The media holds immense power in shaping the mentality of the Fijian population, says former Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Minister Mereseini Rakuita.

Speaking at a femLINKpacific Women in Leadership panel discussion recently, she highlighted how she made the headlines of a newspaper in an incident that occurred when she exited Government.

Ms Rakuita also spoke about the focus of journalists when it came to reporting issues surrounding women leaders.

“In all my seven years as minister – first as Minister for Lands and then as Minister for Women — I have never been able to make the headlines like that three days in a row for the work that I did,” she said.

“But when it came to this personal attack, I managed to do that.”

Ms Rakuita said her experience should be used as a guideline for what women could expect should they put their hands up for leadership or political service.

“The media have a huge role to play. I always say this — the media holds immense power in shaping the mentality of the Fijian population.

“What do you, as a media reporter, report on, when it’s a report about a woman parliamentarian?

“One of the first headlines I still remember in 2014 when I first became a member of Parliament — I think it was the first Parliament sitting.

“A certain newspaper ran a page — House of Fashion — and it had pictures of all us women parliamentarians and what people were wearing.

“Another female member of Parliament got her dressing assessed by the media — where the dress came from, where the shoes came from. This is what we get reported on.

“Not about what we bring to the table as a leader. Not about ideas we have about transforming Fijian society to become more gender equal.”