The Malta Sports Journalists Association organised the first ever seminar totally focused on women involved in the sports media industry, Training Women Sports Journalists and Reporters to Work More at Ease in The Sports Media Industry.

This seminar was hosted at one of the leading hotels in Malta and involved various speakers, including Dr Zsuzsa Csisztu who is a renowned sports journalist and presenter in Hungary. She’s also a sports lawyer, Vice President of the Hungarian Sports Journalists Association and one of the AIPS’ Vice Presidents.

Being one of the first women presenting football programmes in Hungary,  she shared the difficulties she encountered when she became part of the sports media sector including intimidations and verbal attacks.  She had the courage to take to court all those responsible for such intensified attacks, where she opened seven cases and won them all.  

Csisztu also emphasised the importance of training women journalists to be involved in a wide variety of sports programmes. She also spoke about the importance of having more women sportscasters and that women need to have “a mentor” to guide them in the eventuality of entering the sports media sector.

Earlier in this seminar Joanna Camilleri from TVMSport shared the challenges she met in her career as an athlete and as a sports journalist. She believes that both men and women must have equal opportunities and when women succeed, they don’t have to be compared with men but just given merit for their achievements.

Malta Sports Journalists Association’s General Secretary Lorraine Cunningham also made her speech. She was one of the first women on the local media in the beginning of the 90’s.

There was also an open discussion led by a panel formed by TVMSport’s Janice Briffa, Freelancer and Uefa's Venue Operations Broadcast Manager (VOBM) Catherine Micallef and Vicky Licari who is a former sports journalist at PBS. They all shared their experiences and encouraged all those present not to give up and do all the necessary training to optimize their skills.

Hon. Julia Farrugia Portelli, Minister for Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations, and Consumer Rights, also attended and addressed a speech on this occasion.

The seminar came to an end with speeches from AIPS Europe’s President Charles Camenzuli who also attended this seminar and Malta Sports Journalists Association’s President Sandro Micallef.

This seminar was made possible by the funds the Malta Sports Journalists Association obtained from the Training Initiatives Scheme managed by the Malta Council for Voluntary Sector (MCVS) and supported by the Ministry for Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Rights (MIVC).

Fi tmiem Il-ġimgħa, ġie organizzat b'suċċess l-ewwel seminar indirizzat u ffukkat totalment fuq il-ġurnalisti sportivi nisa bl-isem ta' Training Women Sports Journalists and Reporters to Work More at Ease In The Sports Media Industry.

Is-seminar li sar nhar is-Sibt li għadda f'lukanda ewlenija, kellu l-parteċipazzjoni ta' diversi kelliema, fosthom ta’ Dr Zsuzsa Csisztu li hi ġurnalista u preżentatriċi ta' fama fl-Ungerija, kif ukoll il-Viċi President tal-Assoċjazzjoni tal-Ġurnalisti tal-iSport Ungeriża kif ukoll waħda mill-Viċi Presidenti tal-AIPS, l-Assocjazzjoni Internazzjonali tal-Ġurnalisti Sportivi. Hija wkoll avukat li tispeċjalizza fil-liġi tal-isport u tkellmet dwar id-diffikultajiet tagħha biex daħlet f'dan is-settur fejn kellha taffaċċja wkoll intimidazzjoni u anke attakki verbali, relatati mal-fatt li kienet waħda mill-ewwel nisa li ppreżentaw programmi dwar il-futbol fl-Ungerija. Qalet li kienet għamlet il-kuraġġ sabiex meta dawn l-attakki personali kienu qegħdin jeskalaw, għamlet il-pass kuraġġuż u fetħet kawżi legali kontra dawn l-individwi, b'kollox seba' kawżi u li rebħithom kollha.

Csisztu tkellmet ukoll dwar l-importanza ta' taħriġ għall-ġurnalisti nisa u l-importanza li jkunu involuti f’varjetà iktar wiesa ta' programmi sportivi.  Hi tenniet ukoll l-importanza li aktar nisa jingħataw spazju anki fil-qari tal-aħbarijiet sportivi. Hija tenniet ukoll li l-iktar ħaġa importanti hija li meta tfajla tkun interessata li tidħol f'dan il-qasam, għandha dejjem issib dak li jissejjaħ “mentor” li tafdah u li jiggwidaha bil-mod il-mod biex tidħol f'dan is-settur.

Aktar kmieni, tkellmet il-ġurnalista ta’ TVMSport Joanna Camilleri fejn qasmet l-esperjenzi tagħha u l-isfidi li kellha, kemm bħala atleta kif ukoll bħala ġurnalista sportiva. Hija saħqet li n-nisa għandhom ikollhom l-istess opportunitajiet daqs l-irġiel. Hija żiedet li mara li tirnexxi m’għandhiex tkun ikkunsidrata li saret tajba daqs raġel, imma kisbet is-suċċess tagħha għax tħarrġet.

Tkellmet ukoll Lorraine Cunningham is-Segretarju Ġenerali tal-Għaqda Ġuranlisti Sports li kienet waħda mill-ewwel ġurnalisti nisa Maltin illi dehru u nstemgħu fuq il-midja lokali fil-bidu tas-snin 90.

Is-seminar kien jinkludi wkoll diskussjoni minn panel iffurmat minn ġurnalisti u nisa involuti fil-midja sportiva, fosthom Janice Briffa minn TVMSport, Catherine Micallef lil hija Freelancer u taħdem
mall-Uefa bħala Venue Operations Broadcast Manager (VOBM) flimkien ma' Vicky Licari eks-ġurnalista mal-PBS. Dawn ukoll ilkoll kemm huma qasmu l-esperjenzi tagħhom, fejn taw kuraġġ lil dawk preżenti biex ma jaqtgħux qalbhom u reġgħu saħqu wkoll fuq l-importanza ta' taħriġ kontinwu.

Għas-seminar kienet preżenti wkoll il-Ministru għall-Inklużjoni, Għaqdiet Volontarji u d-Drittijiet tal-Konsumatur, l-Onorevoli Julia Farrugia Portelli li wkoll għamlet diskors tal-okkażjoni.

Is-seminar ingħalaq b’diskorsi tal-President tal-AIPS Europe Charles Camenzuli li kien preżenti wkoll għal dan is-seminar u kif ukoll ta’ Sandro Micallef President tal-Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sport.

Dan is-seminar seta' jsir grazzi għall-fondi li l-Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sport irċeviet mingħand il-Kunsill Malti għas-Settur tal-Volontarjat (MCVS) permezz tal-iskema Training Initiatives Scheme u bl-appoġġ tal-Ministeru għall-Inkluzjoni, Għaqdiet Volontarji u d-Drittijiet tal-Konsumatur.