Features
IWMF Announces 2008 Courage in Journalism Award Winners
The International Women's Media Foundation today announced the winners of 2008 Courage in Journalism Awards:
- Farida Nekzad, Afghanistan. Nekzad frequently receives phone calls and email messages threatening her life but remains committed to work toward a free press and greater equality for women journalists.
- Sevgul Uludag, Cyprus. A journalist for nearly three decades, Uludag has covered missing people and mass graves for both Turkish and Greek newspapers in Cyprus. She has received death threats and has been the subject of hate campaigns for her investigative reporting.
A third woman journalist has also won a Courage Award; her name will be released at a later date due to concerns for her safety.
The IWMF will also honor Edith Lederer with the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. Lederer, chief correspondent at the United Nations for the Associated Press, was the first female resident correspondent in Vietnam in 1972. She has worked on every continent except Antarctica since she began her journalism career in 1966.
This year's awards will be presented at ceremonies in Los Angeles on October 16 and New York on October 21. Award winners will attend a reception and panel discussion in Washington, D.C., on October 9.
- Click here to read the press release.
- Learn more about or help support the Courage Awards.
IWMF Names 2008-09 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow
The International Women's Media Foundation announced today that Jenny Manrique, a Colombian freelance journalist, has received the 2008-09 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. The annual fellowship gives a woman journalist working in print, broadcast or online media the opportunity to focus exclusively on human rights journalism and social justice issues.
Manrique writes for Comunicaciones Aliadas, a non-governmental online magazine based in Peru that focuses on Latin American news, particularly human rights. She has covered subjects such as kidnapping, drug trafficking and refugees and hopes to investigate Colombian paramilitaries and their ties with multinational corporations during her IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Click here to read more about Manrique in the press release.
- Learn more about the Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Help support this program.
Sally Sara Concludes Stint as IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow
Sally Sara, an anchor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has completed her year as the 2007-08 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow. She is now traveling in Asia conducting research for a new book. Before she left, Sara visited the IWMF and spoke about her experiences as the Neuffer Fellow.
- Watch video clips of Sally Sara talking about her time as the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow.
- Click here to read more about Sara.
- Learn more about the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship.
- Help support the IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fund.
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Difficult Conversations: How to Deal with Conflict in Newsrooms
by Lindsey Wray
We all deal with conflict on a daily basis, and in a newsroom, it can be exacerbated by tight deadlines.
Consider a newspaper reporter who constantly turns in stories late. This would hold up editors and the copy desk and could even delay the production schedule of the newspaper. Avoiding the issue would make the problem worse and disrupt workflow. The reporter's manger should plan to approach the reporter about why deadlines are being missed and how to best resolve the situation so that newspaper production can stay on track.
Difficult conversations, such as this one, involve the discussion – and hopefully resolution – of conflict. They can include everything from talking to someone about a missed deadline to laying someone off because of budget cuts.
People may react to issues that cause conflict by becoming confrontational or avoiding the situation completely for fear of hurting a co-worker's feelings. When considering whether to take action, people may fear the other person won't listen, that the situation may worsen or even that broaching a sensitive subject could result in job loss.
But by managing conflict and engaging in difficult conversations with awareness, you will turn the dialogue positive and make your newsroom more productive. Here are some tips to use before, during and after difficult conversations.
Before:
- Prepare: gather specific facts about the issue you plan to address
- Weigh the options: is the issue worth addressing now, later or at all?
- Analyze the situation from the other person's perspective
- Identify the ideal outcome of the conversation
- Consider the positive aspects as well as the problems associated with the issue
- Deal with the problem as soon as possible instead of letting things pile up
- Get support from supervisor if relevant; inform the human resources department if necessary
- Practice what you're going to say before having the conversation
During:
- Keep cool by anticipating a person's response
- State the problem directly, without emotional language and with the appropriate level of detail
- Ask open-ended questions, such as asking them to explain their side of the story
- Listen closely to understand the other person's point-of-view
- Stick to the issue at hand
- Encourage the other person to come up with possible solutions
- Mutually agree on outcomes, next steps and timeframe
- Identify any obstacles to meeting goals
- Explain the consequences if behavior does not change
- Schedule a follow-up discussion
After:
- Determine necessary documentation (for personnel files, etc.)
- Catch the other person doing something right – praise is appreciated in light of something negative
- Follow up as planned
- Be committed to helping the person and permanently resolving the situation
This article was based on a workshop conducted by Marci Burdick, senior vice president of broadcasting for Schurz Communications, for the 2007 International Women’s Media Foundation U.S. Leadership Institute in Chicago. For more information on the next leadership institute, visit www.iwmf.org/programs/leadership.
Lindsey Wray is the IWMF's communications coordinator.