Gender and Media Synopsis
Gender equality in and through the media captures the essence of GL’s media programme work since the organisation’s formation in 2001. The media programme has remained GL’s flagship programme covering 14 SADC countries. The SADC Protocol on Gender and development has added impetus to the programme, which has continued to grow over the years. This programme brings together media decision-makers, media workers, media trainers, media consumers, and media regulators. The Media Programme works in close collaboration with the Gender and Media Diversity Centre (GMDC).

Working with 100 SADC newsrooms, through its Centres of Excellence (COEs) for gender in the media project, this programme is key in transforming gender relations in and through the media. This involves offering media houses a full gender-mainstreaming package that includes on- the- job support and training through a ten-stage process. This process brings together research, advocacy, policy and training sections of the media programme. 

In 2011, GL reviewed its media interventions to come up with a comprehensive approach that brings together the different components of the programme for more impact. The results of the Glass Ceilings, Women and Men in Southern African Newsrooms Study and the Gender and Media Progress Study (GMPS) sequel to the 2003 baseline study provided vital evidence for the need for a complete overhaul of the project. For example, the GMPS revealed that there had only been a two- percentage point increase in the proportion of women sources from 17% to 19% in the seven years after the Gender and Media Baseline Study (GMBS). The Glass Ceiling Study showed that women constituted less than one third of managers, and less than 5% of top managers in SADC. This showed that the programme needed to go beyond policy development to a more sustained approach that involved capacity building and strengthened M and E systems. Borrowing from the experience in the governance programme, GL sought to work at institutional level, through inviting media houses to sign up as Centres of Excellence for Gender in the Media. The media programme also built on the experience of the Media Action Plan (MAP) on HIV and AIDS and Gender that resulted in 80% of newsrooms in the SADC region adopting gender aware policies for addressing the pandemic. 

Objectives:
•	GL’s media programme aims to contribute to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development’s target of gender equality in and through the media by 2015. 
•	This is through mainstreaming gender in media practice and content. The media has a critical role to play as an agent of change and agenda setter. If properly, harnessed media can influence public opinion. 




Activities

Gender in media regulation
The overall objective of this project, which has been running since 2007, has been to provide support to regulatory authorities in developing gender policies, using research and tools developed as part of GL’s policy and research portfolio. The Press Council of Botswana (PCB), which adopted its gender code of ethics in February 2011, has continued with work to ensure full implementation of the code. The regulator has been working to integrate the gender code into the already existing Code of practice. GL has supported PCB on this initiative and a draft-merged code will go before the PCB membership for approval. GL is also in consultation with the new Seychelles Media Council on integrating gender into the council’s code of ethics.

Gender and economic reporting
As part of on-going efforts to publicise the economic justice provisions of the SADC Gender Protocol, the media programme, with funding from Diakonia conducted a training workshop for Angolan and Mozambican journalists in Luanda. The workshop coincided with the SADC Heads of States Summit. This workshop served to strengthen the Lusophone Opinion and Commentary Service, launched by the GL Lusophone office in Mozambique in March 2011. GL has distributed the stories written by journalists through the GL service.

Media COE project
The media COE project is a ten-stage process, which is an expansion of the six-stage gender- policy development process employed under the MAP project and later the gender development process. The new process incorporates capacity building to ensure policy implementation.  – DL YOU HAVE THE GRAPHIC FOR MEDIA COE; CAN WE PUT THE LOGO IN THE CENTRE? THANKS? 

 

In May 2011, GL brought together the media country facilitators to discuss and review the COE concept. This included reviewing the existing six stages of the policy development process to a ten-stage process. This led to the development of the media COE pamphlet and MOU template. Facilitators agreed  on a new handbook Making Every Voice count: Media COE to replace ‘Diversity in Action: HIV and AIDS Policies in Newsrooms’. The department produced the book in August 2011. Further consultations led to the COE training manual in January 2012. GL has made steady process in rolling out the COE project in the SADC region with 108 media houses and 27 MOUs at the time of writing. As 30 of the newsrooms did not participate in the GMBS, GL undertook baseline studies of these media houses to benchmark progress.

Training on covering GBV
There have been collaborative efforts between local government and media COES to enhance the organisation’s community reach. In November 2011, media and governance came together to plan for Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence activities as well as linking the media with vital personnel in the communities. This training resulted in media COEs covering the activities of local government COEs. Journalists produced 56 stories on GBV as part of this initiative.

Cross cutting issues
The SADC Protocol, with its 28 targets on different thematic areas, has been the anchor of GL’s programme work since its adoption in 2008. The media programme has tailored its media training initiatives around these targets, which include a diversity of cross cutting issues. Stage seven – backstopping the work of journalists - covers the following areas: 


•	Constitutional and legal rights
•	Governance
•	Education and training
•	Productive resources, employment and economic empowerment
•	Gender based violence
•	Health and HIV and AIDS
•	Peace Building
•	Media, information and communication
•	Implementation

Outputs
•	Gender inputs into the Draft Code of Conduct for the Botswana Press Council.  
•	Business Unusual training workshop in Angola:  22 participants; seven stories. 
•	Media COE handbook and training manual. 
•	Media Centres of Excellence (COE):  108 centres; 90 gender policies developed and adopted; 28 draft policies; 30 MOUs. 
•	GBV: 56 GBV stories written.

