(En)gendering Community and Popular Media Content: Lessons from the Field

This eight-page article, published in the Gender and Media Diversity Journal, examines gender mainstreaming in popular and community media content, particularly radio. The author looks at the role of community and popular media in Southern Africa, as well as two approaches to incorporating gender content into community radio: gender-specific programming and gender mainstreaming. The paper argues that gender mainstreaming is crucial to ensuring women's voices are heard, and profiles the approach of South African-based organisation CMFD (Community Media for Development) Productions. The author uses the organisation's work to outline a series of 'best practices' for gender mainstreaming in community and popular media content, particularly radio drama.

The author posits that although women make up a large contingent of radio listeners in Southern Africa, and although radio is often the most accessible media for both women and men, women are not adequately represented in radio programming. In addition, community radio is a major source of information for people, and programming and content of often locally based and relevant for the audience it serves. It can, therefore, serve as a vehicle for social and behaviour change.

The author looks at two approaches to incorporating gender content on radio, the first being gender-specific programming. According to the author, gender-specific programming - programming that focuses mainly on issues directly related to gender and women - can be effective, because programmes will likely appeal to women listeners and provide a space for women and men to discuss issues that are underrepresented in mainstream media. The author also discusses disadvantages - for example, the fact that women may not have the ability to tune in to a programme due to daily chores or male control of the radio.

The second approach the author discusses is gender mainstreaming, where gender issues are incorporated into all content, and programming is gender sensitive regardless of the topic under discussion. The author uses a case study of the South African-based organisation CMFD (Community Media for Development) Productions to illustrate what gender mainstreaming can look like. According to the author, this includes finding and incorporating the gender angle in commonly perceived "gender neutral" subjects such as disaster risk reduction, governance, and migration.

It also means developing gender-aware products by not perpetuating stereotypes of men and women. This includes characterisation in radio dramas, including developing strong female characters and male characters in radio dramas who act as partners in radio dramas and creating transitional characters whose gender views change over time. According to the author, gender-aware characters also provide role models for behaviour change. However, the report also notes that research suggests that if a character's actions and behaviours contrast too radically from the sociocultural norm, producers risk alienating their audience. For a message to be effective, listeners need to see actions and behaviours happening within a system or character they can understand and identify with.

The case study also discusses the importance of active participation of both women and men throughout the development of community and popular media programming. The author notes that at times this does take extra effort, as women are often more difficult to reach than men because of the demands of their daily household, work, and childcare tasks. Partnering with other local organisations can be effective in identifying and encouraging women to participate.

The author concludes that gender mainstreaming in popular and community media can help ensure that women are involved in and engaging with programming from start to finish and that men are not being left out. With a relatively small shift in thinking and approach, gender can easily and effectively be incorporated into popular media content, thereby complementing existing gender programming and ensuring that women's voices and experiences are heard in all areas of coverage.