Campaign Remarks
“The South African media has a lot of introspection to do… on the role it plays in building this nation and young democracy. The tendency for the media to think it is above all and it is a watchdog itself not being watched is rather presumptuous. So this exercise (GMMP) which watches the media needs to be encouraged and promoted.”
These were the words of the Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the launch of the GMMP 2005 results in Johannesburg on 7th March 2006. Similar challenges to the mass media were made all over the world from 16th February – 8th March 2006 as part of the first-ever global campaign on gender and the news media. Hundreds of gender and media activists, human rights groups, grassroots communication organizations, academics and students of communication, media professionals, journalists associations, alternative media networks and church groups in over 50 countries took part in ‘Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media.
The Who Makes the News? campaign began on 15th February with the international launch of the global GMMP 2005 results at the Foreign Press Association in London. There, renowned figures from the international news media debated whether, given that good journalism involves a search for diversity and balance in subject matter, perspectives and points of view, fair representation of women is simply a matter of good journalism ( http://www.whomakesthenews.org/who_makes_the_news/global_launch_campaign)
Over the following three weeks, hundreds of diverse groups from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe held press conferences and launches, trained journalists, organised media literacy workshops, produced TV and radio programmes on gender and media issues and developed strategies for change in cyberspace all with the aim of promoting a dialogue with the media on how to ensure the fair and balanced representation of women and men in the news media ( http://www.whomakesthenews.org/who_makes_the_news/national_campaign_activities)
Throughout the Who Makes the News? campaign, participants read, watched and listened to their news media to assess how women and men were represented. Newspaper articles ranged from one in the Washington Post on a female army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in the most recent Iraq war who is now running for political office in the U.S. Congress described in the article as a ‘girly girl’ to an article on Winnie Byanyima, a Ugandan MP and former girlfriend of President Yoweri Museveni who had threatened to expose several illegitimate children fathered by the President. Almost without exception, the news stories confirmed the GMMP 2005 results – that women are marginalized in the world’s news media and that when they are present, they are frequently represented in biased and stereotyped ways ( http://www.whomakesthenews.org/get_involved/speak_up_blogs/media_monitoring_blog)
One of the biggest surprises of the campaign was the unprecedented level of media coverage afforded to the question ‘Who Makes the News?’. From Le Monde Diplomatique to The Hindustan Times, the BBC to CNN, hundreds of print and online newspaper articles and radio and television programmes covered the results of GMMP 2005 and the activities taking place as part of the Who Makes the News? campaign ( http://www.whomakesthenews.org/press_room/what_the_media_say/media_coverage)
Despite the success of the Who Makes the News? campaign, the need to promote the fair and balanced representation of women and men in the media remains pressing. GMMP 2005 and the Who Makes the News? campaign have been important in fostering links and solidarity among groups worldwide working on gender and media issues and the GMMP 2005 results provide an important tool for advocacy but this is just the beginning.
WACC, the organiser of GMMP 2005 and the Who Makes the News? campaign, is currently undergoing a process of strategic planning and restructuring prior to relocating to Toronto, Canada in August 2006. The WACC Women’s Programme will remain a key programme within the new WACC and is itself developing a strategic plan for future work on gender and media issues. Gender and media monitoring and advocacy will remain at the core of the programme’s work and this website will be further developed with the aim of providing a central resource on gender and media monitoring and advocacy. More details will be available in the coming months on this website so please come back and check for updates.
The strength and successes of the WACC Women’s Programme has always been based on its partnerships and networks. We really value your input during this period of planning and change. If you have any comments or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on info@waccglobal.org
Anna Turley, Co-ordinator, WACC Women’s Programme
