MASS MEDIA, WOMEN and PUBLIC LIFE in UGANDA: INTERROGATING REPRESENTATION, INTERACTION and ENGAGEMENT by Emilly Comfort Maractho
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MASS MEDIA, WOMEN AND PUBLIC LIFE IN UGANDA: INTERROGATING REPRESENTATION, INTERACTION AND ENGAGEMENT By Emilly Comfort Maractho A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of a PhD in the Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) July 2017 DECLARATION I, Emilly Comfort Maractho (student number 214581311), hereby declare that this thesis is my own work. It has never been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. The sources I have used have been acknowledged by complete references. This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the award of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in the Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS) in the School of Literary Studies, Media and Creative Arts in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Signature………………………………………….Date: 20 July 2017 i DEDICATION For Philomena Kwopacho. Vicky, Erick, Jude, Stella and I, got a special mother. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I thank God. I am grateful to the sponsors of my doctoral studies, NORHED through Uganda Christian University, in particular the Vice Chancellor, Rev. Canon Dr. John Senyonyi and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) that funded my research through the Next Gen Dissertation Fellowship. Special thanks to Thomas Asher (SSRC) and Katherine Namuddu. I am indebted to my supervisor, Professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, who has taught me a lot by trusting and believing in me. Prof. Teer-Tomaselli told me, ‘Emilly, if nobody understands this, I do’. It was my best moment. I often marveled at how quickly she picked up the issues. To my reader, Dr. Carol Azungi Dralega, whose insight has greatly enriched this work and Prof. Terje Skjerdal of NLA, thank you. The contribution of CCMS staff, in particular Prof. Keyan Tomaselli and Dr. Lauren Dyll-Mykleburst, who reviewed my proposal and gave it life, thank you. My honorary big sisters, Professors Elizabeth Bacwayo, Mary Ssonko and Monica Chibita, and Uncle Peter Ubomba-Jaswa, your prayers and support meant everything. I thank the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex as well as the individuals I met through these networks. I thank Drs. Peter Houtzager and Shandana Momand of IDS, and Tim Kelsell of Overseas Development Initiative (ODI), for teaching and mentoring me well. I thank my colleagues on the Advanced Research Design training. Professors Anthony Kerali, and Levi Obonyo, Drs. Frederick Golooba-Mutebi and Clayton Peel, thank you for believing in me. My dear colleagues and friends at Makerere University, am very grateful for all the support. I thank my incredible colleagues, friends and family, for their encouragement, emotional and financial support through the last five years of studies. Special thanks to Hon. Nathan Nandala Mafabi, Ms. Edna Rugumayo, Ms. Annet Nakyeyune, Ms. Jesca Pimundu, Mr. Micheal Okecha, Ms. Evelyn Bahemuka, Dr. Alfred Lakwo, and Ms. Doris Akol for reaching out, listening a lot, and supporting me and my family during my Nairobi and Durban years. Thank you all for trusting me with your friendship. My Durban sisters, Tamasha Maliti, Mary Okocha and Brenda Bukowa, thank you for the many roles you played in supporting my studies. My friends in Nairobi- Jane Gitau, Grace Mwathe and Salama Bossan, thank you. My Ugandan friends in Durban, Sara, Angella, Brian and Sam, thank you. My respondents, the wonderful people, who opened their lives to me, thank you. All the people who bless my life, thank you. iii ABSTRACT This study was motivated by the strides Uganda has made towards the growth of the media and women’s participation in public life. The puzzle is that this increased participation of women in public life is hardly captured in the media, particularly public affairs programmes on the broadcast media. This study, therefore, interrogates women’s media participation through representation, interaction and engagement as components of conjunctural factors that are relevant to facilitating women’s participation in public life. The research is informed by critical theory, and in particular feminist thought, cultural studies and public sphere theory. The marginalisation and oppression of women advanced by feminist theorists, the systems of representation through power and knowledge in cultural studies, and the open participation of discursive programmes that demystify gatekeeping