African Women - Changing the Narrative "Our Story"

Valerie Msoka, a journalist and an advocate for gender equality, spoke to journalists from 15 African countries who gathered in Dar es Salaam for a training to promote the usage gender-sensitive language, lexicon and reporting in everyday stories about women and gender equality, with an aim to change how African women are portrayed in mainstream media, with a long-term objective of changing the narrative around women.

The case was such that women in the media houses were sidelined, if one happened to write a story that hit the front page, the byline would be by Staff Reporter, the case was such that when my sister Edda Sanga started reading the news, people rumbled that Radio Tanzania was not serious. But it was not only the case of women in the newsrooms it was the stories about women were out of order. First there were not there, when they were, they were in the middle pages and to compound it, they had to be negative ones such as a rape and the story would have a condemning tone, as if to say it was the woman’s fault. In fact according to the recent Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), overall, women remain more than twice as likely as men to be portrayed as victims as they were a decade ago, at 16 and eight percent respectively. 

It was this situation in the newsrooms and the portrayal of women in the media that brought us twelve women from print and broadcast to form the Tanzania Media Women’s Association in 1987. We wanted to change that scenario but through the process bring about social transformation towards a society that respects and practices gender equality in every sphere.

The case is such that in the news it is men who speak, and they are the majority in the news rooms and in senior management. This was then and is still the case. And this is why we are here – to change the narrative. And there is an urgent need to do so because women’s exclusion in any process makes it unrealistic. Creating a balance of the voices and stories not only helps build readership, listenership or viewers but also the overall impact. Creating that balance are you journalists as change agents.

And in this you need to start with understanding the whole concept of gender, international frameworks, declarations, protocols and actions relevant to human rights, women’s rights. When you understand this you will then understand that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men need to be taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men and that Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Through that understanding you will see why there is a need for journalists to have the ability to recognize gender issues, especially women’s different perceptions and interests arising from their unique social location and their gender roles.

Unfairness and inequality in the way you cover stories is very much a reflection of the inequalities and injustices in the societies we live in and of political, social and economic landscapes we work in.  It is thus up to you to understand and adopt Gender-Responsive Reporting Principles in print, broadcast, online media and photography, following international guidelines for ethical journalism.

For you to accurately mirror our societies, to produce coverage that is complete and diverse, it is critical that the news reflects the world as seen through the eyes of women as well as men. Gender-sensitive journalism is not only about things like sources and context.  It’s also about the language we use in writing our stories or making programmes. To be truly equal, women must be seen and heard to be equal.  This means eliminating language that misrepresents, excludes or offends women. 

No doubt you will say finding angles is an issue, but there is data to prove that just as in other stories, features, programmes, blogs and tweets you need to be creative. For example, data from TAMWA shows that for the period of September 2013 to December 2013, a total of 84 feature and stories on women issues in the constitution review process were published in various news papers to create awareness to and call for action from policy makers to change the outdated and discriminatory laws on women and children. Again in 2016 from from January to this November, there were 248 of stories on Child Marriage in the NEWSPAPERS only. Through these stories, features, blogs, tweets, Ending Child Marriage is now on the agenda. You need to understand that  gender sensitive journalists is not about covering ‘women’s issues’, it is about making sure that content, representation, context, is balanced and respects the diversity that represents nearly 50% of the world’s population.

The UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, says that to achieve gender equality we need to mobilize not just parliaments but populations, not only civil society but all society. I believe that at the heart of the whole mobilization process are the journalists. As journalists we are obliged to ensure that gender equality is achieved. This is because through your stories’ features, programmes, blogs and photographs you will help form our social values and be powerful advocates for the elimination of violence against women and in the promotion of gender equality.

Journalists are agents of change and are duty bound to change the narrative around women and girl’s issues in the media. Do it.