Outreach
Working with the media yields a range of multiplier effects. GL views the media both as target - a site for transformation – and as a tool for change. Media practitioners link who go through GL training link into a variety of channels for producing and disseminating gender aware content. Journalists have access to many communication channels of their own through which they yield considerable influence. Their work is affirmed through the Gender and Media Awards, as illustrated in this extract from GL’s “Changing Lives” series:  

Ripple effects: Story of gender and media activist 
“I was very happy when my commentary piece on the adverse impact of domestic work on girl child education in Tanzania appeared in a special supplement produced by Tanzanian journalists after I had attended a Business Unusual training workshop organised by Gender Links in 2008.

At that course, I received my first real practical training on gender and the media. I learned many good things from the training, like the importance of multiple sources. GL CEO Colleen Lowe Morna asked some of participants to go back in the field to ensure that their stories had credible and multiple sources.

Eventually GL rewarded our efforts as it got our stories published in a special pull out in the daily newspaper. That was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life. I realised that even though I was a broadcast journalist, I could write for print media. The training helped to boost my personal confidence as well as my professional capacity.

Later that year, my vision soared when I won an award for my story: “Proactive initiatives increased girls university enrolment” at the Gender and Media Awards. The award gave me an opportunity to make my first visit to South Africa as well as to meet and establish networks with journalists from SADC region. Back home the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation recognised my achievement on air. Curious colleagues clamoured to write for the GL Opinion and Commentary Service.” -Bestina Magutu, Tanzania 
Read more on http://www.genderlinks.org.za/article/bestina-mogutu-2012-06-06 
 

The interface with the GL Local Government programme has improved the quantity and quality of Sixteen Day coverage. Through transforming the media, GL ensures that the message of gender equality gets down to communities. Instead of having a Gender and Media Summit in 2012, GL is opting to have one Gender Justice Summit that brings together the local government and media work in 2013, preceded by eight country summits. The intention is to ensure that the various programmes work together to fulfil one of GL’s core mandates: to make every voice count. 

GLalso works in close collaboration with training institutions that have worked with the organisation on media literacy programmes (see Gender and Media Diversity Centre) that have a wide outreach. GL will work with training institutions on the COE verification process.

Outcomes
Advancing the SADC Gender Protocol target of gender equality in and through the media: In August 2011, GL conducted further monitoring for media houses participating in the COE project. Whilst the GMPS study gave 19% as the proportion of women sources in SADC news, the additional monitoring showed that the proportion of women sources is now 22%.

Women in the media making a difference: GL is in the process of compiling up to date information on newsroom composition to contribute more effectively to the 50/50 campaign within the media. Qualitative evidence suggests that there is a new cadre of bold and assertive media women that are claiming their space as a result of the sustained work on gender and media over the years: 

“GL has done so well in many areas of gender and media work. From the time that I partnered with the organisation, it has helped me grow in many ways and has helped me build confidence within myself, which I proudly apply in my work. It has also helped to have vast networks with many organisations and individuals not only in Zambia but across the world. I have been mentored” Perpetual Sichikwenkwe, Journalist and Media Policy Facilitator, Zambia

Gender built into policy and practice in media houses: The development of gender policies are significant in the transformation of gender relations in the media as well as creating an enabling environment for gender to flourish. The media programme is moving closer to achieving this target.



Poacher turned gamekeeper? The Voice in Botswana
Gender Links and The Voice newspaper began  their relationship on a volatile note with the publishing of a headline, ‘Have you had sex with this lady?’ back in 2001. Ironically, The Voice would become the first newspaper to launch its gender aware HIV and AIDS newsroom policy back in August 2007. The owner of the newspaper, Beata Kasale, is GL’s Gender and Media Policy Facilitator in Botswana. 


Over the years, GL has referred to the image and published the controversial headline in its training toolkits and other publications. Yet, as if to prove that from storming comes norming and then performing, the two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in August 2011 to work together in promoting greater voice and access for women to the mainstream media. The Voice is one of seven media COE’s in Botswana. 

The relationship between GL and The Voice has been mutually beneficial. GL has conducted capacity-building workshops on a broad spectrum of topics for management and staff at The Voice. These include Sixteen Days of Activism, gender based violence, gender mainstreaming in the media among others. Among other engagements, The Voice, in conjunction with Gender Links, conducted a reader survey both on print and online, mainly run by the online department. 

