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Prof. Lizette Rabe
Professor Lizette Rabe, professor in journalism at Stellenbosch University and convenor of the masters and PhD programmes, provides some perspectives on gender and the media – and why you can make a difference:
Gender inequalities in the newsroom were pointed out once again on an international media website on the very first day of women’s month in South Africa (without them knowing, of course).
It was all about a count of bylines in the USA titled “Who writes for the New York Times”? The tally showed there were 29 male bylines and eight female bylines.
This, after women were consistently almost 75 % of students in journalism schools for the past half century, and with affirmative action not being a foreign concept any more – not as a policy to promote women to positions they do not deserve, but as a means of giving them the position they deserve to occupy, and which they up to now could not – not because of a lack of abilities, but because of their gender.
It is true, one sees many more junior female reporters in newsrooms, but that is where the majority ends.
And yes, it is true that there are many more women in senior positions, especially in the non-hard news media environments, but not yet enough.
Another persistent little problem is that news is still defined according to age-old axioms. News values, if analysed, are still defined as in what is regarded as the very first dissertation on newspapers, that of Tobias Peucer in 1690, written in Latin.
Then “ecquid novi” – what is new/news – was defined as male – the “birth and death of kings and princes”. No queens and princesses there. (Of course, thanks to the cult of the celebrity, “princesses” (in all forms), are now also news, but maybe for all the wrong reasons.
Furthermore, in South Africa we have specific gender and media issues – such as how women are represented/objectified in the media.
In a country with domestic violence such as ours, and rape statisics such as ours, that is something that cannot be defended, with no kind of argument.
So what can you do about it?
Raise your voice as a citizen. And if you are working in the media industry, be an agent of change wherever you are – don’t allow yourself to be “poppie-fied”*.
And if you have a media background, and you are desperately in need of a new challenge, then you might want to add to our existing field of knowledge with new research into gender and media issues by doing another degree.
And not to abuse this opportunity for a cheap ad, but if you’re interested in the Master’s in Journalism programme at Stellenbosch University, have a look at the programme. (Click on the Master’s information button).
You can make a difference. Do it.
* “Poppie” is a colloquial Afrikaans word for a woman, with the intention to denigrate her because of her sex.
- Fin24
* Add your voice to our Women's Wealth Issue and help empower others this Women's Month.
Write a guest post
Share your coping tips
Ask the experts
Gender inequalities in the newsroom were pointed out once again on an international media website on the very first day of women’s month in South Africa (without them knowing, of course).
It was all about a count of bylines in the USA titled “Who writes for the New York Times”? The tally showed there were 29 male bylines and eight female bylines.
This, after women were consistently almost 75 % of students in journalism schools for the past half century, and with affirmative action not being a foreign concept any more – not as a policy to promote women to positions they do not deserve, but as a means of giving them the position they deserve to occupy, and which they up to now could not – not because of a lack of abilities, but because of their gender.
It is true, one sees many more junior female reporters in newsrooms, but that is where the majority ends.
And yes, it is true that there are many more women in senior positions, especially in the non-hard news media environments, but not yet enough.
Another persistent little problem is that news is still defined according to age-old axioms. News values, if analysed, are still defined as in what is regarded as the very first dissertation on newspapers, that of Tobias Peucer in 1690, written in Latin.
Then “ecquid novi” – what is new/news – was defined as male – the “birth and death of kings and princes”. No queens and princesses there. (Of course, thanks to the cult of the celebrity, “princesses” (in all forms), are now also news, but maybe for all the wrong reasons.
Furthermore, in South Africa we have specific gender and media issues – such as how women are represented/objectified in the media.
In a country with domestic violence such as ours, and rape statisics such as ours, that is something that cannot be defended, with no kind of argument.
So what can you do about it?
Raise your voice as a citizen. And if you are working in the media industry, be an agent of change wherever you are – don’t allow yourself to be “poppie-fied”*.
And if you have a media background, and you are desperately in need of a new challenge, then you might want to add to our existing field of knowledge with new research into gender and media issues by doing another degree.
And not to abuse this opportunity for a cheap ad, but if you’re interested in the Master’s in Journalism programme at Stellenbosch University, have a look at the programme. (Click on the Master’s information button).
You can make a difference. Do it.
* “Poppie” is a colloquial Afrikaans word for a woman, with the intention to denigrate her because of her sex.
- Fin24
* Add your voice to our Women's Wealth Issue and help empower others this Women's Month.
Write a guest post
Share your coping tips
Ask the experts
