These organisations - supported by the NiZA Media Programme - use the improved media situation to the benefit of historically disadvantaged groups: certain ethnic groups, women and gays and lesbians. They have varying degrees of satisfaction about the way media are covering ‘their issue’.
Mediaworks: ‘Community media’
Still there are some inequities. The director of the Cape Town based NGO Mediaworks Karen Thorne explains: "The problem is that mainstream media are not meeting the information needs of communities anywhere outside Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. They predominantly serve a rapidly emerging new non-racial elite. Most of the media are not distributed towards rural areas."
Thorne argues that the gap is filled by the work of community media. These are owned by communities and they represent communities. "Within the past ten years, hundred community radio stations have been licensed in South Africa, eighty percent of them has gone on air. There are at least hundred enterprises of print media that are serving small communities. They report on many relevant subjects, like land issues and HIV / Aids", says Thorne.
SAMGI: ‘Gender sensitivity’
Judith Smith, director of the Cape Town based Southern African Media and Gender Institute (SAMGI) is critical about the way mainstream media are using the freedoms they’ve acquired to improve the position of women in South Africa: "Often, journalists and media practitioners are not sensitised towards gender issues. They do not see how gender crosscuts all aspects of society, including economy, housing, health, education."
Smith has different explanations for the lack of gender sensitivity among some South African media: "There is a lack of sensitivity training among journalists and media practitioners. Also, the fact that newsrooms are male-dominated has an impact on the way women’s issues and presence in society is presented".
Smith states that it is of vital importance that media address women's issues with more depth: "The opinions and understanding of the world of media consumers are shaped by what the media convey to them. The media are an extremely powerful tool that can assist to bring about social change. When media continue to silence voices on issues of women, imbalance between men and women will continue to exist. Then, we will continue to see men as the breadwinner and being powerful and women as powerless and the property of men."
Behind the Mask: ‘Social debate’
Media seem to be doing a better job in addressing gay issues. This is the impression one gets from talking to Bart Luirink, the founder of Behind the Mask, a Johannesburg-based communication organisation that defends the rights of gays and lesbians. "South African media that were formerly the parrots of apartheid, are now an arena for discussion. Homosexuality is a frequently chosen subject for talkshows and every soap has adopted a gay character", says Luirink.
"It is now important that people stop having pre-judgements and a social debate takes place. Media are of crucial importance in such a debate." According to Luirink, there is a change in thinking about homosexuality taking place in South Africa: "Although gay people are still dealing with a none gay-friendly environment, South Africa is a lightning example for the rest of Africa, where gays are either heavily discriminated or their existence is denied."
Daphne Hafkamp is working as a Junior Programme Officer with NiZA's Media Programme.
www.samgi.org
www.mediawks.co.za
www.mask.org.za
Also: Behind the Mask
