In the News
Woman Journalist in Somalia Receives Death Threats
Bisharo Waeys, a television journalist in Somalia, escaped attempts on her life on May 4. Waeys was driving to her home in Bossasso when she came under fire from several armed men but escaped by accelerating quickly and driving away. The next day, she received two text messages threatening to kill her if she did not stop her program. Waeys is the only woman working openly as a journalist in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia.
Read about Waeys on Reporters Without Borders' Web site.
Gender Analysis Released by the MIW Radio Group
The Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio Group has released a 2007 Gender Analysis study. According to the study, out of more than 10,000 radio stations, only about 15 percent have women general managers. For full details, click the link below to read the report.
Read the PDF of the MIW Report.
Former Lifetime Award Winner Reports for Newsweek
Peta Thornycroft, the recipient of a 2007 IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award, wrote an article for Newsweek magazine about the situation in Zimbabwe. "We forgot to remember that Mugabe's democratic urges are never more than brief spasms," she wrote.
Read Thornycroft's piece in Newsweek.
Tips & Guides: Giving and Receiving Constructive Criticism
Constructive Criticism:
- Provides feedback that enhances job results
- Leads to ongoing personal and professional development
- Reduces stress and creates psychological security
- Helps improve interpersonal relationships
- Helps develop the ideal organizational climate
Golden Rules of Giving Criticism:
- Give criticism in private.
- Do not sound threatening.
- Keep the criticism balanced.
- Focus on the problem, not on the person's personality.
- Don't overstate the problem by using words such as "always," "never" or "worst."
- Give criticism soon after the event.
- Pose questions that let the person do the work for you.
- Stick to one subject. Don't string together criticisms at one sitting.
- Don't remind people of previous instances that were resolved.
- Use the "I" mode.
Golden Rules of Receiving Criticism:
- Welcome feedback.
- Listen to the criticism.
- Maintain eye contact and open body language as you listen.
- Restate the criticism to make sure you understand it.
- View the criticism as an attempt to fix a problem, not a personal attack.
- Focus on possible solutions to each criticism.
Developed by Jerusha Arothe-Vaughn, director of human resources, InCA (Nairobi) for the AWMC's Carole Simpson Leadership Institute. Reprinted with permission.