangladesh); Sharmini Boyle, producer YA TV (Sri Lanka); Mariam Rawi, publisher, Women’s Message (Afghanistan); Urvashi Butalia, director, Zubaan publishers, (India).

4 February, 2006

Venue: Jadavpur University, School of Women Studies

Morning session

9.00 am – 9.30 am: Registration

9.30 am –  11.00 am

Chair: Prof. Shefali Moitra, director, School of Women Studies, Jadavpur University

a) Why gender is not a niche issue: Speaker - Ammu Joseph, journalist.
b) Gender budgeting: Speaker - Dr Nirmala Bannerjee, economist.

11.15 am – 12.15 pm

Chair : Dr Jasodhara Bagchi , chairperson, State Women’s Commission

a) Felicitation of Vidya Munshi, the oldest and one of the first women reporters of Bengal.
b) Presentation: Bengal Network of Women in Media

12.15 pm –1.30 pm

c) Discussion on setting up of a South Asia network of women journalists

Co-chairs from NWMI : Laxmi Murthy (Delhi) and Akhileswari (Hyderabad)

Afternoon Session

2.30 pm - 5.00 pm

Co-chairs from NWMI: Deepa Kandaswamy (Chennai) and Linda Chhakchhuak (North-East network)

Presentation by regional networks 10 mins each

Discussion on the presentations follow.

5 February, 2006

10.00 am – 2.00 pm 

The day starts with a 15 minutes’ demonstration by a yoga expert on how to relax while at work, journalism being one of the most stressful professions.

10.15 am: Session starts

Co chairs from NWMI: Payal Kumar (Delhi) and Meena Menon (Mumbai)

Future Activities:

a) Brainstorming on NWMI future programmes
b) Anjali Mathur on the future activities of the E-group and website. 
c) Anju Munshi on the freelancers’ difficulties; Rina Mukherjee on the age-limits for fellowships which excludes women who start late due to personal reasons.
d) Feedback on the Kolkata meet and Future NWMI Meet.

2.30 pm – 4.00 pm: Post-lunch “adda” (informal chat)

Invitation to creative writers, theatre persons, to interact with participants.

Topic: Gender and censorship

Moderators: Shoma A.Chatterji and Ranjita Biswas (Kolkata)

For more information: www.nwmindia.org