The Voice was one of the first media houses in the region to launch its gender aware HIV and AIDS newsroom policy. Developed under the banner of the Media Action Plan (MAP) on HIV and AIDS, this pilot project aimed to work with 80% of newsrooms in the region to develop and implement HIV and AIDS policies. The Voice’s bold presentation of news has brought the attention the paper to critical issues such as HIV and AIDS. HIV and AIDS remains one of the biggest threats to Botswana’s economic and social development. The Voice has taken a bold step to bring the subject of HIV and AIDS out for public discussion. As part of implementing its HIV and AIDS policy, The Voice continues to work closely with people living with HIV and AIDS. 

The COE project will see The Voice personnel go through a ten-stage COE process to develop and implement a gender policy. The policy will cover the whole media house and not just the newsroom. According to Kasale, The Voice staff and management have benefitted immensely from Gender Links’ gender and media literacy projects and initiatives such as the ‘I’ stories. 
The paper has shared its experiences at Gender and Media Summits including a presentation on the “Tabloidization of the Media” where the newspaper shared its views based on its experiences as a ‘tabloid’. The creative tension between GL and the Voice over its “page three girl” continues. But in its main pages the paper has gone a come a long way in  reflecting the daily struggles of women, such as poverty and gender based violence.

Challenges 
So far, GL has relied on workshop evaluations for feedback on effectiveness of the different interventions. Feedback has shown that beneficiaries appreciate the work that GL is doing with them, with most scores in the eighties (see programme report card) except for outputs at 77%. This may be because the COE process is still in its nascent stages. 

From a low base of 19%, GL has set itself an ambitious target of at 30% women in the media houses that it is working with by 2014. This requires a concerned campaign during the crucial stage seven or backstopping phase of the COE process. 


Next steps
•	In-house monitoring using the self-monitoring tool in August to determine if there has been any progress in women sources. 
•	High level visits by GL staff and managers to media houses to set targets ahead of the Gender Justice Summits in 2013. 
•	Tangible evidence of change through the Gender and Media Awards. 
http://gemcommunity.genderlinks.org.za/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=8572
 “Well-behaved women” seldom make history -  or News!
By Patricia A. Made – Ideally one page 

Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s opening paragraph about “well-behaved women...” in one of her scholarly articles published in 1976 has found its way into popular culture, and still makes one contemplate what women really have to do just to be seen and heard, especially in the media.

Zimbabwe’s print media landscape over the past two years is a case in point. A flurry of print media – newspapers and magazines – have burst onto the scene, giving a ray of hope that a new range of voices and perspectives, especially the voices of women, and women and men citizens in all walks of life, can find expression on the news events and issues of the day.

A good attribute of the Zimbabwean print media landscape is that newspapers are attracting women columnists, as well as offering space for articles on gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment. One local organisation working on gender equality and women’s rights in the economic sphere has regular space in a major daily and in a weekly Sunday paper.

Editors and journalists are reaching out more to engage with organisations working on gender equality and women’s empowerment, other than just on the special days when the media needs these organisation’s paid-for advertorials.

 Many women within the media ranks also are using their columns to write on gender equality and women’s rights in the Zimbabwean context. And, the public is engaging through Letters to the Editor on the news and issues that carry a ‘gender tag’.

Some of the Zimbabwean media houses also are engaging with the Centres of Excellence in Gender Mainstreaming, a Gender Links pioneering process underway with media houses across the region, to develop, adopt publicly, and put into practice gender editorial and employment policies.

As the Zimbabwean media grapples with ways to correct the sexism and gendered silences that permeate media houses’ newsroom and editorial content, one fundamental step is to stay reflective on the age-old journalism questions: ‘What is news?’ And ‘Who are the news makers?’ 

http://gemcommunity.genderlinks.org.za/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=20486
For example, a story in a major daily on March 30th headlined Females demand 50-50 representation, was national news on the first Gender and Local Government summit held in Zimbabwe organised by GL and the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ). But the reasons for why this summit was covered as news illustrate a long-standing struggle with the news media. The Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development and the mayor of Kadoma are the two voices in the news story; the two men are the newsmakers; the tellers of the story of females demanding 50-50 representation. 

Rigorous reporting and editing would have directed the reporter to the voices and perspectives of the many women and men “participants” who would have contextualized the issues and gave meaning to ‘why’ this issue, and the summit, is important for all citizens in Zimbabwe. Every story on gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment provides the media with the opportunity to ‘make sense’ of the information and issue for readers.

To be fair, the print media also puts the news spotlight more and more on the high-level female top government leaders speaking on a range of issues. But the majority of women who each and every day are making news through their stories of struggle, survival, leadership at community levels and in spaces where the majority of women, and men, still cluster, are still far from the front page news. They are so to speak “well-behave”, doing worthy acts that hold communities, homes, families, children and the nation together.

If we interpret “well-behave” as the ordinary women who live extraordinary lives, then their stories are, and should be, news. Capturing these stories require media that do not just follow trends, but media that return to their roots by re-claiming the principles of public-interest media and journalism, as they weed out and discard the practices  (and attitudes) that lead to discrimination and sexism.

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