By Nerese P. Farr
It’s a fresh year already, and over the weekend, the management of WomenVoices Newspaper held its first general meeting with an ardent call for staff to be efficient in executing the paper’s goal, which dwells on lifting women’s voices.
During the meeting on January 3, 2025, in Paynesville, the publisher, Mrs. Helen Nsh Sammie, admonished her staff to focus on more gender and human interest stories than everyday politics. She wants the entity to remain in the position of allowing women’s voices to be heard, something they have been deprived of for many years.
Adding Value to the Paper
The Publisher, Mrs. Helen Nah Sammie, believes that making women’s issues a priority for WomenVoices will add more value to the newspaper, as it was upon a women-driven fundamental it (the paper) was built.
The call for more gender stories was also followed by an urge for staff members to be proactive in performing their duties. “Having efficient and effective staff can enable us to become the best and branding the Newspaper second to none in the print media industry,” she added.
She encouraged her staff to go beyond what is being posted on social media and acquire the views of those who are directly involved in the story. This, she believes, can improve the accuracy and overall quality of the story. “To have an advantage over the others in the print media, we have to do things differently,” she urged.
Mrs. Sammie stressed the significance of timeliness when it comes to breaking news for the website: “News stories should always be fresh, and they should be presented in the time that is needed. Late submission of stories can kill the desire of the readers.” Especially for the daily print publication, she added, “Late submission of stories can place more pressure on the editor in meeting with deadlines in submitting stories.”
Challenges and Aid
Also, at the meeting over the weekend, Madam Sammie outlines key issues, challenges, and solutions in achieving the overall goal of the Women Voices Newspaper.
She referenced the existence of Women Voices NGO, which she said is currently providing scholarship opportunities and humanitarian support to several individuals, including SGBV survivors.
Like Mrs. Sammie, the Sub-Editor, Jerromie S Walters, also emphasized the need for efficiency and adherence to timeliness as news required. Walters, along with the Publisher, assigned interns to staff on different beats to have smooth mentoring and good coordination between them.
In the opinion of the Sub-Editor, doing that will help strengthen the interns and also give a good understanding of how to report from the different government institutions, especially the Judiciary, MICAT, the House of Representatives, and Senate, among others.
Staff and interns
During the meeting, the staff and interns also expressed their gratitude to the publisher and promised to give their best in making sure the Women Voices Newspaper takes a new trend in the print media.
At the closure of the engagement, the staff took a tour of the future home of the Women Voices Newspaper, which is still under construction in Thinker’s village. This process was led by the publisher and was intended to display the level of work that has been done.
The staff venerated the efforts of the management for the progress of the office complex. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
