SOUTHERN AFRICAN WOMEN IN BID TO TAKE OVER THE MEDIA

by Diana Mavunduse

The media landscape in southern Africa has undergone unprecedented changes in this decade. One of the most spectacular features of the struggle for democratisation in many countries in the region has been the opening up of the media, particularly in the print and electronic sectors.

However, these changes have not transformed the status and role of women working in the media. Consequently, the media like most sectors of the society has limited numbers of women represented in its structures.

Speaking at a regional workshop on Gender and Media Pluralism held in Zimbabwe recently, Mavis Moyo, Chairperson and founder member of the Federation of African Media Women in the Southern African Development Community (FAMW-SADC) said:

"Women's access to media power continues to be hindered by invisible barriers such as attitudes, conditions of work, and work assignments that impeded career development. Thus, the majority of women lack the requisite qualifications, training and experience."

During the workshop, participants noted that more women in the region are gaining better access to education, and attaining higher educational qualifications, but the media industry has not yet been engendered. Thus eligible women have been shortchanged with only a few of them serving on governing boards that influence media policy.

For the media in southern Africa to uphold its social responsibilities and be reflective of society, participants agreed, the industry has to look within itself to rectify its own structures by creating a better gender equity in all its operations.

"Accepting women as equal partners is largely a question of changing attitudes and perceptions," said Norah Appolus from the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).

She added that the "sensitisation process has to take place at all levels of society and involve the effort of all citizens. It should not be left to government or the stakeholders alone."

A survey carried out by FAMW-SADC under the auspices of UNESCO indicates that women are relegated to non-care activities of the media. Ironically, the media tends to reinforce traditional stereotypes.

Evidence in the research findings suggests that women tend to be relegated to non-core media activities. To redress this state of affairs, there is consensus that training in journalism, technical support skills, as well as administration is a key element in enhancing prospects for women in the media.

Female journalists not only represent a marginal constituency in society but also suffer from upward mobility in their media careers even though they can contribute substantially to media ideals of creating diversity and amplifying marginal voices.

"Femininity promotes hard working, vocational professionalism, diffusion of productivity improvement, ideas and reduces the risks of corruption, bribery, embezzlement and stress," said Roger Kibasomba, a professor at Witwatersrand University in South Africa.

He added, "Since women are more a gain than a loss to organisational productivity and leadership, modern institutions must achieve at least the 'vital few' requirement to survive the current imperatives of diversity and change. Twenty percent of women in leadership and management positions can make a big difference."

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women notes that in all its efforts to promote the advancement of women, it encounters a serious obstacle in the deep-rooted attitudes of men and women, which tends to perpetuate the status quo.

The commission also observes that such attitudes are due to cultural patterns, which to a great extent determine thoughts and feelings about women and men. These in turn are being disseminated on a vast scale as a result of technical advances in mass communication media.

FAMW-SADC hopes that by the year 2000, many female journalists in the region will be sitting in decision making position, "I hope that in the new millennium, differences between men and women will be resolved," said Cheu Mita a senior reporter for The Nation in Malawi.

She added, "We don't want to come back next year and talk about the same issues affecting women, we should be talking a different language not of inequality but equality." (SARDC)