This project is financed by the European Union

Launched in January 2004 under the EU-India Economic Cross Cultural Programme, the project “Europe and India: Building Paths to Equality in Journalism” aims to promote cross-cultural co-operation between Europe and India on equality, ethics and non-discrimination in media. It will establish an action plan to implement best practice of equality provision in Indian media through dialogue and networking between journalists’ groups of Europe and India. Based on the experience of Indian and European partners, the project will cover the provision of equality rights within media and actions related to improvement of the portrayal of women in media and the promotion of ethical and independent journalism.

The twin objectives of quality and ethical journalism and gender equity in media will be achieved by:

• raising awareness of the status of women in media institutions and the conditions in which Indian women journalists work, the ethics of how women are portrayed in media and how unions and media managements can better represent the interests of women in their internal relations; and

• promoting high standards of media ethics by improving the capacity of journalists and their representative organisations to create the conditions necessary for journalists to practice journalism in a secure professional and social environment free from commercial and political pressure.

The project will also establish an EU-India women’s network to exchange information and experiences. The network will also develop a viable process of co-operation between Indian and European unions on the promotion of best practice in employment rights covering contractual status, recruitment and access to training.

The project, supported by the European Commission, is being implemented by the Bangalore Newspaper Employees Union (BNEU), an affiliate of the All India Newspaper Employees Federation (AINEF), with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) as the lead partner, and the NUJ (Great Britain and Ireland) and the DJV (Germany) as the European partners.

An extensive survey is currently underway in India to look into the professional status of women in media and their working conditions; their role at work; their possibilities for editorial advancement and their engagement in the work of journalists’ unions.

A quarterly newsletter and web-site will disseminate information about these initiatives. Visit this site for further updates.

Other activities in the project will include:

- a national conference to look at the results of the Indian survey (India)
- three 7-day missions to Europe of 10-15 indian women journalists (Belgium, Germany, UK)
- two 2 days seminars on strategies for gender equality in India (India)
- two 5 days workshops on training and union organizing (India)
- a EU-Indian conference and the adoption of a non discrimination charter by employers (India)
- the publication of a EU-India women in media handbook

Contacts:

International Federation of Journalists
Gender Officer: Pamela Morinière

India
Bangalore Newspaper Employees Union
Co-ordinators: Parul Sharma and M.L. Talwar
Website and newsletter editor: Laxmi Murthy

Great Britain and Ireland
National Union of Journalists UK
Jeremy Dear and Michelle Stanistreet

Germany
Deutscher Journalisten Verband (DJV)
Michael Klehm and
Annegret Witt-Barthel