Media Watch

This section of the fourth edition of the Gender and Media Diversity Journal, published by the Gender and Media Diversity Centre, includes the following three articles, which assess issues of gender balance in the media:


Gender and Tabloids in Southern Africa by Colleen Lowe Morna and Sikhonzile Ndlovu

This article describes the results of a project on gender representation and portrayal in tabloids and audience responses in three Southern African countries with the highest density of tabloids, defined in terms of both size and content. It involved the monitoring of three newspapers in each country during the month of June 2007. It reviews the African context of tabloid publication and explains that there has been an ongoing debate focused primarily on tabloids in relation to journalistic standards, media ethics, and the related tabloidisation of the media. "Tabloids, it is argued, contribute to public dialogue and debate, which in post apartheid South Africa as well as emerging multi party democracies in the region reflect a move away from the historical marginalisation of the country’s majority and the preserve of the public sphere for the ruling minority and elites. On the other hand, arguments against tabloids highlight the ways in which tabloids often violate the basic ethics of journalism including objectivity, investigation, facts and the 'pursuit of the truth.'” The study findings include the following: tabloid numbers are increasing rapidly; two-thirds of the articles demonstrated gender biases and a lack of women's views on important issues; photo images of women were common; stereotypes predominated; and older women were not a represented. In addition, audiences would like less stereotyping, violence, pornography, and victimisation, and more local news and diversity of the way men and women are portrayed. The authors' recommendations for media activists include, among others: campaigns to publicise the findings and strategies for increasing gender awareness and sensitivity in the tabloid industry; and seeking partnerships with tabloids for specific gender-related campaigns. For the tabloid industry, recommendations include: adopting codes of conduct and policies that define sexist reporting and imaging, and seek to promote more inclusive, gender-aware editorial content; and having in-house complaints mechanisms that give readers the chance to complain and obtain redress quickly and at no cost. For gender ministries and public bodies, recommendations include: forming partnerships with tabloids in providing advisory services to women (for example on issues of domestic violence); and using the newspapers, as well as their websites.

Media and Gendered Violence in Canada and Romania by Valentina Marinescu

This article describes a comparison of Canada and Romania on the issue of violence against women and children and attempts to answer the questions: "To what degree and in what way do the mass media contribute to the preservation and consolidation of violence against women and children as a social issue?" The article describes statistics of violence against women in Canada, including the under-reporting of crimes by victims and the lack of victims seeking support from the criminal justice system or social services. It then describes family violence in Romania, including parent-child and gender-related violence, suggesting that there is a difference in the legal system of the two countries regarding the issue of parent socialisation of children through beating. Findings show that the media reproduced the social order of each country. "[T]he reciprocal relations between the state and the media contribute to the projection of a specific social order in relation to violent acts, producing what is nationally thinkable about the nature of crime and strategies to control it." Also, the study indicates that the news media does not report in a way that increased public knowledge of legal frameworks to protect women and children "nor did the Romanian media mention the steps an individual could follow after such an act took place."

Enhancing Young Women’s Participation in ICT-Related Development by George Mwika Kayange

In this article on gender inclusion in Malawi, the author reviews recommendations of an information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) workshop that included what he views as a recurring theme: the lack of participation by women and girls in ICT-related development assistance projects. He describes 10 years of ICT projects and policies attempting gender inclusion. The author calls for putting national ICT4D policy rhetoric into action, and, as actionable examples of inclusion strategies, describes both a Malawian pilot project to establish telecentres to be run by a group of women and a South Korean project where housewives were being trained in IT in order to influence their daughters' interest. Malawian government ministry figures show a 60% increase in enrolment of girls in IT programmes. The author cites a need to improve coordination with various stakeholders, including women, at the level of drafting ICT policy and the possibility that changes must occur at the household level in parenting girls to use computers and be active in youth centres with computing facilities.