From 7 to 11 September 2026, Deutsche Welle’s DW Akademie hosted a Gender‑Sensitive Reporting training in Accra as part of the European Union‑funded African Media Integrity and Resilience (AMIR) Programme. The workshop brought together journalists from Ghana’s leading outlets to learn how language, tone and visual choices can shape public perceptions of gender.
Senior Consultant Sheila Mysorekar, the programme’s trainer, stressed that gender‑sensitive reporting is not a separate genre but a lens that enhances any story. “It is basically putting on a gender lens to any kind of reporting to make it better and more inclusive,” she said. She and correspondent Isaac Kaledzi covered topics such as recognising bias, using inclusive language, ensuring source diversity, selecting appropriate images and adopting solution‑oriented reporting.
Participants highlighted the value of the training. Princess King‑Quaye of Daily Graphic said the workshop helped reporters recognise unconscious biases that influence how achievements are portrayed. “We got to learn about how gendering people or reducing people to a stereotype could be a problem and diminish the hard work that people have about the achievements of other people,” she added. Jesse Owusu of Ghana News Agency noted that language can either reinforce or suppress gender bias, while Project Manager Cecil Ato Kwamena Dadzie underscored the media’s role in shaping social change and the need for fair, responsible coverage.
Attendees left the workshop with a renewed commitment to ask questions such as: “Does this story represent both genders?” and “Are there female experts I can engage on this issue?” The AMIR project, which aims to strengthen Ghana’s media ecosystem against disinformation and legal intimidation, sees such training as a key step toward inclusive storytelling and broader gender equality.
