RANAIVOSON Mbinintsoa – Madagascar

I am the Publications Director at Frequence Plus, which means it is me who decides what will be broadcast or not. It is an exciting and intense position. I grew up in Antananarivo. After my secondary school, I studied at the Francophone Department, at the University of Antananarivo. Then, I was in training period at the radio station RLI, Antsiva and finally at Frequence Plus. As the son of a journalist, I was influenced by father who was passionately found of journalism.

I met Gender Links for the first time at a press conference, and then they came to the radio station. Since then, we have worked together extensively. We attend workshops and briefing sessions given by GL, and of course we’ve had media coverage of their events. Now, this is the first time I’m taking part in a national summit.

Since starting my engagement with Gender Links, I have become more open and frank. I’ve also become more curious of areas of work that, in the past, I had no experience with. For example, before, I didn’t ask questions in everything I do. Now, I am conscious of the stereotypes I may have, and I always ask questions first. I understand how important women are for the development of our organization, and for the country. I see that they have a lot to contribute to the content of our programming, and since they do not always speak up, I take responsibility for seeking them out.

I have learned from my partnership with Gender Links that I must consider skills, experience, and competence along with gender. I have seen that often, women are more convincing then men, but men may have more experience and opportunities. So, for the good of the organization, we must look holistically at each situation to get the best people involved.

One thing that has really impressed me about the partnership with Gender Links is the Gender Action Plan we have been working on. Our organization is really making efforts to achieve this. It is the first time I have really seen gender become a concrete issue for us. Other organizations might talk about gender equality, but with Gender Links, I can see what it means for our work. I now know to balance men and women as sources in our reporting, for example.

In the past, I held certain gender stereotypes. Gender Links has made me aware of this. The more I make an effort to work with and support women and men, the more I see this stereotypes disappearing. Without this partnership, I would not know how important gender can be.

In addition to by role in Frequence Plus, I’m also the Head of Communications for the Prime Minister. So apart from impacting communications here, I have also made changes in the way I produce communications for the Prime Minister. His discourse is important for the nation. Now, when I am writing speeches for him, I pay attention to the introductory sentence. In Malagasy culture, we usually name men before women (tompokolahy sy tompokovavy) but now I write “tompokovavy sy tompokolahy” in his speeches. This because I see the important role of women in our society; they are not less important than men.

It is my role to make difference to the lives of other women, both as a citizen and as a journalist. Journalists play an important role in educating the public; the way we understand and frame stories is important.