Women in Uganda reap sweet potatoes to supplement their income. Learn how a Daily Monitor reporter found this story as part of the IWMF initiative Reporting on Agriculture and Women: Africa.

Courage winner Iryna Khalip and her husband, opposition politician Andrei Sannikov, were recently questioned by Belarusian police. This is a sign of "a forthcoming attack on independent media," says Khalip. Read a report about it.

Courage winner Iryna Khalip and her husband, opposition politician Andrei Sannikov, were recently questioned by Belarusian police. This is are signs of "a forthcoming attack on independent media," says Khalip. Read a report about it.

Courage winner Iryna Khalip and her husband, opposition politician Andrei Sannikov, were recently questioned by Belarusian police. This is are signs of "a forthcoming attack on independent media," says Khalip. Read a report about it.

By Edgar R. BatteThe Daily Monitor (Uganda) Gone are the days women waited for their husbands to fend for the family. Today, more women are becoming ...

A starchy tuber has gone a long way to help women support their families in Uganda. Growing sweet potatoes has allowed some women in the Nakatonya village to provide extra income to support their families and send their children to school.

Edgar Batte, a journalist for Uganda’s The Daily Monitor, reported this story as part of the International Women’s Media Foundation initiative, Reporting on Women and Agriculture: Africa. The IWMF has partnered with The Daily Monitor for the project, which trains journalists in effectively covering agriculture and the role of women within agriculture and rural development.

Batte shared with the IWMF how he found the story about women growing sweet potatoes.

• Read the Q&A.

UNESCO has launched Women Make the News 2010, a global initiative aimed at promoting gender equality in the media. This year’s theme is “Towards Gender Sensitive Indicators for Media: Best practices for gender perspective in media and in media content.” WMN 2010 is intended to initiate a global exchange on the importance and the need for gender sensitive indicators for media organizations.  Read more on UNESCO’s Web site.

The Kalb Report on March 8 will feature a panel of journalists discussing war coverage. “War Reporting: The New Rules of Engagement” will be held at 8 p.m. March 8 at the National Press Building in Washington, D.C. Guests include Cami McCormick, CBS News; Martha Raddatz, ABC News; Laura King, the Los Angeles Times; and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, The Washington Post. Visit the Kalb Web site to learn more or to reserve free tickets.

Sylvia Mweetwa is a senior reporter in the newsroom at the Times of Zambia, a government-owned newspaper in Zambia. She is a participant in the IWMF’s Reporting on Women and Agriculture: Africa.

Nominations are now being accepted for Knight International Journalism Fellowships, which aim to produce tangible changes that improve the quality and free flow of news in the public interest around the world. Nomination deadline is April 2. For more information or to apply, visit the ICFJ Web site.

The Society of Environmental Journalists is now accepting applications for their Awards for Reporting on the Environment, which honor outstanding environmental coverage in ten categories, each with a $1,000 prize. Deadline is April 1. To learn more or to apply, visit the SEJ Web site.

The South Asian Journalists Association and SAJA Group Inc. invite individual journalists and news organizations in North America to submit entries to this year's contest, which recognizes excellence in coverage of South Asia and the diaspora, as well as outstanding reporting by South Asian journalists in the U.S. and Canada. Final deadline is March 26. Read more or apply on the SAJA Web site.

2009-10 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow Firle Davies spoke on a panel at the University of Pittsburgh called “Foreign Correspondents: Women in Danger.” Davies shared experience from reporting in Africa. See coverage of the panel in The Pitt News.

Christiane Amanpour, a member of the IWMF board of directors and a 1994 recipient of an IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, was featured in The New York Times magazine in February. Amanpour discussed reporting and the news media industry. Read the article.

The International Women’s Media Foundation has three new members of its board of directors for 2010:

• Barbara Cochran, president emeritus of the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation.
• Katty Kay, Washington Correspondent for BBC World News America.
• Cynthia McFadden, co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline.

Leading the IWMF board of directors as co-chairs are Barbara Cochran and CNN anchor Campbell Brown.

• Read the press release.
• See a full list and bios of the IWMF board of directors.