The role of Women’s Media Watch (WMW) has to be viewed against the background of the South African situation. South Africa is a country in transition; its new constitution clearly stresses its anti-racist and anti-sexist ambitions. Although the media could play a major role in this development, they are lagging behind.
It is precisely the contribution that can be made to society by women, which is paid hardly any attention to and stereotypes are rife. Consequently, the media don’t take the matter seriously. Violence aimed at women, for instance in combination with a problem like HIV/Aids, is an issue that they do not consider newsworthy.
In fact Women’s Media Watch was born as an answer to this lack of attention on the part of the media and of the failing access of women to information and to the media. It tries to talk the media into mending their ways by means of militant action, advocacy, training and research.
Rural areas
WMW has known ups and downs since its inception in 1995, when a small group of women founded the organisation under the umbrella of the then Community Arts Project - that has been renamed Mediaworks since. Originally WMW could function largely on the basis of the efforts of a great number of volunteers, with funds conspicuously lacking.
Two years later Mediaworks was thoroughly reorganised; WMW gained a greater degree of independence, as had been envisaged from the outset. Members of various organisations and NGOs are occupying key positions within the organisation; they, in fact, determine the course it will take.
WMW focuses on women in the rural areas, which makes WMW, the first organisation of its kind in southern Africa, unique. WMW aims at improving contacts between local media and their established counterparts.
New course
WMW gained full independence in the summer of 2002 at last. Today a reorganisation is on, primarily provoked by the departure of a number of prominent staff and lacking funds. There is, moreover, some uncertainty among members about the question of what course WMW should pursue; this tends to jeopardise the status the organisation has gained.
The development of the organisation is facilitated by the support of a number of partners, among which NiZA ranks first. Women’s Media Watch will be incorporated shortly; advocacy and activism will be its main tasks. Training and media productions, the two other pillars of the organisation, will serve as a source of funds.
Advocacy
The most important and most recent example of advocacy has been the campaign waged against the national broadcaster SABC in September 2002. In a petition handed to SABC by WMW together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) attention was drawn to the underrepresentation of women, South Africans, the poor and the rural communities in the TV station’s reports, its programming and advertisements.
Women on TV are mainly given the role of entertainers, musicians and actors rather than productive career women. Besides, WMW demanded a reconsideration the SABC’s gender policy, the major bone of contention being the small number of women involved at decision-making within SABC. A large meeting accompanied the handing of the petition while many other organisations issued statements on the issue. Although SABC accepted the petition, concrete results haven’t emerged so far.
The coming months Women’s Media Watch will wage a full-out effort for more gender-sensitive reporting by the media in South Africa. The good will is certainly not lacking. As a cartoon pinned up in the WMW offices says, ‘Don’t ask how far we are from the top; you’d rather ask how high we have climbed.’
http://www.womensmediawatch.org.za
Marieke Rodenburg works as a NiZA junior expert at Womens’ Media Watch, during the first half of 2003. mariekerodenburg@hotmail.com
