SECTOR 2 with women often using their degrees in the public relations space, rather than in journalism. Panellists noted structural discrimination that exists against women when it comes to media coverage or representation. “Basically, every aspect; ownership, representation, voice, subject matter, is cut off from women. So, it’s not just about the environment being hostile to women.” “When you look at news values, there is a clear negative stereotyping of women. Women’s issues are, therefore, not put high on the agenda.” “Effort must be made towards removing patriarchal barriers.” “If you are lucky, you’ll find one woman on a breakfast show, but this may depend on subject matter. Things that are important to women are not covered as being important to society.” “They’ll even discuss issues concerning women’s lives, without women.” “There is a trivialisation of women’s issues, where they are seen as unimportant and not meriting headline status.” Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.5 (2006:n/a; 2008:n/a; 2011:2.5; 2013:2.2) 2.8 All media fairly represent the voices of society and its minorities in its ethnic, linguistic, religious diversity. Panellists generally agreed that although there has been some improvement over time, the media still does not fairly reflect all voices in society. One panellist summarised this view by stating that “able-bodied, middle-aged, heterosexual, Christian, southern Ghanaian men,” dominate the media. 34 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017