Long walk to ‘media justice' for SA women

“While the coverage has improved in terms of sourcing women, news media still uses women disproportionately as victims or the family of the victim, rather than professionals,” Sandra Roberts, projects coordinator of the Media Monitoring Project (MMP), told Bizcommunity.com this week.

“Any visual media will almost always trump radio on poor coverage of women as they publish pictures of both scantily clad women and advertising that tends to use a women's body to sell their products. This may have the effect of equating a woman with a product and casting women as sexual objects,” Roberts added.

It is believed that the fact that very few women continue to make news in the media or are often being portrayed as irresponsible and negligent - especially in cases of missing children, teenage pregnancy or even legal abortion - puts men in the pole position and dampens female emancipation and advancement in society, which is often clouded by conservative and patriarchal views.

“It is a regrettable situation that has been plaguing not only SA media but African media in general for some time, but women must stand up and fight for their total freedom and change the situation,” exiled media analyst, author and gender researcher Denis Kayenge Kinkufi said.

Analysts cite a combination of socio-cultural and religious factors as fundamental reasons for the media's ongoing negative and sexist attitudes towards women.

“SA has a combination of cultures, traditions and religions which are conservative in their views on the role of women in society,” MMP's Roberts said.

“Media often just reflects the conservative opinions of media practitioners. The implications are, among others, physical abuse and a sense of entitlement in SA men to the bodies of women. These views also reduce the chance of violent men being held accountable via legal means.”

However, while some blame journalists' lack of special skills and time in reporting on women's issues, others deplore the lack of initiatives by feminists and women's lobby groups to confront the media in a more direct way to help solve the situation.

“I think that journalists' lack of time may lead to less critical engagement with a number of women's issues, including the portrayal of women,” Roberts said.

“Also, journalists tend to use sources that they have established relationships with, rather than thinking to introduce more female sources into their stories. Men may also be ‘media-friendly' because they may not have the family constraints women experience, so they can take interviews at times that suit the journalist, such in evenings, early mornings or weekends.

“If journalists were more conscientised in terms of the sources they use, they may try for greater gender parity and help challenge stereotypical views on the roles of women and men.”

Kinkufi called on women out there to unite in order to speak for themselves and prove to men and to the world that they can face any challenge that arises without having to necessarily wait for men to act on their behalf.

Meanwhile, a Gender and Media (GEM) Summit is due to take place in Johannesburg from 10-12 August 2008. The event's theme is ‘Whose News and Whose Views? Critical Citizens, Responsive Media', and will be held thanks to the partnership of Gender Links (GL), Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

For more information, log on www.mediamonitoring.org.za and www.genderlinks.org.za.