Bhubaneswar: On its 1st foundation day, the Odisha Women in Media (OWM) on Monday celebrated women journalists’ accomplishments and positive contributions.
Gracing the occasion as chief guest, Editor of The Shillong Times and a Padma Shri (2000) Patricia Mukhim said, “It’s important to give women of rural places a voice so that their voices are heard.”
“Journalism requires a lot of passion and energy. Women journalists should show solidarity with one another. It’s important to stand with one another,” asserted Mukhim.
As many as 180 members attended the function held at a hotel in Bhubaneswar.
President of OWM, Kasturi Ray, set the tone and agenda for the programme, chalking out the future vision of the organisation.
Minati Behera, chairperson of the State Commission for Women, spoke about the inspiration and inclusion of women in every sector. “When I joined the post, there were 12,000 cases. Now, there are around 2200 cases only. Women in media have an important role in highlighting cases we sometimes tend not to see.”
Deepa Adhikari, former Broadcast Journalist and Development Communication Expert and Founder-Director of Pipilika, stressed on developing the listening skills, especially of women journalists. “It’s not that there are the voiceless — there is no one to hear them. We can do grassroot reporting with renewed energy if we hear the unheard.”
She also said that we don’t talk about intellectual marginalisation, which prevents us from hearing the voices of the vulnerable.
Encouraging the OWM members to follow their passion and not to give up, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das was once a journalist before she joined politics. Das also shared her story of struggles and efforts in reporting. Das said, “Now, whenever I am in the field as a politician, I immediately connect to the problems and difficulties of the people. But, in both the fields, it is bouquets and brickbats – more of the latter.”
OWM gave out two awards in Odia and English journalism. Satarupa Samantray of Argus TV (Odia) and Aishwarya Mohanty, an Independent Journalist (English) bagged the awards in these categories.
Besides, OWM also held panel discussions on the representation of unheard voices in media today. Also, OWM held conversations with grassroots workers.
