Ground-breaking Media Programmes Invite New Participants

WAN-IFRA is inviting female media professionals working in newspapers or digital media in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe to apply for its Women In News leadership development programme, which works with media companies to overcome the gender gap in management positions by equipping their high potential employees with the strategies, skills and support networks they need to take on a greater leadership role within their organisations.

Both men and women media professionals are invited to apply to the Media Professionals Programme MENA 2014, a project-based programme tailored for media throughout the Arab region that offers individual coaching, specialised workshops, mentoring by experienced colleagues and attendance at international media events to network and learn about the latest developments in news media.

Both initiatives are conducted under a strategic partnership to advance media development and press freedom worldwide between WAN-IFRA and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

The partnership allows WAN-IFRA to broaden and develop its press freedom and media development activities to support free and financially sustainable media worldwide. The goal is to strengthen the management and economic independence of the media sector to safeguard the media's watchdog function and its essential contribution to economic, social and cultural development.

Women in News has been active in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia for three years, where it has trained professionals in more than 20 media companies. More than half of participants have been promoted after the training, and nearly all – 88 per cent – have been given more responsibility in the workplace. The 2014 programme brings to the training to three new countries – Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe – and is open to media women with a minimum of 2 years in a middle management position in Malawi and Zimbabwe and 5 years middle management experience in South Africa.

The application form for the WIN programme can be downloaded at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/96278/ [1] and should be sent by Friday, January 17, 2014, to media.development@wan-ifra.org [2].

The Media Professionals Programme in the Middle East and North Africa in open to professionals in all countries in the region, with priority given to media in emerging markets. The programme seeks media that have a business or editorial project they wish to develop and implement under the guidance of media experts.

The application form for the MPP MENA programme can be downloaded at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/96280/ [3] and should be sent Sunday, 19 January 2014 to media.development@wan-ifra.org [2].

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore and India, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Deputy CEO and Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 96 bis, rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 07. Fax: +33 1 42 78 92 33. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org [4]