Women Meeting the Challenge: A Handbook for Media Leadership
Where Do Women Stand?

The idea that women can be strong and effective leaders is not reflected in the reality of women's status in the news media. Studies of some African media organisations have confirmed the perception that women are absent at the top. In 1995, UNESCO conducted a groundbreaking study of the African region showing that, on average, women account for only 8.4 percent of the highest levels in media management in broadcast and 14.1 percent in print media.

In 1997, the UNDP Africa Roundtable, organized in South Africa, highlighted the obstacles to women's empowerment through the media. It was noted that a lack of gender advocacy activities and a lack of institutions through which to conduct advocacy programmes leads to inadequate resources, training, and opportunities for women's advancement. Many of these obstacles can be overcome if women are in leadership positions within the media itself.

During 1997-1998, Jennifer Makunike-Sibanda, Regional Director of the Federation of African Media Women-Southern African Development Community, conducted a study of employment patterns of 37 media organisations in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Her preliminary findings show that the majority of media organisations hire men for decision-making positions such as editor/general manager and deputy editor/deputy general manager. When women reach higher level positions, often they are given the secondary position of deputy. On average, there were 24 male senior reporters per organisation compared to only six women in the same position.

While 54 percent of responding organisations said they had at least one female board of management member, most had an average ratio of five men to two women members sitting on their boards. Forty-three percent had no female members. About 40 percent of the organisations had both male and female representatives sitting on their board of governors, but again the average ratio was six men for every two women.

Furthermore, most of the survey respondents did not have an affirmative action program for the hiring and promotion of women. A majority of the responding organisations (75.7 percent) said they had not had any policy discussions to address issues of equal opportunities for women. Additionally, only about 29 percent used affirmative action during recruitment and promotion.

The result of so few women in leadership positions in the media is that there is no strong voice for how their gender should be portrayed in the media and what issues should be reported. Men are left to develop stories based on their own cultural and social views. According to a study conducted by Margaret Gallagher in 1996, women appeared in just 19 percent of all news stories in ten African countries. When women do appear in the news, they are most often portrayed as victims of violence or as physical objects and rarely as experts, resources or leaders.