“There is certainly no justification for the injustices that some of the media have subjected Caster Semenya to,” Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya told delegates yesterday, Monday, 19 October 2009, at the Transformation, Gender and Media Dialogue in Parktown, Johannesburg.
The conference was jointly hosted by the SABC, SA Human Rights Commission, MDDA, the Commission for Gender Equality and ICASA to commemorate 19 October 1977.
“The case of Caster Semenya provides a clear demonstration of how some of the media still undermine women with regard for their human and gender rights,” Mayende-Sibiya said.
The minister cited a Daily Sun headline (Prove you're not a boy), a case of a radio presenter suspended for making ‘unfortunate' comments about Caster and an issue of ‘feminine' pictures of You magazine as ‘sad examples' exposing media's weaknesses in the understanding gender issues.
“All we know is that the harm caused by these stories is irreparable,” she said.
Nadia Sanger, of the Human Science Research Council, believes that many SA journalists lack understanding of gender issues and sexuality, something that renders their reporting unfair and stereotypical.
“If the media claim to be channels of transformation and represent norms and values of society, then they have the responsibility to avoid portraying women as victims and objects and stop legitimising heterosexist practices.
“They should instead support the struggles of all classes of society.”
Lindsay Clowes, of the University of the Western Cape's Women and Gender Studies, said: “Unless the media find ways of transforming their newsrooms and challenging inequality, they will end up reinforcing it.”
Yoliswa Makhasi, CEO of Film and Publication Board - the body that championed the controversial Films and Publication Amendment Act - regretted that in today's society where ageism and patriarchy are so much entrenched, the gender perspective is being lost in reporting, resulting in women's naked bodies and boobs lying ‘all over the show'.
However, Mzi Malunga, BDFM MD, hit back at critics and defended the media.
He said: “We hear all the time that media are unbalanced. Media are not homogenous. We are all the same, whether it is white-owned or black-owned. Journalists are like children - today they are happy and tomorrow they are unhappy.
“You need to understand that a good writer is not always a good editor, and don't even think that transformation will occur if you appoint a black editor.
“There is so much contestation [conflict] and fighting going on in the newsrooms which outsiders don't know about. One thing I have to admit though is that sometimes we are covering our country as if we are outsiders, like foreign correspondents, and not locals.”
Phumelele Nzimande, of the SABC, asked: “What are we standing for today apart from saying that we are the watchdogs? When we say that this story is in the public interest, are we unpacking the interests of the public we are serving?”
