Amman- 21 september 2021

At the request of the participants, the first additional workshop of the virtual “Together Against Discrimination” diploma addressed using data to investigate gender-based discrimination and issues within institutions.

“Together Against Discrimination” training program extends over a period of 3 months, within the framework of the “I Will Not Stay Silent” project launched by  ARIJ in partnership with the Facebook Journalism Project, Women in News / WAN-IFRA, the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), and SAFE, IREX, and supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office. The project aims at creating a safe, pluralistic, and diverse media working environment that is free of discrimination.

On September 21, 2021, the workshop was delivered by Nour Faraj, a data Journalist and trainer mainly experienced in data stories on gender and women’s rights. The session was co-moderated by Besan Jaber, the “I Will Not Stay Silent” project manager, and  Rouba El Helou, the project’s gender consultant. 

Faraj started the session by brainstorming with the participants on how to use data to detect gender-based discrimination cases, pointing out that data-driven research and stories lose their credibility if the numbers are not contexualized. Hence, dealing with data requires context considerations to make sense.

She also shed light on how to collect and verify data, noting that there are two types of data sources: primary sources, which include the auto generated data in cyberspace, such as registration data, surveys and questionnaires, and empirical research. The secondary sources include: reports and data, which are gathered by another party, such as international organizations, research institutions, etc.

The data journalist moved on data analysis, explaining the three levels of analysis: descriptive, diagnostic and predictive analysis. In addition, she provided some tools for data visualization by the end of the session.

“Together Against Discrimination” focuses on equipping participants with theoretical and practical hands-on knowledge to design and implement effective internal complaints mechanisms against various forms of misuse of authority in media institutions and general media working environments, such as fraud, corruption, harassment and hate speech, to permit stakeholders to best receive, respond, investigate and report any form of alleged complaints.