African Women in Media to host 5th annual conference

By Wallace Mawire African Women in Media will host  its 5th annual conference #AWiM21, a virtual conference to be  held from 6 to 8 December 2021, featuring over 100 speakers, sixteen panels, two keynote sessions, four workshops and four roundtables, according to the organisers. African Women in Media 2021 Conference (#AWiM21) is themed 'Building Resilience: The Future of Media in Africa'. It is expected to  bring together over 100 expert speakers from all over the world, discussing a range of critical media issues from 'Reporting and Investigating Protests' to 'Media Representation', 'Journalism Sustainability', 'Media, Women and Development Agendas', and much more. AWiM21 Keynote Speakers this year include Phathiswa Magopeni, Editor-in-Chief & Group Executive, SABC News & Current Affairs. Magopeni is a leading figure in journalism in South Africa and an academic, having taught at the University of the Western (UWC) and University of Cape Town (UCT) - Dr Sarah Macharia, Gender & Communication Manager WACC and GAMAG General Secretary. Dr Macharia led the 2021 Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP). - Lina Attalah, Co-founder and Editor, Mada Masr Media, an Egypt-based independent news website. Attalah has worked in Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Gaza, covering moments held as turning points for people there. "We are pleased to have such a distinguished line-up of speakers," said Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, Co-founder & CEO, AWiM. "As is always the case at AWiM's annual conference, we bring together media practitioners, academics, policy actors and civil society." AWiM21 is supported by MacArthur Foundation, the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, WAN-IFRA Women in News, Fojo Media Institute, UNEP and UN Women. "Thanks to our partners, we are pleased to offer 500 free admission tickets to AWiM21", adds Dr Akinbobola. "We are also pleased to host the event on the conferencing platform Whova, which allows us to host several engagement activities, including speed networking, games and an exciting photo contest amongst conference attendees". Via Whova, it is reported that delegates can sign up for sessions and network directly with each other. Each day will consist of a plenary session, panels, workshops and speed networking. AWiM21 ends with four roundtables to discuss critical issues relating to funding gender and media development, gender and media scholarship, media and development agendas, and gender policies in newsrooms. African Women in Media is an international non-governmental organisation for African women working in media industries anywhere in the world. It aims to positively impact the way media functions in relation to African women. The vision is that women of African heritage will have equal access to representation and opportunities in media industries and media content one day. Founded as a Facebook group in 2016,  members are African women in diverse media backgrounds from factual to fictional content, marketing and communications, academia, entrepreneurship and more. As an international organisation, It aims to support and collaborate with like-minded organisations. AWiM Conferences bring together media practitioners and organisations, academics, policymakers and gender and media CSOs.