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Gender, sexuality and the media
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Women represent half the population, yet are dramatically
underrepresented in the media. This global phenomenon has been outlined
by the third Global Media Monitoring Project conducted in 2005. In
support of this project MMP acted as the part of planning committee and the
data analyst of the 2005 Global Media Monitoring Project. Regionally, MMP
custom built the methodology of the 2000 Gender Media Baseline Study, looking
at media representation in Southern Africa.
Locally, we have done several monitoring projects on gender representation in
South African media, which has made gradual improvements. However, the
level of women speaking in the media is still way below 50%. When women
do speak, their roles are often limited to victims, family of somebody or when
they are celebrities. Professional people, when quoted, on the other hand
are almost all men.
Formally recognised as a tool for change by the United Nations in the
1995 Beijing
Platform for Action (Section J), media monitoring is an advocacy tool to
change the representation of women in the media. Much of MMP’s work
revolves around gender monitoring for this reason. Please browse through
our many gender reports.
MMP does gender-specific work, but also intergrates gender into all the research we do. We were one of the first organisations to mainstream gender issues in South Africa, having seen the need for gender sensitive research as early as 1994.
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Gender reports
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| Media and the 16 Days Campaign 2006 by MMP | The coverage of The 16 Days Campaign in Gauteng media coverage, including e-tv and SABC 3 prime time news, was reasonable good in most aspects. Some improvements could be made in terms of reporting on woman and child abuse.
The 2006 monitoring revealed:
| | 50 Years of Women's Voices: Women's Day 2006 by MMP | The 50th year anniversary of the 1956 women's pass march offered media an opportunity to educate and inform South African's of the role played by women in the struggle against apartheid. Diverse women featured in coverage including:
* The stories of heroines, leaders and activists;
* gender-based violence covered
* Successful women; and
* The Magogos.
| | Getting the best out of the media, the 2005 16 days report by MMP | The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) found an increase in the amount of
coverage provided to the 16 Days of Activism Campaign No Violence Against
Women and Children during 2005. The majority of South African media
performed particularly well, in some crucial respects the media performed
better in comparison to the 16 Days of Activism Campaign in 2004.
| | GMMP South African Country Report by Sandra | The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) South African report was launched at Constitutional Hill on 7 March 2006. According to Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, speaking in her keynote address
"In spite of the numerous advances that we have made as a society, it is
clear even from the results of the GMMP that high levels of inequality still
prevail in our society."
The MMP Director, William Bird is pictured at the launch of the report with Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Director of the South African Media Gender Institute (SAMGI), Judith Smith.
| | Monitoring Men: An Analysis of the Representation of Men in the Media by admin | While there has been extensive research into the representation of women in the media, limited research has focused on how the news media tends to represent men and the male role models offered by the media. It would appear that while men make up the majority of those sources frequently accessed for comment in the media, their representation is limited, and in many instances prone to similar stereotyping that women experience.
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Gender media updates
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| Media misses chance to save lives by MMP | World population day is celebrated on the 11th of July each year, this year, the subject is family planning. UNFPA states that worldwide access to family planning could save the lives of approximately 175 000 women each year.
A current issue around family planning in South Africa is the Amendment of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, which made termination of pregnancy facilities more widely available for South African women. Recent monitoring by the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) suggests that press coverage may stigmatise abortion by associating it with irresponsible sexual behaviour and provides little information on the procedure and how to access it.
| | Guinea pigs and the frantic search for the AIDS vaccine gel by MMP | The coverage of Microbicide trails in 2007 the following findings showed the following patterns:
- The stories were afforded significant prominence in some of the newspapers monitored.
- Just over a quarter of the content items dramatised the issues. This included using phrases such as “frantic search”, describing the volunteers as “desperate” or “pleading”, the use of exclamation marks, different font sizes and capitals to emphasise controversy, and the use of unnamed sources who make allegations that are not substantiated in the items monitored;
- Most content items analysed show a clear bias either in favour of the HIV and AIDS researchers, or against the researchers.
- In contrast, the volunteers are treated ambivalently and even in a demeaning way in several content items.
| | Wailing women on e-tv news by MMP | In the month of August, Women’s Month, the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) monitored the media with a specific focus on the portrayal of women. This is part of MMP’s work as an independent media watchdog, fundamentally concerned with promoting Human Rights in the media. During the monitoring of the news bulletins it appeared the women were often shown crying to add drama to the various stories. |
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