13 Jan 2021

Women are seldom portrayed as politicians, newsmakers, business leaders and a host of other roles in which men regularly feature, even where women have broken into non-traditional jobs and social roles, reveals a report by the Global Media Monitoring Project. 

In addition to appearing in a limited number of roles, the study further stated that women in general were missing in the media, to the extent that they are less likely to be featured in news stories and be interviewed or even asked for an opinion. 

The study further says female political leaders, for example, are more like to face increased media scrutiny, which is often attributed to the media’s adherence to gender stereotypes that favour men over women in positions of power. 

Other studies indicate that as the fourth arm of democracy, the media has a significant role to play in determining how women and men are portrayed in politics; this includes influencing perceptions, practices and general social behaviour of the society. 

Meanwhile, an evaluation report by Southern Africa Gender and Media Progress, on politics and government in particular, says women’s voices in Botswana only made up 17% of news sources, which was disheartening given that women formed the majority of the country’s population. 

The study further shows that the insignificant coverage showed disparity, which resulted in missed opportunities in concepts such equal participation, democracy and responsive governance, which in essence silenced women’s voices on topics that were equally relevant to the development of a nation. 

BOPA interviewed a budding gender activist and journalist with a keen interest in women’s’ participation in politics, Mr Cavin Kanoko to find out the conditions of gender equality in the local news media and whether the media makes a special effort to profile women candidates. 

Mr Kanoko highlighted the importance of media practitioners in the promotion of gender equality, both within the working environment; in terms of employment and promotion of female staff at all levels; as well as the representation of women and men related to the fair gender portrayal and the use of neutral and non-gender specific language. 

He said often times, the way a media house gave space was often dependent on the type of news that it was trying to portray of either male or female politicians. 

“When a female politician has a scandal, it is often featured as a cover page story but not so much sensationalism is emphasised when it concerns their male counterparts,” he explained. 

In terms of coverage of female candidates in local newspapers, Mr Kanoko observed that some progress had been made in gender aware reporting, however men were still given more limelight than women. 

As a solution, he said portraying women in their non-traditional roles, such as in leadership positions, selecting stories that are often absent from the news agenda and including sources that are regularly absent, such as rural women, would go a long way in closing the gap of gender reporting inequality in the country. 

“As the fourth estate, the phenomenon of gender stereotypes needs to be fought in multiple areas including the overturning of common assumptions about women and men,” he said. Ends