Tips On How Women Can Use The Media To Win

I have read with a lot of interest the contributions from Solange, Adamark from Nigeria and Regina Mundi from Cameroon. Some of you mentioned the negative impact the media play on female leaders. As a journalist and one who is working with women leaders I felt touched and decided to put together this for you it might help

You first of all have to have in mind that you are using the media to sell your ideas and yourself this is a commodity. For a commodity to sell well the packaging has to be attractive and the product in it good and competitive. Why this economics it is because the media is a market and all the market forces of demand and supply works here. She who has more money buys the best product.

On the other hand she who has a good product has a better bargain so before you contact a media organ or they contact you have this in mind. If you feel you do not have enough money go for the second goal your product. How do you package your product? First of all bring in something new it may be a plan of action and sell it well: what is it, how it will help the people, how will the life of the people change with your new program, what was wrong before. Also know the statistics of you country well and use quotations to show you know what you are saying.

You may have had a problem that you are afraid that there is information that might be used against you such as divorce or single parent especially in Africa. Take your time and prepare the answer for that and keep it handy so that whenever you are asked you should not babble. Take for example divorce. A question like this can be asked. You cannot manage your home so do you think you can manage the country, or the municipality? A quick answer can be, “I wanted to liberate myself. I did that. I now see the importance of making a giant step by getting out of torture, suppression, etc. and I want to use my experience to help liberate you from those who have been ………..it is not a good thing to divorce but in my case that was the best option.”

Develop a good profile of yourself and keep it handy. If possible, let it be done by a professional. Here you are selling your experience. Do not neglect the groups you have led, the project done through your initiative, and your community participation.
Have the numbers of all important media institutions in your country. Call them when you have an event. Let them know you. Why not visit them and hand a copy of your profile.

Know that as you struggle to sell high so too do others try to put you down. Be ready for criticisms and let them not frighten you. If you are criticized by a media, look for a way to clarify things. Do not let issues go unanswered. Do not try to play the saint. You are human and can make mistakes. We all do and if you do apologize.

The media can build or destroy your political career so you have to be careful. Think twice before you act or say something. Once you are a leader you have no private life so keep this in mind.

Wish you the best,
Che Bridgette Fomunyam
Cameroon Radio Television[ CRTV]
Email biddy2ft@yahoo.com

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Doubts!

Enviado por DELPHINE ANNI el Vie, 2007-06-29 12:19.

Hello Mme,
I want to use this opportunity to thank you for
the rich packet.
The question that puzzles me most is to know if it is proper for a journalist to openly declare he/her own party over the air.
Secondly, I am interested to find out from iKNOW Politics if it is right for us to use our children during national days to match for a political party as majorite. Most often,we, women, are the brain behind this arrangement.

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Ethics of Journalism

Enviado por bfomunyam el Lun, 2007-07-02 20:41.

Hello Delphine Anni, thanks for your mail. To answer your question I will say journalists are human beings and have a right to participate in political parties of their choice. There are also many areas of journalism. Some journalists specialize in a particular political party and work as the journalist for that political party. If that is the case then the journalist does everything to promote that party. On the other hand, if a journalist really wants to practice the journalism profession fairly, he/she should be neutral. That way he/she will see things and judge them objectively. What you should have in mind is that journalism like any other profession and has the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are those who don’t follow the ethics of the profession and those who do.

To answer your second question whether children should be used to match as majorettes for political parties, I will say yes and no. I say yes if those children are interns being trained under that political ideology or have agreed to march. The ages of the children also are an important factor. If they are children of politicians of that party marching with their parents, there is nothing wrong if they are only marching. I see them playing the same role as children carrying flowers during a wedding. Delphine, this whole notion of using journalists as role models all the time can sometimes be frustrating, so you have to be careful.

Sincerely,

Bridgette

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