The Inter-institutional Media Challenge (IMC) Season 5
IMC is an annual media challenge for Universities/Institutes offering Journalism and Mass Communication as a major course in Uganda. The premise of IMC is to create a platform for aspiring journalists to exhibit their skills and talents but above all to expose their talents to media houses for possible employment opportunities. IMC is hinged on three categories; News anchoring and reporting, essay writing and photography competitions.
Category 2: IMC #HeForShe Gender Equity Writing Competition
Grounded on the principle that gender equity and equality affects us all and that gender equality is no longer a women only battle, in September 2014, UN Women initiated a solidarity campaign dubbed #HeForShe aimed at engaging men and boys as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights. #HeForShe campaign encourages men to take action against negative gender inequalities faced by women and girls. Gender equality being a priority focus for Uganda, the government became part of the global HeForShe movement to support gender empowerment. The Media Challenge Initiative through its four year old Inter-institutional Media Contest is joining the movement by using the IMC essay writing and photo contest to provide journalism students a voice in this campaign to share their vision, ideas and insights on how to foster gender equality and equity through male involvement.
Using solutions journalism approach students are tasked to write a feature story on the theme
“The Role of Men and Boys as Agents of Change in Achieving Gender Equity”
NOT exceeding 1,500 words. The essays can range from success stories of men and boys, individuals and organisations playing a vital role in engaging boys in gender equity advocacy and how such success stories can be replicated in other areas. It can also be about general strategies on promoting the role of men and boys in gender equity.
Category 3: IMC #HeForShe Gender Equity Photography Challenge
Modeled off the UN Women photography campaign with google search bars on women’s mouths to bring attention to gender stereotypes, our photography contest brings the #HeForShe campaign to life by engaging students to take headshots of MEN/BOYS and edit them to include a google search bar over their mouths where statements like “women should” or “women can” will be followed by a phrase describing and challenging a certain stereotype that men have over time helped to aggravate. The unique thing about this campaign is that the statements over men’s mouths should challenge the stereotype in a positive way. Instead of statements like “women cannot drive” we say “women can drive” to challenge stereotypes.
Realizing the power of photography and this advocacy campaign, submitted photos should be able to create awareness about gender inequality but also influence the audience to act. This calls for high level of imagination and creativity. Please submit your photographs by 20th October 2016. Photos will be posted on the Media Challenge Initiative website and Facebook page with #HeForSheUg for people to vote. Headshots of famous men in the country will earn a student more points. The top three photos with the most votes shall win awards.
