Cameroon
4.4

Gender mainstreaming is promoted in terms of equal 		
participation of both sexes in the production process.

ANALYSIS:
Gender is an important issue in the media in Cameroon. There are
associations like the National Professional Media Women (NAPMEW) and others which are fighting for the involvement of women
in the news production process. One such association, (Association
Femmes JOURNALITES d’ACTIONS DES COEUR-JASEC) organized a
seminar in Bafoussam in early 2008, during which it revealed the results of a study (Femmes Journalistes et les techniques des reportages politiques) revealing that women were not integrated into the
news production process. But there is concrete evidence to prove
that more and more women are getting involved in various domains.
When it comes to covering political stories, there are fewer women.
Elsewhere, many women are editors in the Radio and TV newsrooms,
there are many camera women, there are female radio animators
and even sports reporters. At the level of appointments in the media organs women are not properly represented. Of the twenty directors in CRTV, only two are women. Junior male journalists easily
get appointed to boss their senior and more experienced female
counterparts. The explanation is that a woman who fears being at
the airport at 2.00 a.m. to cover the arrival of the Head of State
or any other visiting dignitary will not be in the limelight like her
junior male colleague. The long and short of it is that women shy
away from certain subjects. Those who are daring are soon forced
to follow their husbands and they either abandon their jobs or go to
start off somewhere else.
SCORES:
Individual scores:			

2, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2

Average Score: 			

2.1

African Media Barometer - Cameroon 2008 			

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