Advocacy in and on the media

Since its inception CFAR has been committed to advocacy in, and on, the media. We have been monitoring print, radio and television, conducting surveys on emerging trends and as a supportive and implementing partner we have been using our research findings to create awareness about critical issues among the media and advocate in many ways.

In the mid-90s we set up Viewer's Forums in several cities to enable viewers to put forward their opinions on what was being telecast in an organized and timely manner. Since then many of these viewers have become vocal advocates in their own right. We also began working with NGOs, particularly those involved with gender and development, to create a nationwide network that would enable them to access media and inform media about their work. Initially, our advocacy was at the level of the media and the focus was on bringing about a change in the representation of women that was reflective of the experience, needs and aspirations of women across the country.

However, with the advent of 24 hour channels and a proliferation of print media, there was the growing realization that the media could be used to influence public opinion and shape policy and that it was imperative to work with it. This prompted a paradigm shift in our media advocacy initiatives from consumer education to the building of capacities of individuals and communities to understand that the media could be a source of strength and more importantly how they could influence it in the domain of contestation.

Interacting with the media

We have also been working closely with the media and policy makers and using every opportunity to sensitizing and make them aware of critical issues like HIV/AIDS, the growing incidence of female foeticide, domestic violence and the concerns of the burgeoning numbers of urban poor all over the country. For instance in 2002-03 when the Select committee of Parliament on the Domestic Violence Bill sought public deposition Viewer's Forum and CFAR submitted a memorandum on the derogative and disrespectful portrayal of women in the media. Based on our submission the Standing Committee in its final report called for strict monitoring and ruled that "wherever women are being portrayed objectionably it should be immediately taken up the matter with the appropriate authority."

CFAR has been part of the policy -making process with a presence on the Task Force set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the implementation of the Conditional Access System, in which it represented viewers. And on the technical resource group of the national program on HIV/AIDS. Schools and colleges also consult it while developing the curriculum of their journalism courses.  Read More