MEMBER PROFILES
Your name:
Dr. Inge von Bönninghausen
Location:
Bergisch Gladbach (12km from Cologne)
Tell us what you did when you were with
WDR.
After some years as a freelancer I got
fully employed with WDR (Westdeutscher
Rundfunk) in 1974. My main topics then were
school and family education and my first big
production a series of 12 half hour
documentaries on problems children have in
school. A few years later the most exiting
production in this field followed: six 45’
docs on “Experiments in Education” covering
an Israely Kibbuz, Danish “Lilleskoles” out
in the country, a Streetschool in Liverpool,
portraits of former students from Summerhill/
England, anti-authoritarian kindergardens in
Germany and a discussion panel. From 1980
until 1999 (when I left WDR) I produced and
presented “Frauen-Fragen” (Women’s Issues)
which I had invented and fought through. The
program was closely linked to the feminist
movement and it’s main political statement
that all area of life look different from a
woman’s perspective. So we did gender
mainstreaming long, long before it became an
international strategy. We reported on
political activities, on violence against
women and girls as well as cultural
projects, the life of lesbians, health
issues, sports and the history of women’s
movements. In 1985 we did the very first
documentary on sexual abuse in the family
that ever was shown on TV. We did a series
on women in Europe, reported from the UN
conference on Human Rights in Vienna, the UN
conference on Population and Development in
Cairo and of course the 4th World Conference
on Women in Beijing. The program ran monthly
until 1996 and from then on weekly. Parallel
to the women’s program I was in charge of
different programs on cultural affairs. An
important part of my WDR-time were the
activities of the Women’s Group with members
from all professions. We convinced the
general manager to do a big survey on women
at WDR. The results gave us the material for
a plan of action which later was adopted by
most other German broadcasting corporations.
You've been the president of the National
Council of German Women's Organisations from
2000 - 2004. That's a huge task. What did it
entail?
The national Council of German Women’s
Organisations is the umbrella of 56 big and
small organisations like for instance
professional associations, catholic and
protestant groups, women from the unions,
from sports organisations and service clubs.
All there members sum up to app. 10million.
Six board members are elected for a two
years term by the general assembly. Their
work is voluntary and unpaid. In the Berlin
office there are seven employees. The basic
funding comes from the government without
giving it any influence. The GA decides on
the aims and the board has to find out which
are the most efficient ways of lobbying. For
me the presidency entailed regular
travelling to Berlin (4 ½ hour one way by
train), meetings with parliamentarians,
ministers, party members, unionists, other
lobbygroups. It also meant visiting member
organisations, giving speeches and
interviews, writing articles and of course
taking responsibility for the board as a
whole and the office. For me as a journalist
the most interesting experience was the
change from reporting on politics to taking
part in it as a lobbyist. One needs much
more detailed knowledge for instance of law
proposals and parliamentarian procedures.
One also deals differently with information.
After having been much closer to politicians
then before I do have greater respect for
their hard work regardless of whether I
agree with their decisions or not.
Tell us a bit about your history with the
IAWRT, in terms of how long you've been a
member, why you joined and what you've got
out of it.
I became a member of IAWRT at the Conference
in Sofia/Bulgaria in 1978 and took part in
all conferences except two. Sofia was my
first travel behind the Iron Curtain. This
strongest boarder ever known not only
divided Western and Eastern Europe but had a
strong impact on the whole world. There were
two more conferences in the East: Budapest
1984 and Prague 1988. All three meetings
with colleagues working under totally
different conditions came from the very
bottom of IAWRT’s heart: to overcome
boarders in the interest of information and
peace! Reaching out to the East and to the
South (Jamaica, Philippines, Zimbabwe,
India, Ghana) made IAWRT so very valuable to
me. As divers as our geographical, political
or cultural backgrounds may be, as women
journalists we share gender sensitivity and
professional curiosity. I served as a board
member 1980-1984 and as a vice president
1988-1992 and 1997-2001. In Manila 1994 I
won the IAWRT award for the program “Here
come the lesbians”.
You hosted one of the IAWRT's conferences
in Germany. How does having a conference
benefit a region?
In fact I hosted two conferences: 1986 in
Cologne and 2001 in Berlin. It is difficult
to judge if a conference benefits a region.
Twenty years ago it was possible to have WDR
as the host and main sponsor. This
strengthened the visibility of women
journalists and their fight for better
representation on the job and in programs.
15 years later I tried without success to
find a broadcasting company as a host. We
had to employ a conference organiser for
half a year and went for as many sponsors as
possible even with very small donations. But
what counted more then the lack of money or
publicity was the backlash that hit the
women’s movements in most countries. Just
remember what happened at the UN Bejing+5
conference one year before!
Are the IAWRT conferences different to
each other, if so, how and why?
The two conferences in Germany were
different because the country had changed
tremendously after the Iron Curtain had come
down in 1989. All other conferences were
different as well because mainly they took
place in different countries usually with a
vast majority of local journalists and
speakers. The topics of course differed and
I remember best the most concrete ones. On
the other hand there was little change in
the way communication was organised.
Speeches with discussion, workshops, reports
from workshops, viewing, listening... I
think it is time to change this routine.
Why do you think an organisation like the
IAWRT is important? How has the organisation
changed during the time you have been a
member? Why do you think this organisation
is important?
I should like to answer these three
questions in one. Of course the organisation
has changed, otherwise it wouldn’t be there
any more. In short: Television has become
really big business. TV and radio have to
compete with the Internet. And journalism
isn’t the same as it was 30 years ago. IAWRT
today has over 200 members all over the
world, but the last conference in
Williamsburg brought together only 40 of
them. If I am not wrong no more than 1/4 of
the members participated in any conference
except for the one in their country when
they joined. This gives cause for concern.
To me IAWRT is important because it is part
of my biography. It made a difference to my
professional and personal life. But this
does not answer the question if it is
important as a voice of women journalists on
a local, national and international level.
Looking back I pity that we Europeans did
not make every possible effort to get
members from France, Italy, Greece, Spain,
Portugal, Irland. Maybe it is not too late
to turn to Eastern Europe.
I believe you are working with different
projects now. Can you tell us about some of
them?
At present I work on different projects like
moderating panels and conferences, giving
speeches on special occasions like
celebrating anniversaries of women’s
organisations or writing articles on current
politics. I am a board member of the
Foudation “Archives of the German Women’s
Movement” and of the “Lobby for Girls”.
What are your favorite pastimes?
Since half a year my favorite pastime is a
theatre workshop with a wonderful group of
14 women and men of all ages, me being the
oldest and the youngest being 22.
What country would you love to visit that
you havn't yet?
I was in Beijing twice and got very curious
to see “the other” China out in the country. |
Inge von
Bönninghausen
|