practices in traditional programming in public sphere theory, were the frames used to guide this study. I use multi-method and multidisciplinary approaches that entail quantitative content analysis, qualitative case studies and grounded theory to interrogate the influence of the broadcast media on women’s participation in public life. The thesis of my research is that women’s media participation in public affairs programmes through representation conceptualised as voice and visibility, interaction as consultation and conversation and engagement as involvement and influence, would facilitate women’s participation in public life. Limited representation, interaction and engagement, therefore, frustrate or at least do not advance, women’s participation in public life, contrary to the perceived potential and transformative role of the media. I find that participation remains minimal. The problem is not just the media which has in most studies is found responsible for the negative portrayal of women, but a complex interrelationship between women and the state, society and the media. The state opens up space for women and, paradoxically, closes it, culture defines women’s role in society, and the media reproduces cultural narratives that are injurious to women. Women push back, sometimes but often remain loyal to the state, respond to cultural expectations and ignore the media or disengage from it. This, thus thwarts meaningful opportunities for participation that could help change the perceptions about women’s role in society as well as mobilise and motivate women to participate in public life. The implication for policy and current strategies for women’s empowerment, in particular affirmative action pursued in Uganda and elsewhere, is huge. There is need to rethink the existing models of women’s empowerment and the gender equality agenda, cognisant of the current paradigm of neoliberalism, in particular liberalism and globalism, that thrive on competition, communication and competence. iv ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS FDC: Forum for Democratic Change NORHED: The Norwegian Programme for Capacity Building in Higher Education and Research for Development NRM: National Resistance Movement ULS: Uganda Law Society UMWA: Uganda Media Women’s Association UWOPA: Uganda Women’s Parliamentary Association WEM: women’s engagement with media WMI: women-media interaction WPMM: women’s participation in the mass media WPPL: women’s participation in public life WRM: women’s representation in the media v LIST OF FIGURES Figures and tables Page No. Fig. 1.1. Constitutional provision for women’s equality and equal participation……………6 Fig. 3.1. Women’s participation in the mass media…………………………………………70 Fig. 3.2. Women’s participation in public life……………………………………..………..71 Fig. 3.3. Typology of women’s representation on media…………………………………...74 Fig. 3.4: Women’s representation in the media ………………………………………….…75 Fig. 3.5: Typology of women-media interaction…………………………………………....76 Fig. 3.6: Women-media interaction………………………………………………….............77 Fig. 3.7: Typology of women’s engagement with the media………………………………..79 Fig. 3.8: Women's engagement with the media …………………………………………….80 Fig. 3.9: Conceptual framework……………………………………………………………..82 Fig. 5.1: The Hon. Reagan Okumu addresses the People’s Parliament in Gulu on land…...106 Fig. 5.2: Screenshot of Morning Breeze (NBS), On the Spot (NTV) and Face Off (WBS)….108 Fig. 5.3: Cissy Kagaba (right) and Jane Okuo Kajuga (left) hosted by Simon Kaggwa……109 Fig 5.4: Representation by gender ………………………………………………………….113 Fig. 5. 5: Sources of news by gender adapted from Uganda Radio Network (URN)………..115 Fig. 5.6: Post-2015 International Women's Day discussion on the Fourth Estate…………..119 Fig. 5.7: LCV chairperson, Kamuli district addressing People's Parliament in Kamuli, 2015…………………………………………………………………………………………123 Fig. 5.8: A June 13th 2015 article suggesting women are more powerful in government…127 Fig. 6.1: Another 13 June 2015 article questioning the relevance of women MPs…………132 Fig. 8.1: Media influence on women's participation………………………………………..222 Fig. 9.1: Model of women’s participation in the media and public………………………...227 Table. 5.1: Determinants of participation and dimensions. ………………………………..117 vi CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION................................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................... iv ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS ....................................................................................................