Assam Women Journalists’ Forum partners with Gauhati University for session on climate change, gender

The Assam Women Journalists’ Forum (AWJF), in collaboration with Gauhati University’s Department of Communication and Journalism held a training session on ‘Reporting Climate Change and Gender’ for the first time on September 19.

The session comes as climate change has wreaked havoc across the country, with the North East and Assam particularly vulnerable. Frequent floods and earthquakes severely impact lives and livelihoods in these regions. 

During the session, members of the AWJF emphasised that reporting on climate change and gender requires specific skills and knowledge from the resource persons.
 
Dr. Bharati Bharali, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, welcomed the resource persons and lauded the initiative, while AWJF president and PTI Bureau Chief Durba Ghosh delivered an introductory note on the newly-formed group. 

Pointing that there is no woman editor in mainstream media in Assam, Ghosh said, "We want that to change, hopefully, in the next 10 years."

Jayantakrishna Sarmah, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Dhrubajyoti Saharia, Secretary, University Classes, also attended the program, and provided their valuable inputs. 

The resource persons talked about local communities who are bearing the brunt of climate change and also how they are adapting to it. 

Meanwhile, senior journalists Mubina Akhtar and Ratna Bharali highlighted some of their landmark stories to provide a context to the way climate change has affected livelihood and living in this part of the world. 

Mubina Akhtar threw light on how climate change poses a threat to Assam’s heritage thread, Muga and the positive impact of her reportage on the issue, while Ratna Bharali drew on recent examples of displacement and labour to help understand how climate change is impacting livelihood in rural areas. 

Bharali emphasised that women do not often have access to local resources; however, women also have better adaptation strategies. 

AWJF vice president and news editor of ‘Dainik Agradoot’ Samim Sultana, spoke about pay parity and the fact that women are still not getting ‘equal pay for equal work’; she also spoke about making gender-sensitive reporting a priority in newsrooms. 

Independent journaists Angana Chakraborty and Chandrani Sinha also spoke during the event.

The session is a step by AWJF towards bridging the gap between the classroom and the news room so that students are better skilled to deal effectively with challenges of modern journalism.  

The resource persons of the training session included award-winning journalists who have reported extensively over the years on North East’s biodiversity, environment, wildlife, climate change and gender issues. They are PTI’s Bureau Chief Durba Ghosh, Dainik Agradoot’s News Editor Samim Sultana Ahmed and independent journalists Mubina Akhtar, Ratna Bharali Talukdar, Chandrani Singha and Angana Chakrabarti.

Assam Women Journalists’ Forum (AWJF) is a network of women media persons working in the state to provide a platform for their professional growth as well as mentor and skill new entrants to the media industry.