Gender Elections and the Media Training Report
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Southern Africa Gender elections and the media training Report Feb 2005 CONTENTS Overview 3 Country Reports SouthAfrica 14 Malawi 63 Mozambique 91 Botswana 101 Namibia 120 Angola 135 Mauritius 149 2 OVERVIEW “Why should women be equally represented in parliament?” a middle age, white male journalist demanded. “What evidence is there that they want to be in parliament? They should be staying at home. If they did, we would have fewer social problems.” “I have a different question,” a young black woman journalist working for the same media house said. “Why should we have to prove that women make a difference for them to be equally represented in parliament? Men do not have to show that they make a difference!” These responses are among several divergent views encountered by Gender Links during on-site engagements with media houses, organised in collaboration with the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) in the run up to South Africa’s April 2004 elections. They illustrate both the progress that has been made, and the challenges in confronting the deeply-rooted attitudes towards gender in Southern African newsrooms. This report is an account of workshops conducted by GL and the Southern African Media Services Organisation (SAMSO) in seven Southern African countries that held or are expected to hold elections in 2004 and 2005 with the support of the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa (NIZA). The countries, in order in which the workshops took place, are: South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Angola and Mauritius. Details of what happened in each country are provided under the country chapters. This report should be read in tandem with the collation of a sample of press cuttings from different countries in which the workshops took place, as well as examples of profiles of women politicians produced during the training. Overall, the reports show how a targeted and well timed approach to gender and media training in the newsroom can yield substantial coverage and public debate on women’s participation in decision- making. Objectives These may be summarised in terms of the two main target groups of the workshops that spanned a five day period in each country: The media x To advance the gender awareness and skills of the media in Southern Africa by running training courses on gender and democracy for media practitioners in seven SADC countries preparing for elections; 3 x To gauge the extent to which the commitment by SADC governments to achieving 30 percent women in decision-making by 2005 is being honoured. x To increase media coverage of this issue and contribute to the campaign to bring about gender equality in decision-making. x To assist the media in understanding how gender equality is integral to citizenship, democracy and freedom of expression. Women in politics x To identify key gender issues in the elections, including sharing the findings of the GL study: “Ringing up the Changes: Gender in Southern African Politics.” x To identify issues of concern by women in politics in their dealings with the media and vice versa. x To build relationships between women in politics and media decision-makers and practitioners. x To empower women politicians with practical skills for dealing with the media. x To assist the media in thinking through gender dimensions of election coverage. Background Traditionally, women are expected to occupy the home and “private spaces”. Politics is one of the most public spaces that women can seek to occupy. While the Southern African media has been at the forefront of questioning racial and ethnic disparities in political representation, gender has barely featured in its considerations. In simple terms, the fact that women in the region constitute 52 percent of the population yet only occupy, on average, 19 percent of parliamentary seats is not seen as problematic- let alone undemocratic! Numerous studies and anecdotal evidence have also shown that while there is a necessary tension between politicians and the media, the media either ignores women in politics or is far more hostile to women than to men in politics. The Gender and Media Baselines Study (GMBS) conducted by GL and MISA in 2003 showed that while women in the region comprise 19 percent of members of parliament, they only comprise 8 percent of the sources in the political occupation category. The qualitative monitoring provided numerous examples of women politicians being referred to according to their family status; being humiliated in parliament or made the subject of public ridicule in ways that breach basic ethical standards. The tension between women politicians and the media is also due, to a certain extent, to the fact that women have not had the same level of exposure as men and are often reluctant or wary in their dealings with the media. The unfortunate upshot of this is that women in decision-making - the one category of persons who should at least get the attention of the media - are either invisible or portrayed in ways that often demean their standing. Elections provide a useful check- point for democracy in all our countries. They receive huge media attention, they generate competition and debate, and they are one of the few occasions in which the public feel some sense of power over the people who make decisions about their every day lives. Typically, media training institutions run short 4 courses in the run-up to elections on how to cover these more effectively. These courses attempt to give the media some grounding in democracy, human rights, citizenship and participation. Up to now such courses have failed to effectively integrate gender equality as a key consideration in media coverage of elections. In 2003, GL undertook the first ever study on the impact of women in politics in the region: Ringing up the Changes: Gender in Southern Af rican Politics. This study showed that women make a marked difference to policy and law making where they are represented in sufficient numbers, work in enabling environment and are empowered to operate effectively. The study highlighted understanding and being able to work with the media as a key tool for women politicians to leverage themselves more effectively. As part of its gender, governance andmedia programme,GL sought to conduct workshops targeting both the media and women decision makers in the run up to elections taking place in at least eight Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries in 2004 and 2005. This was a particularly strategic time for putting the spotlight on women in decision- making in the region. In 1997, SADC Heads of State signed a Declaration on Gender and Development in which they committed to achieving 30 percent women in all areas of decision making by 2005. This year is also the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Governments are preparing reports on progress made towards achieving gender equality. One of the critical areas of concern identified in Beijing is the glaring absence of women in all areas of decision-making across the globe. Target groups The workshops targeted: x Mainstream media practitioners from the seven SADC countries preparing for elections. x Women in, or aspiring to, political office. Preparation and conceptualisation of the training In other areas of our training, GL had run one week in-service training courses that involve two days content, a day of field work, one day to write and produce publications, and a final day for review. These workshops provided a solid grounding in the subject matter for media practitioners able to spare the time. The downside, however, is that often full time journalists do not come to the full week training. They also complain that they go back to newsrooms that are not sympathetic to what they have learned. Like the media, women politicians often find it difficult to spare the time for training that lasts more than a few days. They run tight schedules and elections place particular stress on them. Their needs are practical and immediate. Most of the “learning”, when it comes to campaigning and media, is on-the- job. What they most want is to make contacts that can be useful in the course of their work. 5 With these considerations in mind, and after several indications from editors in our home base, South Africa, that the best way to engage with the media is to go and see them, we decided to try a flexible approach to the Gender, Media and Elections training that consisted of a combination of seminars and newsroom training; supported by an electronic Gender, Elections and Media Resource Centre (see www.genderlinks.org.za) and linkages with local networks that could provide on going commentary and information. Activities In each country, GL worked with a local consultant or NGO to set up the logistic arrangements, which proved quite challenging, given the flexible nature of the programme. The sessions were carefully timed to take place a few months ahead of, but not too far in advance of elections in each country so as to take advantage of the elections momentum. The South African workshops took place in February (ahead of April elections); Malawi in March (ahead of May elections); Botswana and Mozambique in July (ahead of October elections); Namibia in August (ahead of November elections) and Angola in November (ahead of elections on a date that had not yet been announced at the time of writing). Due to cost savings made in the running of the elections, NIZA agreed to allow GL to add Mauritius as a seventh country. This workshop took place in February 2005, ahead of elections scheduled for September this year. The basic format for the one week workshops consisted of: x A one-day seminar targeted at the media covering the key issues and including a panel of women politicians speaking about their experiences with the media.